Long Live Fair Oriana

Sooner or later, every amateur singer encounters the English madrigal. The OED defines a madrigal as “an old style of contrapuntal unaccompanied part- song for several voices”; the English specimens of the art were produced in a period roughly bounded by the career of Shakespeare. Like Shakespeare, the madrigal came to be considered uncouth and eccentric; but we have more than made up for this neglect. I would guess that the average high-school choir is now as likely to sing Thomas Morley as Rodgers and Hammerstein. In this context, a small, newly formed amateur group called Vox Humana achieved something of a coup this March by giving the New York premier of one of the English Renaissance’s great masterpieces—a 25-madrigal set entitled The Triumphes of Oriana.

The Triumphes of Oriana appeared in 1601, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth had executed the charming and rebellious Earl of Essex in February, and The Triumphes were commissioned for a lavish May Day celebration designed to cheer her up. FACTS!

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

Sooner or later, every amateur singer encounters the English madrigal. The OED defines a madrigal as “an old style of contrapuntal unaccompanied part- song for several voices”; the English specimens of the art were produced in a period roughly bounded by the career of Shakespeare. Like Shakespeare, the madrigal came to be considered uncouth and eccentric; but we have more than made up for this neglect. I would guess that the average high-school choir is now as likely to sing Thomas Morley as Rodgers and Hammerstein. In this context, a small, newly formed amateur group called Vox Humana achieved something of a coup this March by giving the New York premier of one of the English Renaissance’s great masterpieces—a 25-madrigal set entitled The Triumphes of Oriana.

The Triumphes of Oriana appeared in 1601, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth had executed the charming and rebellious Earl of Essex in February, and The Triumphes were commissioned for a lavish May Day celebration designed to cheer her up. FACTS!