The Birth of the English Madrigal
When a collection of Italian madrigals entitled Musica Transalpina (Music from Across the Alps) was published in London in 1588, no
one could have foreseen the craze that it set off in the British Isles.
Thoroughly charmed by their Italian counterparts, British composers set out to emulate them, and the English madrigal was born.
Just 13 years later, the greatest of the English madrigal collections, The Triumphs of Oriana, was published in London by Thomas Morley, in honor of Queen Elizabeth I.
When a collection of Italian madrigals entitled Musica Transalpina (Music from Across the Alps) was published in London in 1588, no
one could have foreseen the craze that it set off in the British Isles.
Thoroughly charmed by their Italian counterparts, British composers set out to emulate them, and the English madrigal was born.
Just 13 years later, the greatest of the English madrigal collections, The Triumphs of Oriana, was published in London by Thomas Morley, in honor of Queen Elizabeth I.
from http://www.santafe.com/
The Triumphs of Oriana is one of the most celebrated of all collections of Elizabethan madrigals, published in 1601 and containing 25 settings by 23 composers. Many of the most celebrated English musicians of the age are represented, such as Thomas Morley, John Wilbye, Thomas Tomkins and Thomas Weelkes, as well as figures who are much less well known today including John Milton, father of the poet.
The Triumphs of Oriana is one of the most celebrated of all collections of Elizabethan madrigals, published in 1601 and containing 25 settings by 23 composers. Many of the most celebrated English musicians of the age are represented, such as Thomas Morley, John Wilbye, Thomas Tomkins and Thomas Weelkes, as well as figures who are much less well known today including John Milton, father of the poet.
The traditional view of The Triumphs of Oriana is that was designed as a celebration of Elizabeth I, a cycle of pieces intended for some kind of masque or courtly entertainment, and that Thomas Morley was responsible for organising it. But as John Milsom points out, in a carefully argued introduction to the Chandos recording, musicological and historical evidence does not support that provenance - the published edition makes no mention of the Queen, who died two years later, and though the texts all celebrate "fair Oriana" they do not form a narrative unity, and the order of madrigals within the collection follows musical rather than literary logic. Milsom concludes that the Oriana project just began to accumulate in the 1590s, when it was fashionable to set such lyrics, and that others were commissioned when publication of the whole collection seemed a good idea.
However it came about, though, The Triumphs of Oriana is a remarkable musical document, a snapshot of the craft of English madrigal composers on the cusp of the 17th century
http://www.theguardian.com/
The Triumphs of Oriana is a book of English madrigals, compiled and published in 1601 by Thomas Morley, which first edition[1] has 25 pieces by 23 composers (Thomas Morley and Ellis Gibbons have two madrigals). It was said to have been made in the honour of Queen Elizabeth I. Every madrigal in the collection contains the following couplet at the end: “Thus sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana: long live fair Oriana” (the word "Oriana" often being used to refer to Queen Elizabeth).
Recently, the attribution of "Oriana" to Elizabeth has come into question. Evidence has been presented that "Oriana" actually refers to Anne of Denmark, who would become Queen of England alongside James VI of Scotland (later James I of England) in an apparently failed early attempt to remove Elizabeth in order to restore England to Catholicism. In his book 'The English Madrigalists', Edmund Fellowes, one of the leading madrigal scholars declares this theory to be false. Unfortunately, Fellowes passes away in 1951, over fifty years before the new research was done.
| order | composer | piece |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael East Michaell Este | Hence stars, too dim of light, you dazzle but the sight, you teach to grope by night. See here the shepherds star, excelling you so far, Then Phoebus wiped his eyes, and Zeph'rus cleared the Skies, in sweet accented cries. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana. |
| 2 (I) | Daniel Norcome Daniell Norcome | With angel's face and brightness and orient hue, fair Oriana shining With nimble foot she tripped O'er hills and mountains. At last in dale she rested, hard by Diana's fountains. This is that maiden Queen of the fairy land, with sceptre in her hand. The fauns and saytrs dancing, did show their nimble lightness. Fair Nais and the nymphs did leave their bowers, And brought their baskets full of herbs and flowers. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, "Long live fair Oriana!" |
| 3 (II) | John Mundy Iohn Mundy | Lightly she whipped o’er the dales, Making the woods proud with her presence. Gently she trod the flowers and they As gently kiss’d her tender feet. The birds in their best language bade her welcome, Being proud that Oriana heard their song: The clove-foot satyrs singing, Made music to the fauns adancing, And both together with an emphasis, Sang Oriana’s praises, Whilst the adjoining woods with melody, Did entertain their sweet harmony. Thus sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana. |
| 4 (III) | Ellis Gibbons Ellis Gibbons | Long live fair Oriana. Hark, did you ever hear so sweet a singing? They sing young love to waken; The nymphs unto the woods their queen are bringing. There was a note well taken. O good, hark, how joyfully 'tis dittied; A queen and song most excellently fitted. I never saw a fairer, I never heard nor saw a rare, Then sing, ye shepherds and nymphs of Diana: Long live fair Oriana. |
| 5 (IIII) | John Bennet Iohn Benet | All creatures now are merry minded, The shepherd's daughters playing, the nymphs are falalaing. Yon bugle was well winded. At Oriana's presence each thing smileth. The flowers themselves discover, Birds over her do hover, Music the time beguileth, See where she comes, with flow'ry garlands crowned, Queen of all queens reknowned. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, "Long live fair Oriana!" |
| 6 (V) | John Hilton Iohn Hilton | Fair Oriana, beauty's queen, Tripped along the verdant green. The fauns and satyrs, running out, Skipped and danced round about. Flora forsook her painted bowers, And made a coronet of flowers. Then sang the nymphs of chaste Diana: Long live fair Oriana. |
| 7 (VI) | George Marson George Marson | The nymphs and shepherds danced La Voltos in a daisy-tapestred valley; Love from their face-lamps glanced, Till wantonly they dally: Till in a rose-banked alley Bright Majesty advanced, A crown-graced Virgin, whom all people honour; They leave their sport, amazed, Run all to look upon her. A moment scarce they gazed, Ere Beauty's splendour all their eyes had dazed, Desire to see yet ever fixed on her. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana! |
| 8 (VII) | Richard Carlton Richard Carlton | Calm was the air and clear the sky, Fair Oriana passing by, Over the downs to Ida plains, Where heaven-born Sisters with their trains, Did all attend her sacred Beauty, Striving to excel in duty. Satyrs and Nymphs dancing together, Shepherds triumphing, flocking thither. Seeing their sovereign Mistress there, That kept their flocks and them from fear; With high-strained voice And hearts rejoice. Thus sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana! |
| 9 (VIII) | John Holmes Iohn Holmes | Thus Bonnyboots the birthday celebrated Of her, his lady dearest, Fair Oriana, which to his heart was nearest: The nymphs and shepherds feasted with clotted cream were, And to sing were requested. Lo here the fair created (quoth he), The world's chief goddess; Sing then, for she is Bonnyboots' sweet mistress. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana: Long live fair Oriana. |
| 10 (IX) | Richard Nicholson Richard Nicolson | Sing shepards all, and in your roundelays, Sing only of fair Oriana's praise. The gods above will help to bear a part, And men below will try their greatest art, Though neither gods nor men can well apply Fit song or tune to praise her worthily. Then sang the shepards and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana! |
| 11 (X) | Thomas Tomkins Thomas Tomkins | The Fauns and Satyrs tripping, with lively Nymphs of fresh, cool brooks and fountains, and those of woods and mountains: Like Roes, came nimbly skipping, by signs their mirth unripping, My fair Queen, they presented with Amaltheas twenty brimful of wealthy plenty, and still to give, frequented, with bare gifts not contented. The demigods pray to the Gods supernal; Her life, Her wealth, Her fame may be eternal. Then sang the shepherds and Nymphs of Diana: long live fair Oriana! |
| 12 (XI) | Michael Cavendish Michaell Cauendish | Come, gentle swains, and shepherd's dainty daughters, Adorned with courtesy and comely duties, Come sing and joy and grace with lovely laughters, The birthday of the beauties. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana: Long live fair Oriana! |
| 13 (XII) | William Cobbold William Cobbold | Withdraw yourselves, ye shepards! from your bowers, And strew the path with flowers. The Nymphs are coming! Sweetly the birds are chirping, The swift beasts running, As all amazed, they stand still gazing, To see such bright stars blazing, To Dian bravely treading. The powers divine, to her do vail their bonnets, Prepare yourselves to sound your pastoral sonnets, Then sang the shepaherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana! |
| 14 (XIII) | Thomas Morley Thomas Morley | Arise, awake, You silly shepherds sleeping; Devise some honour for her sake to banish weeping, By mirth to banish weeping. Loe where she comes, In gaudy green arraying, A pfince of beauty rich and rare for her delighting Pretends to go a-maying. You stately nymphs draw near And strew your paths with roses; In you her trust reposes. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana: Long live fair Oriana. |
| 15 (XIIII) | John Farmer Iohn Farmer | Fair nymphs, I heard one telling, to beautify the place, The fawns are running, The shepherds their pipes tuning, To show their cunning. The lambs amazed leave off their grazing, And blind their eyes with gazing, Attended by the Muses and the Graces. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana Long live fair Oriana. |
| 16 (XV) | John Wilbye Iohn Wilbye | The Lady Oriana Was dight all in the treasures of Guiana; And on her Grace a thousand graces tended: And thus sang they, fair Queen of peace and plenty; The fairest queen of twenty: Then with an olive wreath, for peace renowned, Her virgin head they crowned: Which ceremony ended, Unto her Grace the thousand graces bended. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana. |
| 17 (XVI) | Thomas Hunt Thomas Hunt | Hark! Did ye ever hear so sweet a singing? They sing young love to waken, The nymphs unto the woods, their queen are bringing. There was a note well taken, O good! O most divine O most diviely dittied: a queen and song most excellent most excelnetly fitted. I never saw a fairer, I never heard a rarer. Then sung the nymphs and shepherds of Diana: Long live fair Oriana! |
| 18 (XVII) | Thomas Weelkes Thomas Weelkes | As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending, She spied a maiden Queen the same ascending, Attended on by all the shepherds' swain, To whom Diana's darlings came running down amain, First two by two, then three by three together, Leaving their goddess all alone hasted thither; And mingling with the shepherds of her train, With mirthful tunes her presence entertain. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana! |
| 19 (XVIII) | John Milton Iohn Milton | Fair Oriana, in the morn, Before the day was born, With velvet steps on ground, Which made no print nor sound, Would see her nymphs abed; What lives those ladies led. The roses blushing said: O stay, thou shepherd's maid. And on a sudden all, They rose and heard her call. Then sang those shepherds and nymphs of Diana: Long live fair Oriana. |
| 20 (XIX) | Ellis Gibbons Ellis Gibbons | Round her chariot with all admiring strains, The Hyades and Dryades give sweetest entertains. Lo, how the gods, in revels, do accord, Whilst doth each goddess melodies afford. Now Bacchus is consorting, Silvanus falls asporting, Amphion's harp reporting. To the shepherds' pipes, sing the nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana! |
| 21 (XX) | George Kirbye George Kyrbie | With angel's face and brightness and orient hue, fair Oriana shining With nimble foot she tripped O'er hills and mountains. At last in dale she rested, hard by Diana's fountains. This is that maiden Queen of the fairy land, with sceptre in her hand. The fauns and saytrs dancing, did show their nimble lightness. Fair Nais and the nymphs did leave their bowers, And brought their baskets full of herbs and flowers. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, "Long live fair Oriana!" |
| 22 (XXI) | Robert Jones Robert Iones | Fair Oriana, seeming to wink at folly, Lay softly down to sleeping; But hearing that the world was grown unholy, Her rest was turned to weeping. So waked, she sighed; and with crossed arms, Sat drinking tears for others' harms; Then sang the nymphs and shepards of Diana, Long live fair Oriana! |
| 23 (XXII) | John Lisley Iohn Lisley | Fair Cytharea presents her doves! (sweet) Minerva singeth! Jove gives a crown! a garland Juno bringeth! Fame summoned each a celestial power To bring their gifts to Oriana's bower. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana! |
| 24 (XXIII) | Thomas Morley Thomas Morley | Hard by a crystal fountain, Oriana the Bright lay down asleeping. The birds they finely chirped, the winds were stilled; sweetly with these accenting the air was filled. This is that Fair, whose head a crown deserveth, which Heaven for her reserveth. Leave, shepherds, your lambs keeping, upon the barren mountain, and nymphs attend on her and leave your bowers, for she the shepherd's life maintains and yours. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana: Long live fair Oriana! |
| 25 (XXIIII) | Edward Johnson Edward Iohnson | Come, blessed bird, and with thy sugared relish help our declining choir now to embellish, For Bonnyboots, that so aloft would fetch it, O he is dead and none of us can reach it. Then tune to us, sweet bird, thy shrill recorder, and I, Elpin, and I, and Dorus, for fault of better, will serve in the chorus: Begin and we will follow thee in order, Then sang the woodborn minstrel of Diana: Long live fair Oriana. |
In 1899, at the instigation of Master of the Queen's Music Sir Walter Parratt, 13 British composers submitted a limited edition (100 copies) collection of choral songs entitled Choral Songs in Honour of Her Majesty Queen Victoria on the occasion of her 80th birthday.
also:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/The_Triumphs_of_Oriana
In 1601, English composer Thomas Morley published a volume of madrigals called The Triumphs of Oriana. The music was intended to honor the aging Queen Elizabeth I, referred to as Oriana for reasons about which historians disagree (one version of the story is given in the detailed and informative notes byThomas Elias). Each madrigal concluded with some variant of the couplet "Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana/Long live fair Oriana," allowing the composer (there were 23 different ones for the 25 pieces) to strut his polyphonic stuff at the end of the song. People who have sung a selection of English madrigals in a high school or college glee club or choir will likely recognize a few of these pieces, such as John Bennet's peppy All creatures now are merry-minded, track 5. Recordings of the whole set, however, are not so common. This is because the quality varies widely. Thomas Hunt seemed to be struggling in Hark! Did ye ever hear so sweet a singing (track 17) when he wrote lines like "O most divinely dittied! A Queen and song so excellently fitted." Yet the variability makes the whole group of madrigals very attractive for the listener who has heard a few famous examples of the genre and wants to get deeper into it. One hears not only good madrigals and bad, but also works of various types that help in getting a handle on the expressive world of the music. Some of the pieces, like Long live fair Oriana of Ellis Gibbons (brother to Orlando), track 4, emulated the serious chromatic density of the Italian madrigal of the late sixteenth century (Morley based the whole idea on a set commissioned by an Italian nobleman for his bride). Thomas Tomkins' The fauns and satyrs tripping, track 11, is written in an older and more characteristically English style, with sober, even polyphony evoking the viol consort tradition. Many of the composers represented, such as John Milton (father to the poet who only stood and waited, yet hoped still to be served), are almost unknown but are not unworthy of being heard on that account. The King's Singers, who have tended in recent years toward experimental and crossover projects, proved with this 1999 performance, originally broadcast on radio on Germany's WDR network, that they could still play it straight with the best of them; the all-male group is expressive, fresh, and intonationally secure. A fine madrigal recording, recommended equally to madrigal fanatics and newcomers to the genre.
from http://www.allmusic.com/
In 1601, English composer Thomas Morley published a volume of madrigals called The Triumphs of Oriana. The music was intended to honor the aging Queen Elizabeth I, referred to as Oriana for reasons about which historians disagree (one version of the story is given in the detailed and informative notes byThomas Elias). Each madrigal concluded with some variant of the couplet "Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana/Long live fair Oriana," allowing the composer (there were 23 different ones for the 25 pieces) to strut his polyphonic stuff at the end of the song. People who have sung a selection of English madrigals in a high school or college glee club or choir will likely recognize a few of these pieces, such as John Bennet's peppy All creatures now are merry-minded, track 5. Recordings of the whole set, however, are not so common. This is because the quality varies widely. Thomas Hunt seemed to be struggling in Hark! Did ye ever hear so sweet a singing (track 17) when he wrote lines like "O most divinely dittied! A Queen and song so excellently fitted." Yet the variability makes the whole group of madrigals very attractive for the listener who has heard a few famous examples of the genre and wants to get deeper into it. One hears not only good madrigals and bad, but also works of various types that help in getting a handle on the expressive world of the music. Some of the pieces, like Long live fair Oriana of Ellis Gibbons (brother to Orlando), track 4, emulated the serious chromatic density of the Italian madrigal of the late sixteenth century (Morley based the whole idea on a set commissioned by an Italian nobleman for his bride). Thomas Tomkins' The fauns and satyrs tripping, track 11, is written in an older and more characteristically English style, with sober, even polyphony evoking the viol consort tradition. Many of the composers represented, such as John Milton (father to the poet who only stood and waited, yet hoped still to be served), are almost unknown but are not unworthy of being heard on that account. The King's Singers, who have tended in recent years toward experimental and crossover projects, proved with this 1999 performance, originally broadcast on radio on Germany's WDR network, that they could still play it straight with the best of them; the all-male group is expressive, fresh, and intonationally secure. A fine madrigal recording, recommended equally to madrigal fanatics and newcomers to the genre.
from http://www.allmusic.com/
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