Picardy Thirds

[dave brum]

I had never heard of these before you told me what they were Gill when we met in August but as I played 'The Coventry Carol' the penny dropped that it is a brilliant example of a Picardy Third, the version I have is in F minor but the last note - the last syllable of 'lullay' is raised from Ab to Anat, making it a major third! Now I've been having some fun with carols I have in the minor, looking for thirds in the final phrase and raising them a semitone. Spose youse had to learn some way Gill and Lin!

[Gill the Piano]

I had to learn it for music A level, I think. But I've always liked a PT so throw them in at the end of a lot of minor hymns. There's a gorgeous carol/hymn called 'Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence' (Tune, strangely enough, is Picardy!) and I ALWAYS finish it with a PT. Wonder if that's why it's a Picardy Third?

[dave brum]

I can't actually find that many carols in minor keys as most of them are jolly and therefore in the major!

I'm quite a savage for sticking cockney cadences on the end of my hymns and carols at my own discretion and when I feel the mood is right for one. I've just done God Save the Queen and that screamed for me to stick a cockney cadence on the end!