Please note that music files that are linked to are not necessarily the same edition we will be using on the day and therefore there may be some slight differences.
Gibbons Nunc dimittis or YouTube SATB
Nunc dimittis, the Song of Simeon, is sung at the liturgical night office of many Western denominations, including Evensong and Compline. Simeon was a devout Jew who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Mary and Joseph had brought their infant son to the Temple of Jersualem for the purification ceremony (Candlemas: 2 February) and this moving text sets his reponse. Gibbons' exquisite Short Service is largely homophonic and syllabic (one syllable per note), although at the Gloria a canon between soprano and alto is set up, giving a masterly impression of a greater complexity. The work is one of quiet profundity, giving rise to a feeling of something greater than the individual parts.
Wilbye Sweet honey-sucking bees or YouTube NOT the Oxford Book of English Madrigals version SSATB
John Wilbye was one of the finest madrigalists of his time. His fame rests on his madrigalean output, and his achievement in the grave music of his 'serious' madrigals, a style then largely unpractised in England. His alert ear for the rhythm, stress and intonation of speech fills his music with passages in which the verbal accent is counterpointed against the musical metre. Sweet honey-sucking bees and its second part, Yet sweet take heed display his skill in vocal orchestration: the full number of voices is not constant, with the composer writing for much of the time for ever-changing smaller groups within the ensemble.
Gibbons The Silver swan or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SATBarB
This gem of a piece is a perennial favourite. It is a mix of homophonic and imitative music with suspensions at the cadence points and a little chromaticism - listen for the augmented triad on 'death' and for other examples of word-painting such as on 'leaning' and a descending sequence on 'thus sung her first and last'.
The last line - 'More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise' - is sometimes considered to be a lament for the death of the English tradition. The idea that swans only sing when they are dying, the so-called swan song, is a myth and was refuted by Pliny the Elder; nevertheless, poetic imagery proved to be more attractive than scientific method and many poets and playwrights made use of the fable.
Wilbye Alas, what hope of speeding or YouTube SATB
This lovely, emotional setting of the text comes from the composer's first set of madrigals of 1598.
Weelkes Thule, the period of cosmography or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SSATTB
This - my favourite madrigal! - is a veritable geographical tour of the world's volcanic wonders. Thule is ancient name for a land six days' sail north of Britain, supposed to be the most northerly region in the world, whilst Hecla is an Icelandic volcano and Etna a more famous Sicilian one - 'trinacrian Etna' refers to the three-cornered hat of Sicily, depicted by Weekles is a short jovial passage in triple time. If we have time, we can go on to its companion piece, The Andalusian merchant, where there is reference to Fogo, where the whole island is a volcano.
Tomkins See, see the shepherds' queen or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SSATB
A lively ballet, from Songs of 3,4,5 and 6 parts of 1622. Although it looks lengthy, it is in fact in three sections each sung twice, identical except that the soprano lines swap around for each second appearance. The Welsh-born Tomkins (1572-1656) was a pupil of William Byrd. In 1596 he was appointed organist of Worcester and in 1621 he also became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, necessitating dual duties in Worcester and London which continued until 1639.
Please note that music files that are linked to are not necessarily the same edition we will be using on the day and therefore there may be some slight differences.
Gibbons Nunc dimittis or YouTube SATB
Nunc dimittis, the Song of Simeon, is sung at the liturgical night office of many Western denominations, including Evensong and Compline. Simeon was a devout Jew who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Mary and Joseph had brought their infant son to the Temple of Jersualem for the purification ceremony (Candlemas: 2 February) and this moving text sets his reponse. Gibbons' exquisite Short Service is largely homophonic and syllabic (one syllable per note), although at the Gloria a canon between soprano and alto is set up, giving a masterly impression of a greater complexity. The work is one of quiet profundity, giving rise to a feeling of something greater than the individual parts.
Wilbye Sweet honey-sucking bees or YouTube NOT the Oxford Book of English Madrigals version SSATB
John Wilbye was one of the finest madrigalists of his time. His fame rests on his madrigalean output, and his achievement in the grave music of his 'serious' madrigals, a style then largely unpractised in England. His alert ear for the rhythm, stress and intonation of speech fills his music with passages in which the verbal accent is counterpointed against the musical metre. Sweet honey-sucking bees and its second part, Yet sweet take heed display his skill in vocal orchestration: the full number of voices is not constant, with the composer writing for much of the time for ever-changing smaller groups within the ensemble.
Gibbons The Silver swan or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SATBarB
This gem of a piece is a perennial favourite. It is a mix of homophonic and imitative music with suspensions at the cadence points and a little chromaticism - listen for the augmented triad on 'death' and for other examples of word-painting such as on 'leaning' and a descending sequence on 'thus sung her first and last'.
The last line - 'More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise' - is sometimes considered to be a lament for the death of the English tradition. The idea that swans only sing when they are dying, the so-called swan song, is a myth and was refuted by Pliny the Elder; nevertheless, poetic imagery proved to be more attractive than scientific method and many poets and playwrights made use of the fable.
Wilbye Alas, what hope of speeding or YouTube SATB
This lovely, emotional setting of the text comes from the composer's first set of madrigals of 1598.
Weelkes Thule, the period of cosmography or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SSATTB
This - my favourite madrigal! - is a veritable geographical tour of the world's volcanic wonders. Thule is ancient name for a land six days' sail north of Britain, supposed to be the most northerly region in the world, whilst Hecla is an Icelandic volcano and Etna a more famous Sicilian one - 'trinacrian Etna' refers to the three-cornered hat of Sicily, depicted by Weekles is a short jovial passage in triple time. If we have time, we can go on to its companion piece, The Andalusian merchant, where there is reference to Fogo, where the whole island is a volcano.
Tomkins See, see the shepherds' queen or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SSATB
A lively ballet, from Songs of 3,4,5 and 6 parts of 1622. Although it looks lengthy, it is in fact in three sections each sung twice, identical except that the soprano lines swap around for each second appearance. The Welsh-born Tomkins (1572-1656) was a pupil of William Byrd. In 1596 he was appointed organist of Worcester and in 1621 he also became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, necessitating dual duties in Worcester and London which continued until 1639.
Please note that music files that are linked to are not necessarily the same edition we will be using on the day and therefore there may be some slight differences.
Gibbons Nunc dimittis or YouTube SATB
Nunc dimittis, the Song of Simeon, is sung at the liturgical night office of many Western denominations, including Evensong and Compline. Simeon was a devout Jew who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Mary and Joseph had brought their infant son to the Temple of Jersualem for the purification ceremony (Candlemas: 2 February) and this moving text sets his reponse. Gibbons' exquisite Short Service is largely homophonic and syllabic (one syllable per note), although at the Gloria a canon between soprano and alto is set up, giving a masterly impression of a greater complexity. The work is one of quiet profundity, giving rise to a feeling of something greater than the individual parts.
Wilbye Sweet honey-sucking bees or YouTube NOT the Oxford Book of English Madrigals version SSATB
John Wilbye was one of the finest madrigalists of his time. His fame rests on his madrigalean output, and his achievement in the grave music of his 'serious' madrigals, a style then largely unpractised in England. His alert ear for the rhythm, stress and intonation of speech fills his music with passages in which the verbal accent is counterpointed against the musical metre. Sweet honey-sucking bees and its second part, Yet sweet take heed display his skill in vocal orchestration: the full number of voices is not constant, with the composer writing for much of the time for ever-changing smaller groups within the ensemble.
Gibbons The Silver swan or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SATBarB
This gem of a piece is a perennial favourite. It is a mix of homophonic and imitative music with suspensions at the cadence points and a little chromaticism - listen for the augmented triad on 'death' and for other examples of word-painting such as on 'leaning' and a descending sequence on 'thus sung her first and last'.
The last line - 'More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise' - is sometimes considered to be a lament for the death of the English tradition. The idea that swans only sing when they are dying, the so-called swan song, is a myth and was refuted by Pliny the Elder; nevertheless, poetic imagery proved to be more attractive than scientific method and many poets and playwrights made use of the fable.
Wilbye Alas, what hope of speeding or YouTube SATB
This lovely, emotional setting of the text comes from the composer's first set of madrigals of 1598.
Weelkes Thule, the period of cosmography or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SSATTB
This - my favourite madrigal! - is a veritable geographical tour of the world's volcanic wonders. Thule is ancient name for a land six days' sail north of Britain, supposed to be the most northerly region in the world, whilst Hecla is an Icelandic volcano and Etna a more famous Sicilian one - 'trinacrian Etna' refers to the three-cornered hat of Sicily, depicted by Weekles is a short jovial passage in triple time. If we have time, we can go on to its companion piece, The Andalusian merchant, where there is reference to Fogo, where the whole island is a volcano.
Tomkins See, see the shepherds' queen or YouTube Also in the Oxford Book of English Madrigals SSATB
A lively ballet, from Songs of 3,4,5 and 6 parts of 1622. Although it looks lengthy, it is in fact in three sections each sung twice, identical except that the soprano lines swap around for each second appearance. The Welsh-born Tomkins (1572-1656) was a pupil of William Byrd. In 1596 he was appointed organist of Worcester and in 1621 he also became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, necessitating dual duties in Worcester and London which continued until 1639.
