Now is the month of Maying, and English madrigalists weren’t the only ones singing about it! Springtime is one of the most common themes we encounter in music of the past, and it continues to incite artistic reflections on the beauty of the natural world, as well as rebirth and love more generally. The end of winter was certainly cause for celebration in historically agrarian communities, so join us this hour for music to mark that marvelous time when the snow is long gone but the hottest days have yet to chase us back indoors. We’ve got a wide range of May songs, tunes inspired by spring flowers and gentle breezes, and a seasonal feature from Fretwork and The Sixteen.
PLAYLIST
Tarquinio Merula: Curtio Precipitato
Ensemble L’aura soave, Diego Cantalupi
Tactus | TC591302 (1999)
Tarquinio Merula
Tr. 3 Quando gli uccelli porteranno i zoccoli (4:31)
Segment A:
Leonardo Da Vinci: Passeggiata Musicale
Alta Early Music Ensemble
Ayros | 5902768283136 (2021)
Anonymous
Tr. 10 Ben Venga Maggio (2:32)
Trionfo d’Amore e della Morte
Piffaro, The Concord Ensemble
Dorian Sono Luminus | DOR-90312 (2003)
Anonymous, arr. A. Gilbert
Tr. 2 Ben venga maggio (2:19)
Codex Manesse
I Ciarlatani
Christophorus | CHE0138-2 (1996)
Raimbaut de Vaqueras
Tr. 5 Kalenda maya (3:13)
Splendours of the Gonzaga
Biscantores, Luca Colombo
Arcana | A545 (2023)
Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi
Tr. 14 Regina caeli (1:14)
Jan DeGaetani: Early Music Recital
Jan DeGaetani, Paul O’Dette, Judith Davidoff, Philip West
Bridge Records | BCD9087 (1999)
Oswald von Wolkenstein
Tr. 15 Der Mai mit lieber zal (2:49)
Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 / B000005J0B, T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal
:59 Midpoint Break Music Bed:
Trionfo d’Amore e della Morte
Piffaro, The Concord Ensemble
Dorian Sono Luminus | DOR-90312 (2003)
Carpentras
Tr. 26 Nova belleza (excerpt)
Segment B:
All at once well met
The King’s Singers
Warner Classics - Parlophone | 0077774926553 (2005)
Thomas Morley
Tr. 4 Now is the month of Maying (1:47)
Music for Tudor Kings
The Hilliard Ensemble
Musical Concepts | ALC1015 (2008)
Henry VIII
Tr. 7 O Lusty May (1:50)
Il sesto libro dei madrigali, 1614
La Venexiana
Glossa | GCD920926 (2005)
Claudio Monteverdi
Tr. 5 Zefiro torna e’l bel tempo rimena (3:46)
The Second Circle: Francesco Landini
Anonymous 4
Harmonia Mundi | HMG507269DI (2013)
Francesco Landini
Tr. 1 Ecco la primavera (1:14)
The Secret Music of Luzzasco Luzzaschi
Musica Secreta
Amon Ra | CDSAR58 (1992)
Luzzasco Luzzaschi
Tr. 4 O primavera (2:55)
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
E. Scholl, M. Ullmann, A. Schneider, L’Arpa Festante, A. Eberle
Naxos | 8.551276 (2011)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Tr. 13 Freude, du Lust der Gotter (Der Fruhling), Wq. 237, H. 723 (8:14)
Featured Release:
William Byrd: Psalmes, Songs, and Sonnets 1611
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers, Fretwork
COR16193 (2022)
William Byrd
Tr. 9 This Sweet and Merry Month of May (3:07)
Tr. ? O God that guides the cheerful sun (5:58)
Tr. 22 Crowned with flowers (2:29)