BEYOND ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT
 

Notices, Navigation, and Links

This site serves a dual purpose: to share fun stuff with others and to spread information that might be of interest to those making use of it. Please do check out the soft sell for classical music listeners.

Additional material remains to be uploaded to this site. For a quick look at each month's additions, bookmark the updates page.

Try your ear at a WQRS-style contest! This page also has links to many other midi files on this site.

You can look at the FAQ of a Classical Radio Station Page no longer being updated.

Take a quick tour of counterpoint This page is still in a rudimentary state, but there are a few more midis available on it (the crab canon from Bach’s Musical Offering, e.g.).

Davis Gloff's Web Site

Especially for Teachers:

Check out TeacherNet for reviews and links to sites with music education and lesson plans. If you enter rounds in the keyword search box, you’ll get many good suggestions for ways to incorporate some of these rounds into a lesson plan.

You can get more rounds and other good stuff at this wonderful site for music teachers

Credits and Legal Stuff

Additional links may be found on the other pages.

Images of the music and lyrics as well as midi files are available for the following rounds. You can download the midi file, usually by clicking on the right mouse button, or if your browser supports it, listen to the music on the spot.
 
You may also, before loading the page with the image file, see if it is one you know under a different name by listening to an abbreviated "sound clip". Just click on the "soundclip" link in each description. Please note that these are plain midi files, and do not invoke Java. If you see Java loading, it is because your sound plugin uses it.
 
On the individual rounds pages, you should be able to follow the music while listening to a midi file of the entire round (a longer sound clip than on this page). If you can't do this, it is probably because the midi player you're using loads its own page while it's playing. This happens with some versions of Crescendo and some versions of Quicktime (if you use it for midi files). It does not happen with the Microsoft Media Player or with the version of Midigate I tested.
 
The purely arbitrary difficulty levels given for each round suggest only the degree of difficulty the individual voices might have in keeping to their parts.
Banbury Ale
This round for four voices is one of the oldest posted here, dating back at least to 1609. The soundclip is 17 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

The Bell Doth Toll
A pretty round for three voices, this round has a bell toll for the last line. The soundclip is 49 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Célébrons sans cesse
A lovely four-part round by Orlando di Lasso (1532-94). The soundclip is 34 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium (the rhythm is tricky)

Chairs to Mend
U.S. street calls, for three voices. The soundclip is 59 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium

Come Follow Me Merrily
A three-part round from the early 18th-century. It was one of E. Nelham's contributions to the London Catch Club's collection of rounds. The soundclip is 46 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium

Come Let Us All A-Maying Go
A three-part round from the early 18th-century. The soundclip is 62 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium

The Crane
A fun four-part round with a bit of a tongue twister thrown in. The soundclip is 15 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)
A beautiful three-part round, attributed to Palestrina. The soundclip is 72 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Early to Bed
A simple three-part round with a pleasant tune. The soundclip is 26 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Fox and Geese
Another four-part round from the 17th-century. The soundclip is 32 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Gaudeamus Hodie
A great three-part round. This one's a lot of fun. The soundclip is 32 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium

The Great Bells of Oseney
A three-part round from 1609. The soundclip is 20 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Great Tom is Cast
Another early three-part round about bell-ringing. This is one of the prettier ones. The soundclip is 20 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Hava Nashira
A three-part round in Hebrew, this has one of the loveliest melodies of those posted here. The soundclip is 44 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium

Hey, ho, Nobody Home
A favorite three-part round, this minor key lament dates back at least as far as 1609. The soundclip is 28 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Hey We to the Other World
A chipper 4-part round from the 17th century. The soundclip is 27 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Hot Mutton Pies
A London street call round for 3 voices. The soundclip is 18 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

The Huntsmen
A three-part round with a great bouncing rhythm. The soundclip is 27 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Joan, Come Kiss Me Now
Not the oldest round here, but it sounds very Shakespearean. For three voices. The soundclip is 24 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium

Joan Glover
From 1609, this four-part round has a great rhythm, especially when the last line comes in. The soundclip is 11 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Malt's Come Down
A 17th-century town's celebration over a drop in beer prices. For three voices. The soundclip is 28 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium

Merrily, Merrily
A fun four-part round based on a old English tune.
The soundclip is 23 seconds long. Difficulty level: easy.

Now We Are Met
Another three-part round from the early 18th-century. The soundclip is 41 seconds long.
Difficulty level: medium

Oh, How Lovely is the Evening
One of the more familiar of the rounds posted here, this is for three voices. The soundclip is 35 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy.

Oh My Love Lovst Thou Me I
This is the first of two versions of this four-part round found in the catch collections. The second is in a minor key, and the single note difference makes for a very different round. The soundclip is 23 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy.

Oh My Love Lovst Thou Me II
This is the second of two versions of this four-part round found in the catch collections. The first is in a major key, and the single note difference makes for a very different round. The soundclip is 23 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy.

Shalom Chaverim
A Hebrew 3-part round, bidding "Till we meet again" to friends. The soundclip is 25 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy.

Sumer Is I-cumen In
This is perhaps the most famous Middle English lyric. Dating from the late thirteenth-century, it is the earliest known piece of music for 6 voices and the earliest known canon. For a minimum of six voices. The soundclip is 37 seconds long.
Difficulty level: complex.

To the Greenwood
This is a very popular 3-part round. The soundclip is 34 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy.

Upon Christ Church Bells in Oxford
This is a four-part round attributed to Henry Purcell. The soundclip is 74 seconds long.
Difficulty level: hard (above average in length)

Viva La Musica!
A simple three-part round by Michael Praetorius (1571-1621). The soundclip is 24 seconds long.
Difficulty level: easy

Wind, Gentle Evergreen
An eighteenth-century 3-part round. A pretty tune with a very purple verse. The soundclip is 72 seconds long.
Difficulty level: hard (above average in length)


 
Coming soon: rounds based on German folk tunes by Brahms.
 
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  This page has been accessed times since 1 November 1998.