A great role was played by Pavel Jurkovic and the
madrigalists. They splendidly mastered fipple flutes, so we naturally applied them, in various manners.
He was also the chorus master of the Czech
Madrigalists, an outstanding amateur ensemble singing vocal polyphony very nicely.
Endearingly homespun accounts from the Choir and Orchestra of the Czech
Madrigalists recorded in the Church of All Saints in Prague Castle last May bring the seasonal Czech countryside to life, with a 'chuffy' little organ and a bright, warmly resonant chamber orchestra.
References to English artistic culture and composition occur singularly infrequently in Walker's exposition of humanist theories of music during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; the solitary appearance of the English
madrigalists, for instance, is in a reference to 'writers and composers who have no apparent interest in ancient music or the effects'.(64) Walker's definition of 'humanism' centres on the urge to recapture styles and methods of ancient music-making, particularly in relation to the practices of Orpheus, the mythic poet and philosopher who so exercised the minds not only of sixteenth-century theorists such as Zarlino, Galilei and Mersenne but also of a wide variety of contemporary poets, conspicuously including those in England.
The son of a prominent courtier to whom Tasso had addressed ten poems and dedicated his dialogue De ludo, Pocaterra was also a talented poet, several of whose amorous stanzas were set to music by such
madrigalists as Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Alfonso Fontanelli.(26) Perhaps the earliest references to Pocaterra appear in Agostino Superbi's biographical dictionary of Ferrarese notables, published in 1620.
The Byrd Edition and the English
Madrigalists, T74 (2010/11).
I started to play with various music ensembles here, including the Prague
Madrigalists, whose artistic director is Damiano Binneti.
English music from those eras was certainly an influence upon Tippett's musical vocabulary, dancing textures of the English
madrigalists and the sonorous tensions of Purcell, prominent features of a style which remained unequivocally his own; jazz was another component, as was a Beethovenian sense of striving which led some to accuse his music of being "difficult" - nothing could be further from the truth, at least for the listener.
But again it is perhaps necessary to move beyond our tendency to focus on one or two prominent composers out of context, and look for evidence that other
madrigalists in Rome's flourishing musical environment might themselves have been exploring this new technique at the same time.
The Prague Singers' Chamber Association (later appearing under the name "The Czech
Madrigalists"), the Association for Sacred Music and the "Pro arte antiqua Association" orchestra playing on old instruments took a leading part in this broadcasting.
It is important to stress that this whole movement has important precursors that require at least a brief mention here: they were first and foremost the ensemble Ars revidiva with Milan Munclinger, and then Musica Antiqua Praha with Pavel Klikar and Miroslav Venhoda and his group The Prague
Madrigalists. These provided what were often decisive impulses alongside the foreign influences and studies abroad.
During the first five or six years of her librarianship, Ruth continued Duncan's practices, while completing her dissertation on five sixteenth-century Italian
madrigalists. She sought the advice of Dr.
1557-1609) within The English
Madrigalists series is convincing, and the volume is a valuable addition to our knowledge of the music available in England in the early seventeenth century.
For example in the spring of 1968 the two musicians formed the backbone of the concert of Prague
Madrigalists "on the steps".
