Nicholas Yonge

Nicholas Yonge (born about 1560; buried October 23, 1619) was an English singer and publisher (his name is an old spelling of the word "Young" and pronounced the same way).  He is most famous for publishing a collection of music called Musica transalpina. The first part of the collection appeared in 1588 (during the reign of Elizabeth I).

Musica transalpina was a collection of Italian madrigals.  The title Musica transalpina  means: "music from across the Alps" because the music came from Italy which was the other side of the Alps.
Yonge kept the tunes, but the Italian words of the madrigals were translated into English.  Musica transalpina had 57 separate pieces by 18 Italian composers, including Alfonso Ferrabosco and Luca Marenzio.  Ferrabosco was living in England at the time.

Music publishing was quite a new thing in those days. The publication of this book had a huge influence on music in England.  It made madrigals very popular in England and during the next twenty years composers such as Thomas Morley, John Wilbye and Thomas Weelkes composed a large number of English madrigals.
In 1597 Yonge published a second book of Musica transalpina which was also very influential.

References
David Brown, "Nicholas Yonge".  The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie.  20 vol.  London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980.  

Category:1560s births
Category:1619 deaths
Category:English singers