The Madrigal

An Abbreviated History

While today we have a seemingly endless variety of musical choices – both in style and in accessibility – the beauty of a cappella music, chamber music, and in particular, the Madrigal, has a unique appeal which endures through the centuries.

Madrigals were first written and performed during a time in history when all entertainment was live entertainment. No recording devices, no broadcast capability. Traveling jugglers, storytellers and magicians provided some relief from the typical day's drudgery, but making one's own music and art were fine recreation for the Renaissance man or woman.

The ability to sing, or play some musical instrument, or both, was considered part of a child’s essential education. The actual playing or singing, as well as the listening, was considered good entertainment.

Much of the music available at that time was challenging, and taken on with gusto by amateur musicians. Consider that Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos were written for performing by members of a family not far different in their context (if not finances) than many families you know today!

A reference to learn more on this subject, particularly the English Madrigal, can be found in Bruce Pattison’s “Music and Poetry of the English Renaissance.” Bruce Pattison discusses that Thomas Morley, a famed composer of the English Madrigal, and, a music teacher, had something to gain from convincing people that music was an important subject for study, but also points out that "he would scarcely have inferred a standard of proficiency wildly beyond contemporary realities", supporting the theory that musical training was considered a necessary part of a good upbringing in Renaissance times.

Madrigals were written in many languages, including English, Italian, French, and more. In 1588 a collection of Italian Madrigals was translated into English and circulated, much to the joy of English enthusiasts…for although some Italian Madrigal manuscripts had been in circulation since the 1530's, "Musica transalpina" was the first collection of Italian madrigals to be published in England. It was certainly not the last, however, since during that period the English had become fascinated with Italian culture and demanded both music and poetry in that style.

Original English Madrigals grew out of the development of native English poetry and the sonnet, which lent itself to Madrigal music development. English Madrigals in particular were characterized by a light, clear texture (often with sudden contrasts), short, rhyming lines, variable design, and a textual orientation toward love songs. Almost exclusively cheery in attitude, even if the subject matter was serious, the setting was light-hearted, with even sad text punctuated by cheery "Fa La La" choruses!

The earlier mentioned Thomas Morley (1557-1603) is generally considered the father of the English Madrigal, and he began publishing Italianesque music in 1593. Morley's assimilation of Italian techniques is repeatedly illustrated in his work. Thomas Weelkes was a major composers of the second generation of the English Madrigal school. His major contribution was the addition of some structural solidity that Morley's madrigals had lacked. Weelkes published four books of madrigals (Kerman, Elizabethan 223). His first collection was not much different than Morley's works and the bulk of his output was light works. Weelkes' primary importance, however, comes from his more serious works, which were marked by introducing the 'fa-la' into a 'serious' madrigal. Weelkes also uses the 'fa-la' refrain in his somwhat more reserved tunes.

Weelkes did not follow the Italians in other ways, though. He used only English poetry. In addition, Weelkes' works sometimes make for more challenging singing because of his tendency toward an instrumental style of writing, also seen in some of Handel’s early works such as his Dixit Dominus.

By the early 1600s, the Madrigal began to take a back seat to the lute-song, a less artificial and more native form. In spite of its decrease in popularity, it continued to be regular fare for a good quarter century after Thomas Morley’s death, and has had small but significant resurgences of popularity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

To learn more about some of the great writers of a cappella and madrigal music of the type that The Boom Consort performs, click here: composers.

Renaissance composers include: (click on picture)

William Byrd

Orlando di Lasso (Lassus)

Orlando Gibbons

Monteverdi

Thomas Morley

Thomas Weelkes

Praetorius

Tomás Luis de Victoria

References
Blom, Eric. Music in England. New York: Pelican Books, 1947.
Caldwell, John. The Oxford History of English Music. Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.
Davey, Henry. History of English Music. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.
Dzapo, Kyle. "Music in its Historical Perspective I (MUS 235)." Bradley University (College of Communications and Fine Arts, Department of Music), Peoria,
28 August-09 December 1996.
Kerman, Joseph. The Elizabethan Madrigal. American Musicological Society, 1962.
"Madrigal." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 1980.
Pattison, Bruce. Music and Poetry of the English Renaissance. London: Methuen & Co., 1971.
Nathan Hampton, nhampton@jps.net, written July 1999.
Ann Leiter, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/htdocs/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/f98/leitera.htm