Everything about The English Madrigal School totally explained
The
English Madrigal School was the brief but intense flowering of the musical
madrigal in England, mostly from
1588 to
1627, along with the composers who produced them. The English madrigals were
a cappella, predominantly light in style, and generally began as either copies or direct translations of
Italian models. Most were for three to six voices.
Style and Characteristics
Most likely the impetus for writing madrigals came through the influence of
Alfonso Ferrabosco, who worked in England in the
1560s and
1570s in
Queen Elizabeth's court; he wrote many works in the form, and not only did they prove popular but they inspired some imitation by local composers. The development that caused the explosion of madrigal composition in England, however, was the development of native poetry — especially the
sonnet — which was conducive to setting to music in the Italian style. When
Nicholas Yonge published
Musica transalpina in
1588, it proved to be immensely popular, and the vogue for madrigal composition in England can be said to truly have started then.
Musica transalpina was a collection of Italian madrigals, mostly by Ferrabosco and
Marenzio, fitted with English words. They were loved, and several similar anthologies followed immediately after the success of the first. Yonge himself published a second
Musica transalpina in
1597, hoping to duplicate the success of the first collection.
While
William Byrd, probably the most famous English composer of the time, experimented with the madrigal form, he never actually called his works madrigals, and shortly after writing some secular songs in madrigalian style returned to writing mostly sacred music.
The most influential composers of madrigals in England, and the ones whose works have survived best to the present day, were
Thomas Morley,
Thomas Weelkes and
John Wilbye. Morley is the only composer of the time who set verse by
Shakespeare for which the music has survived. His style is melodic, easily singable, and remains popular with
a cappella singing groups. Wilbye had a very small compositional output, but his madrigals are distinctive with their expressiveness and
chromaticism; they'd never be confused with their Italian predecessors. Weelkes was also a composer of expressive and sometimes chromatic music (and also a skilled composer of church music) but he unfortunately had an early burnout, losing his battle with alcoholism and depression.
The last line of
Gibbons' Silver Swan of 1612,
» "More Geese than Swans now live, more Fools than Wise."
is often considered to be a lament for the death of the English tradition.
Madrigals continued to be composed in England through the
1620s, but the
air and "
recitative music" rendered the style obsolete; somewhat belatedly, characteristics of the
Baroque style finally appeared in England. While the music of the English Madrigal School is of generally high quality and has endured in popularity, it's useful to remember that the total output of the composers was relatively small: Luca Marenzio in Italy alone published more books of madrigals than the entire sum of madrigal publications in England, and
Philippe de Monte wrote more madrigals (over 1100) than were written in England during the entire period.
Composers
The following list includes almost all of the composers of the English Madrigal School who published works. Many of these were amateur composers, some known only for a single book of madrigals, and some for an even smaller contribution.
Further Information
Get more info on 'English Madrigal School'.
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