The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-02-04
Morley's "Bonuie Lass" is quite a perfect
sample of the amatOrY madrlgal:-

Fa la la.
Dear love, call In their light,
Or else you burn me quite.
Fa la la.
Another characteristic specimen is Wilbye's
sweet Honey-SuCking Bees which reminds
one Of the Euphuisms of Sir Percle Sbafton, in
It's artificial raptures aud extravaganza Of Ian
guage:-
Sweet honey.sUckng bees, why DO ye still
Surfeit on roses pinks, and yiolets,
As If the choicest nectar lay i'm them,
WhereWith ye store your curious CABINETS!
Ali make your right to Melisuavia's lips,
Where may ye reyel in ambrosiau cheer,
Where smillng roses aud sweet lilies sit,
Keeping their sprng-tide graCes all the year.
Yet sweet, take heed! all sweets are hard to get;
sting not her soft lips. o beware of thau
For if one flaming dart come from her eye,
Was never dart 50 sharp! ah! then you die.
There is n rather pretty Conceit in these lines
written in 1854, and set TO music by G. Hayden;
As ] saw fair Chlora walk alone,
The ieathered snow came softly down,
As Jove descending from his tower,
To WOO her In q silver shower.
The wanton snow flew TO her breast,
Like little birds into their nest;
But being oercome with whtteness there,l
For grief dissolved INTO tear:
Thence falling down her garment hem
To deck her, irOze into gem.
Perhaps one OF the quaintest and prettiest
madrigals ever written, and one in which the
music is quite as quaint as the words, is Fair
Fair Phillis | saw sitting all alone
Feeding her flock near to the mountains side:
The shepherd knew not whittier she was gone,
But after his lover Amyntas hied.
Upand down he wandered while she was missing,
But when he found her, oh! then they fell
a.kissiDg.
Two more specimens will probably be quite
enough for our readers. The first was composed
by william Byrd in 1885, and the last by L.
Morley in 1890. MusiCally speaking, they are
not as interesting as others that we have quoted:
While the bright sun with his beams hot
Scorched the fruits in vale and mountain,
Phalop, the shepherd, late forgot,
Sitting beside crystal fountain;
In shadow of a green oak tree,
Upon his pipe this song played he:
Untrue love! adieu, love
Your mind is light; soon lost for new love
Fire FIRE! my heart
help, alas help!
All me!
| sit and cry me!
And call for help, alas!
But none comes nigh me,
Fa la la!
MtDRIGALs VERSUS GLEEs.
/ Strictly speaking. the difference between
| madrigaIs and glees j. this madriaal is sung
| by chorus, that is. by number of voices IN
! each part; and glee Is sung by only one voice
! on each part. This is, however, purely arbi-
! trary rule as there is no earthly reason why the
! parts IN a glee should not be sung Oy number
| of voices as we'll as by one. Besides this, the
words of glees are not generally amatory, but
! of q more boisterous ch araCter. Hunting themes
| are well adapted tor glees. Perhaps the most
popular glee ever written was The Chough and
| Crow" from Guy MGanering, which reads AS
| iollows:-
The enough and crow to roost are gone,
The owl sits on the tree;
/ The hush'd wind walls with feeble moan
Like infant charity;
The wild fire dances on the fen,
The red star sheds its ray,
Uprouse Ye, then, my merry merry men,
1t is our opening day.
Chorus.
Irprouse We, then, my merry, merry men,
IL is our opening day.
Alto Solo.
Both child and nurse are fast asleep,
And closed is every flower,
And winkng tapers family peep
High from my lady's bower;
Bewldered hinds, with shortend ken,
Shrink on their murky way.
Uprouse ye, then, my merry, merry men,
1t is our op'ning day.
Chorus.
Uprouse We, then, my merry merry men,
1t is our opning day.
Bass 500.
Nor board, nor garner own we now,
Nor roof, nor latChed door,
Nor kind mate bound by holy VOW
To bless good mans store;
Noon lulls us in gloomy den
And night is grown our day.
Trio.
Uprouse ye, then, my merry, merry men,
And use it as ye may.
Chorus.
Uprouse sc, then, my merry, merry men,
1t is our opnng day.
THE MADRIGAL IN AMERICA.
Z
this city oieaniZed q glee aud madrigal clul
and alter agreeable practice, gave successtl
concert. second similar entertainment We
organized, but did not take place. In 1888 th
same gentlemen gave concert tor the beneI
OF one OF their members; and somewhere abol
e 1860 still another concert was given at Do
worths Hall.
o One of these four gentlemen was Mr.. James
Johnson, a well-kno " u tenor and church mus
clan. The club was informally maintaue
. meeting but seldom, yet serving as nucleus
u means OF which madriga cDorus could at al
tine be gathered together. II was decided
few weeks ago to give Mr. johnson 0ened
;: and thus was brought about that admiral
J concert al Steinway Hall on the 29th OF DeceI
l., ber last. On this occasion about sixty ladl
Is and gentlemen, from the Mendtlssohn and Ha
mOnic Societies, from various church choi
le and from private life took part, They all ga
their services gratui, ously, and the bene6Cia
received the handsome testimonial of eig
hundred dollars from the sale of tickets.
This concert was in every way an exception
success. 1t was to most of the auditors quite
new revelation III musical art. 1t introduced
them class OF music with which they we
almost wholly unfamiliar excepting by nan
and the general demand for repetition W
so strong that another concert of a similar
nected with the organization. and the receil
were over a thousand dollars. There is,