Sheet Music: Cease Your Funning

TitleCease Your Funning
Alternate titlesConstant Billy
Lofty Mountains
ComposerTraditional English
InstrumentationFlute duet
KeyD major
RangeF#4–D6
Time signature6/8
Tempo72 BPM
Performance time0:40
Difficulty levelintermediate
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (59 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (338 kB)
Play-along accompanimentMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (391 kB)
Date added2017-03-29
Last updated2017-03-29
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Categories
Traditional/Folk

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Wednesday 29 March 2017

Tune of the Day: Cease Your Funning

Traditional English air, arranged for flute duet

The song “Cease Your Funning” appears in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728). Its tune is, however, certainly older than the opera. English folksong collector Frank Kidson dates the tune to the late 17th century, where he finds it on half-sheet music attached to the song “Constant Billy”. In fact, the air appears as “Constant Billy” in the third volume of Playford's Dancing Master. There have been some claims that “Cease Your Funing” was derived from the Welsh tune “The Ash Grove”, despite the fact that the latter first appeared in print in 1802. According to Kidson, these claims have no merit, as the tune clearly derives from “Constant Billy”.

The present arrangement for two flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.