Poetic, humorous and bawdy Madrigal songs will be featured at the Orcas A Cappella Madrigal Dinner on Monday, Nov. 16. Tickets must be purchased by Nov. 9. Call Bev Leyman at 376-6811.
Contributed by Dennis Bonner
Come ye one and all to a magical Madrigal Feast – a great way to bring in the holidays! Join Orcas a Cappella in the Lodge at Camp Orkila, Monday evening, November 16, at 6:30 pm.
You will be rewarded with a plethora of food and drink, along with the musical accompaniment of the singers in Renaissance regalia. Enjoy the music of the Elizabethan age of England and France as Orcas a Cappella, divided into small madrigal groups, serenade the revelers as they dine. All singers will join at the top of the evening to present Ralph Vaughn William’s Elizabethan Songs, with poetry by William Shakespeare and George Herbert, along with a remarkable arrangement of the traditional “Greensleeves.” You will not want to miss this night of pure festivity! Come in costume or naught!
Tickets are $35, available at Darvill’s and Eastsound Instrument & Supplies by the post office, or by calling Bev Leyman at 376-6811.
Tickets MUST be purchased in advance, by Nov. 9. No tickets will be sold at the door.
Madrigal music was a primary entertainment in all the courts of Europe during the 16th and early 17th centuries, and became popular in the home as well. It features a richly polyphonic style and is usually associated with the poetry of the day. The texts are secular, unless designated otherwise, e.g. “madrigal spiritualis.” Madrigals were cultivated particularly by Italian, Flemish and English composers, but permeated the rest of Europe in the vernacular (mother tongue) of each country. The name madrigal derives from the composition’s use of poetry in the mother tongue (matricalis, belonging to the womb). The tone is often satirical, and the subject matter is love related, idyllic or pastoral. The various types of English madrigals were usually a cappella, however sometimes they included the viols, and mostly emphasized declamation of text, which was distinct from the melismatic Italian style. We shall leave it at that! The singers hope you will join them on November 16.
For more information, contact Bev Leyman at 376-6811.
