musica Dei donum
CD reviews
John WILBYE (1574 - 1638): "Draw On Sweet Night"
I Fagiolini
Dir: Robert Hollingworth
rec: August 28 - 29, 2014, London, Specific Sound Studios; August 21 - 23, 2021, London, St Paul's School, Barnes (Wathen Hall)
Coro - COR 16190 (© 2022) (75'48")
Liner-notes: E; lyrics - no translations
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
Spotify
Adieu, sweet Amaryllis [1];
All pleasure is of this condition [2];
Cruel, behold my heavy ending [1];
Down in a valley [2];
Draw on sweet night [2];
Flora gave me fairest flowers [1];
Happy, O happy he [2];
I live, and yet methinks [2];
I love, alas! yet am not loved [2];
Lady, when I behold [1];
Lady, your words do spite me [1];
Love not me for comely grace [2];
O what shall I do? [2];
O wretched man [2];
Of joys and pleasing pains [1];
Oft have I vowed [2];
Sweet honey-suckling bees [2];
There, where I saw [2];
Thou art but young [1];
Thus saith my Cloris bright [1];
Weep, O mine eyes [1];
Weep, weep, mine eyes [2];
When shall my wretched life [1];
Where most my thoughts [2];
Ye restless thoughts [1]
Sources:
[1] The First Set of Madrigals for Three, Four, Five and Six Voices, 1598;
[2] The Second Set of Madrigales ... apt both for voyals and voyces, 1609
Grace Davidson, Rebecca Lea, Helen Neeves, Emma Tring, soprano;
Martha McLorinan, Clare Wilkinson, mezzo-soprano;
Robert Hollingworth, alto;
Matthew Long, Nicolas Mulroy, tenor;
Greg Skidmore, baritone;
Charles Gibbs, bass
The madrigal was one of the main genres of secular music in the late Renaissance and the early decades of the baroque period. Its heydays were the about one hundred years from 1540 to 1640. During that period a large number of collections of madrigals were published. One of the pioneers of the modern revival of the madrigal, Anthony Rooley, once said that he could record one collection of madrigals of high quality each week for the rest of his life. With that he wanted to indicate the level of composing in this genre. And then he only talked about Italian madrigals. The genre also disseminated across the Alps. In Germany and the southern Netherlands Italian madrigals were also published, and composers living there contributed themselves to the genre. As has been so often the case in the course of its history, England became acquainted with the genre rather late, in the late decades of the 16th century.
That is to say, Italian madrigals circulated in manuscript in England since the 1530s, but it was only in the 1590s that the genre became part of the music scene. One of the factors which played a role in this process was the influx of Italian composers, especially Alfonso Ferrabosco (I), who entered the service of Elizabeth I. One of the main signs of the growing popularity of the genre was the publication of Musica Transalpina (1588), a collection of Italian madrigals in English translations. Many pieces in this volume were taken from Musica Divina, a book of madrigals published in 1583 in Antwerp by Pierre Phalèse. The English translations were sung by a group of "Gentlemen and Merchants of good accompt" at the home of Nicholas Yonge, a London lay clerk. Among the most popular pieces were madrigals by Ferrabosco and the young Luca Marenzio. This reflects the preferences of the English for the more conservative madrigals. The modern fashions in the direction of a closer connection between text and music and a more declamatory way of setting texts were ignored.
With time English composers adopted the genre and started to compose madrigals on English texts. One of the first was William Byrd. An important event in the history of the English madrigal was the publication in 1601 of The Triumphes of Oriana, a set of madrigals in praise of Elizabeth I. Byrd did not continue to write madrigals, but rather consort songs in the traditional English manner, although in the pieces he composed at the latest stages of his career include influences of the Italian madrigal. It was rather a later generation of English composers which turned to the madrigal and wrote pieces which show the influence of the Italian style. Among them were Thomas Morley, Thomas Weelkes and John Wilbye.
Wilbye was from Diss in Norfolk and entered the service of the Kytsons at Hengrave Hall, outside Bury St Edmunds, who had a lively interest in music. Their establishment included music books and instruments. In 1598 he published his first book of madrigals, followed in 1609 by a second book. Wilbye also contributed a madrigal to the above-mentioned collection The Triumphes of Oriana. Wilbye is only known for his madrigals. He composed some sacred works and a few instrumental pieces, but these are hardly known and performed. Not that his madrigals have fared substantially better, but that fate they share with most English madrigals.
In the booklet to the recording under review here, Robert Hollingworth, the director of I Fagiolini, points out that "English madrigals have been out of fashion for so long that some choirs with the term 'madrigal' in their title have even renamed themselves." It was different in the early days of historical performance practice. Several ensembles performed and recorded English madrigals. I already mentioned the name of Anthony Rooley, who with his ensemble The Consort of Musicke was responsible for several discs with such repertoire. Unfortunately their example was not followed by others. One reason may be an observation of Hollingworth, that "it has become fashionable to pass off English madrigals as 'just for the pleasure of the singers' (as if that was somehow a bad thing) (...)". The addition between brackets is to the point, but may well explain why they are not often performed and recorded. This disc with a selection from the two books by Wilbye should prove that they are well worth listening to.
The two books of madrigals comprise 30 and 34 madrigals respectively. The scoring varies from three to six voices. They may have been sung at the gatherings of the circle around Nicholas Yonge mentioned above. John Milsom, in his liner-notes, mentions that the "gentlemen and merchants" may have be joined by boy choristers from the choir of St Paul's Cathedral. He also points out that Wilbye was influenced by the madrigals of Thomas Morley, Italian composers as Marenzio and Monteverdi, and also the lute songs by John Dowland. Moreover, "he clearly learnt by playing and listening to fantasies for viols and lute, which taught him much about pacing and
form. In short, Wilbye's works are products of fusion, and their small number may imply that he worked on them slowly and carefully." The connection to the consort music of his days is interesting, as the title of the second book mentions that they are "apt both for voyals and voyces". It is notable that Milsom, in his comment on the various madrigals, states that two madrigals "are much-admired pieces, though in each case the fit of words to music is slightly odd; could they be adaptations of viol fantasias?"
He emphasizes the differences in character between the madrigals. Some are short and light-weight, others more substantial. It is essential not to listen to these pieces from the perspective of their Italian counterparts: "[They] are always reflective, never dramatic." The way the text is treated differs. In some cases pieces can stand on there own feet, even if they were performed instrumentally. In other cases they make only sense with text. There are pieces where harmony is used to underline some words, in other cases the connection is looser. All pleasure is of this condition is an example of a madrigal, in which words are eloquently illustrated: "All pleasure is of this condition: it pricks men forward to fruition. But if enjoy'd, then like the humming bee, the honey being shed, away doth flee, but leaves a sting that wounds the inward heart with gnawing grief and never-ending smart."
Milsom sums up why he thinks Wilbye's madrigals are special. "To an extent it is because they are musically so memorable - striking works when first heard, hard to forget, once experienced. Wilbye's constant stream of invention is impressive - his judicious union of words with music, his unexpected harmonies, his thrilling textures. Above all, though, Wilbye shines because of his capacity to develop his musical ideas." This recording offers the opportunity to put this statement to the test.
This selection of 25 pieces should suffice to get an impression of the nature and quality of Wilbye's madrigals. It is to be hoped that one day we will see a complete recording. This disc is put together from two recordings dating from 2014 and 2021 respectively. This explains the partly different personnel in the ensemble. Hollingworth opted for a purely vocal performance. The option indicated in the title of the second book, that viols may be used, is ignored here. That is another aspect a complete recording may correct; it would be interesting to hear some of the madrigals with voices and viols. Overall I am happy with this recording which I certainly have enjoyed. However, I am not entirely satisfied, which is mainly due to the fact that in some pieces a few singers use a bit of vibrato which is clearly noticeable and which damages the ensemble. Even so, I recommend this disc, especially as recent recordings of English madrigals are rather rare. One may hope that this is going to change; the genre deserves a 'second chance', as it were. It is one of the least-known parts of English music of the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Johan van Veen (© 2023)
Relevant links:
I Fagiolini