Second Book of Madrigals, for six voices, for mixed choir (SSATTBar)

Like many Englishmen I had sung madrigals for pleasure - usually late at night with friends, after several glasses of wine. While these madrigals have their charm, and many are extremely beautiful, I found, as I began an extended exploration of the madrigal as a creative venture, that the richest source lies in the Italian Renaissance. In 1998 I embarked on a project to write a series of madrigals, eventually deciding to collect them in ?books? in the manner of Italian madrigalists, such as Monteverdi or Gesualdo. The Second Book is for an unusual six-part group - the Scandinavian Trio Mediaeval (3 sopranos) and three tenors (John Potter plus two from the Hilliard Ensemble) - and sets Petrarch in the original 14th century Italian. I focused on those sonnets known as the Rima Sparsi (scattered verses) and added one extra Petrarch setting - originally a radiophonic piece (Marconi's Madrigal) for CBC's Marconi Day. Gavin Bryars

CONTENIDO:

Benedetto sia 'l giorno e 'l mese et l' anno
Io son già stanco di pensar sì come
Quando dal proprio sito si rumove
Poi che voi et io più volte abbiam provato
Non veggio ove scampar mi possa omai
Ponmi ove 'l sole occide i fiori et l' erba
Non Tesin, Po, Baro, Arno, Adige et Tebro
I' vidi in terra angelici costumi
O passi sparsi, o pensier vaghi et pronti
Una candida cerva sopra l' erba
Che fai? che pensi?
Amor, che meco al buon tempo ti stavi
Fu forse un tempo dolce
Morte à spento quel sol ch' abagliar suolmi
Marconi's Madrigal, Se 'l sasso ond' è più chiusa questa valle