Crystal Spring

Crystal Spring is a track from the vocal quintet Mezzo Sotto's second album entitled Incanto. It is an English folk song of uncertain temporal location, elaborated for voice and piano by Cecil J. Sharp in his collection One hundred English Folksongs: this seems to be the only written source for such a splendid melody. Apart from the scant information in our possession, the development of the melody leaves no doubt as to the genuineness of the song and its belonging to the English folk tradition. The vocal processing, by Fabio Alessi, maintains the standard harmonic structure of the genre and favours tonic-subdominant passages. The main vocal line is supported by four underlying voices whose coordinated movement is intended to form the harmonic tapestry, while a fifth voice counterpoints a line that serves as a 'melodic accompaniment'.