Please note that music files that are linked to are not necessarily the same edition we will be using on the night and therefore there may be some slight differences.
Gibbons Almighty and everlasting God SATB
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) was one of the most versatile composers of his time. His choral writing is characterised by vitality, a mastery of counterpoint and a gift for melody, and his
reputation as a composer is traditionally founded on compositions for the new Anglican liturgy. Almighty and everlasting God shows mature polyphonic fluency and a sensitivity to the text, with each of the five short lines individually characterised. Listen for dissonances at "our infirmities" and imitation at "all our dangers and necessities" with D natural and G flat in the alto and bass parts adding to the tension. "Stretch forth thy right hand" starts with a plaintive minim, appropriately the longest exposed note in the piece. The gaunt harmonies in bare fifths suggest the absence of the "right hand": its appearance is indicated two bars later by completed triads and near-homophonic texture. This brings reassurance, although the urgency intensifies with each repeated "to help and defend us" before moving into a meditative closing "Amen".
Byrd Though Amaryllis dance in green (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SAATB
This pastoral comes from the 1588 collection of adapted consort songs Psalmes, Sonets and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie and is a cautionary tale of love and marriage set as a riotous dance to a light but intricate five-part texture. Despite temptation the poet resolves at the end of each verse "chill love no more". Despite showing little interest in the madrigal, Byrd succeeded in cultivating secular vocal music in an impressive variety of forms; his pupil, Thomas Morley, championed the form.
Bennet All creatures now (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SSATB
Little is known about the English madrigalist John Bennet. He was born into a prosperous family and was educated at Abingdon School; he published his first collection of madrigals in 1599 when in his early twenties. This delightful piece is from The Triumphs of Oriana, a famous collection of 1601 commissioned by Morley in honour of Queen Elizabeth, and it is one of the most-loved of all madrigals. It is mostly homophonic, with a few obvious instances of word-painting: look out for an effervescent "merry"-ment, hovering birds, and a stately elongation of the word "Long" (live fair Oriana) towards the end of the piece. The phrase "the flowers themselves discover" means that they appear or show themselves.
Wilbye Alas what hope of speeding SATB
Wilby (1574-1638) was a prolific composer of English madrigals. His style is characterized by delicate voice-writing, acute sensitivity to text and language, a seriousness of approach and a subtlety of musical ideas. He spent much of his life employed as resident musician for a wealthy family of arts patrons. His primary compositional genre was the madrigal for 3, 4, 5, or 6 voices. This emotional setting of the text comes from Wilbye's first set of madrigals of 1598.
Weelkes Thule, the period of cosmography SSATTB and Sing we at pleasure (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SSATB
Weelkes' madrigals have been said to combine the elegance of Marenzio and the firm sense of tonality characteristic of Morley with the verbal sensitivity of Byrd. They are noted for word painting, lively rhythms, and highly developed sense of form and structure. Weelkes was a colourful personality, known for drunkenness and blasphemy; as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography puts it, "he was not the only disorderly member of the cathedral establishment, though in due course he would become its most celebrated".
The "period of cosmography" is the end of the world and indeed Thule (Iceland) was the end of the known world at the time of this composition. Hecla is a volcano in Iceland, and one can almost sense the "sulphurious fire" of an eruption before being taken on a tour of other geological wonders: "Trinacrian Etna" is in triple time, representing the three-corned hat that is the emblem of Sicily. But of course these great flames have nothing on the heat of the poet's love. So yes, this is a love-song masquerading as a geography lesson.
Sing we at pleasure dates from 1598 and is a ballet in binary form and is in five parts. There is a lively triple-time rhythm. Note the octave leaps on "pleasure" compared to otherwise largely step-wise movement. There is quite a bit of syncopation as a result of imitation and dotted rhythms throughout, and the fa-la refrains show the two sopranos in canon a bar apart.
Please note that music files that are linked to are not necessarily the same edition we will be using on the night and therefore there may be some slight differences.
Gibbons Almighty and everlasting God SATB
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) was one of the most versatile composers of his time. His choral writing is characterised by vitality, a mastery of counterpoint and a gift for melody, and his
reputation as a composer is traditionally founded on compositions for the new Anglican liturgy. Almighty and everlasting God shows mature polyphonic fluency and a sensitivity to the text, with each of the five short lines individually characterised. Listen for dissonances at "our infirmities" and imitation at "all our dangers and necessities" with D natural and G flat in the alto and bass parts adding to the tension. "Stretch forth thy right hand" starts with a plaintive minim, appropriately the longest exposed note in the piece. The gaunt harmonies in bare fifths suggest the absence of the "right hand": its appearance is indicated two bars later by completed triads and near-homophonic texture. This brings reassurance, although the urgency intensifies with each repeated "to help and defend us" before moving into a meditative closing "Amen".
Byrd Though Amaryllis dance in green (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SAATB
This pastoral comes from the 1588 collection of adapted consort songs Psalmes, Sonets and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie and is a cautionary tale of love and marriage set as a riotous dance to a light but intricate five-part texture. Despite temptation the poet resolves at the end of each verse "chill love no more". Despite showing little interest in the madrigal, Byrd succeeded in cultivating secular vocal music in an impressive variety of forms; his pupil, Thomas Morley, championed the form.
Bennet All creatures now (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SSATB
Little is known about the English madrigalist John Bennet. He was born into a prosperous family and was educated at Abingdon School; he published his first collection of madrigals in 1599 when in his early twenties. This delightful piece is from The Triumphs of Oriana, a famous collection of 1601 commissioned by Morley in honour of Queen Elizabeth, and it is one of the most-loved of all madrigals. It is mostly homophonic, with a few obvious instances of word-painting: look out for an effervescent "merry"-ment, hovering birds, and a stately elongation of the word "Long" (live fair Oriana) towards the end of the piece. The phrase "the flowers themselves discover" means that they appear or show themselves.
Wilbye Alas what hope of speeding SATB
Wilby (1574-1638) was a prolific composer of English madrigals. His style is characterized by delicate voice-writing, acute sensitivity to text and language, a seriousness of approach and a subtlety of musical ideas. He spent much of his life employed as resident musician for a wealthy family of arts patrons. His primary compositional genre was the madrigal for 3, 4, 5, or 6 voices. This emotional setting of the text comes from Wilbye's first set of madrigals of 1598.
Weelkes Thule, the period of cosmography SSATTB and Sing we at pleasure (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SSATB
Weelkes' madrigals have been said to combine the elegance of Marenzio and the firm sense of tonality characteristic of Morley with the verbal sensitivity of Byrd. They are noted for word painting, lively rhythms, and highly developed sense of form and structure. Weelkes was a colourful personality, known for drunkenness and blasphemy; as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography puts it, "he was not the only disorderly member of the cathedral establishment, though in due course he would become its most celebrated".
The "period of cosmography" is the end of the world and indeed Thule (Iceland) was the end of the known world at the time of this composition. Hecla is a volcano in Iceland, and one can almost sense the "sulphurious fire" of an eruption before being taken on a tour of other geological wonders: "Trinacrian Etna" is in triple time, representing the three-corned hat that is the emblem of Sicily. But of course these great flames have nothing on the heat of the poet's love. So yes, this is a love-song masquerading as a geography lesson.
Sing we at pleasure dates from 1598 and is a ballet in binary form and is in five parts. There is a lively triple-time rhythm. Note the octave leaps on "pleasure" compared to otherwise largely step-wise movement. There is quite a bit of syncopation as a result of imitation and dotted rhythms throughout, and the fa-la refrains show the two sopranos in canon a bar apart.
Please note that music files that are linked to are not necessarily the same edition we will be using on the night and therefore there may be some slight differences.
Gibbons Almighty and everlasting God SATB
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) was one of the most versatile composers of his time. His choral writing is characterised by vitality, a mastery of counterpoint and a gift for melody, and his
reputation as a composer is traditionally founded on compositions for the new Anglican liturgy. Almighty and everlasting God shows mature polyphonic fluency and a sensitivity to the text, with each of the five short lines individually characterised. Listen for dissonances at "our infirmities" and imitation at "all our dangers and necessities" with D natural and G flat in the alto and bass parts adding to the tension. "Stretch forth thy right hand" starts with a plaintive minim, appropriately the longest exposed note in the piece. The gaunt harmonies in bare fifths suggest the absence of the "right hand": its appearance is indicated two bars later by completed triads and near-homophonic texture. This brings reassurance, although the urgency intensifies with each repeated "to help and defend us" before moving into a meditative closing "Amen".
Byrd Though Amaryllis dance in green (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SAATB
This pastoral comes from the 1588 collection of adapted consort songs Psalmes, Sonets and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie and is a cautionary tale of love and marriage set as a riotous dance to a light but intricate five-part texture. Despite temptation the poet resolves at the end of each verse "chill love no more". Despite showing little interest in the madrigal, Byrd succeeded in cultivating secular vocal music in an impressive variety of forms; his pupil, Thomas Morley, championed the form.
Bennet All creatures now (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SSATB
Little is known about the English madrigalist John Bennet. He was born into a prosperous family and was educated at Abingdon School; he published his first collection of madrigals in 1599 when in his early twenties. This delightful piece is from The Triumphs of Oriana, a famous collection of 1601 commissioned by Morley in honour of Queen Elizabeth, and it is one of the most-loved of all madrigals. It is mostly homophonic, with a few obvious instances of word-painting: look out for an effervescent "merry"-ment, hovering birds, and a stately elongation of the word "Long" (live fair Oriana) towards the end of the piece. The phrase "the flowers themselves discover" means that they appear or show themselves.
Wilbye Alas what hope of speeding SATB
Wilby (1574-1638) was a prolific composer of English madrigals. His style is characterized by delicate voice-writing, acute sensitivity to text and language, a seriousness of approach and a subtlety of musical ideas. He spent much of his life employed as resident musician for a wealthy family of arts patrons. His primary compositional genre was the madrigal for 3, 4, 5, or 6 voices. This emotional setting of the text comes from Wilbye's first set of madrigals of 1598.
Weelkes Thule, the period of cosmography SSATTB and Sing we at pleasure (also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals) SSATB
Weelkes' madrigals have been said to combine the elegance of Marenzio and the firm sense of tonality characteristic of Morley with the verbal sensitivity of Byrd. They are noted for word painting, lively rhythms, and highly developed sense of form and structure. Weelkes was a colourful personality, known for drunkenness and blasphemy; as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography puts it, "he was not the only disorderly member of the cathedral establishment, though in due course he would become its most celebrated".
The "period of cosmography" is the end of the world and indeed Thule (Iceland) was the end of the known world at the time of this composition. Hecla is a volcano in Iceland, and one can almost sense the "sulphurious fire" of an eruption before being taken on a tour of other geological wonders: "Trinacrian Etna" is in triple time, representing the three-corned hat that is the emblem of Sicily. But of course these great flames have nothing on the heat of the poet's love. So yes, this is a love-song masquerading as a geography lesson.
Sing we at pleasure dates from 1598 and is a ballet in binary form and is in five parts. There is a lively triple-time rhythm. Note the octave leaps on "pleasure" compared to otherwise largely step-wise movement. There is quite a bit of syncopation as a result of imitation and dotted rhythms throughout, and the fa-la refrains show the two sopranos in canon a bar apart.
