Music is an essential part of civic, religious and country life of the modern population. There are different types and forms of music that exists today and they have been changing over the years. Nevertheless, the renaissance period has witnessed major developments over the years as they get popularity all over the world. For instance, ‘’Fair Phyllis I Saw Sitting All Alone’’ by Madriga John Farmer is a good example of a renaissance composition (“King’s Singers – Madrigal History Tour – Fair Phyllis”, 2016).  The composer of this composition adopts Renaissance compositional technique of imitation with each part entering from soprano voice down to bass voice in sequence. The interchange between male and female sounds in the composition is evident of the madrigal renaissance technique. Farmer plays with the text by having each part sing ascending and descending imitative lines, musically depicting the words, “Up and down he wandered.” During this segment, the bass line acts as a pedal drone, while the upper three voices repeatedly move “up and down.” (“John Farmer – Fair Phyllis I saw – The Cambridge Singers”, 2016). In addition, there are also cappella voices evident in the composition which is a musical instrument associated with renaissance musical era.

“Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone” – soprano voice sings alone. “Feeding her flock near to the mountain side” – homorhythmic texture suggesting a flock. “flock” – syncopation. “up and down” – descending lines with the word “up” on the highest pitch. “O, then they fell a-kissing” – shifts to triple meter. “fell a-kissing” – syncopation. The line “up and down” is sung in an imitative texture which leaps up and down in register, mirroring the meaning of the words. The line “Fell a kissing” gaily leaps up and down in register, illustrating the lovers’ joy in finding each other (“John Farmer – Fair Phyllis I saw – The Cambridge Singers”, 2016). The harmonies are especially clear in this section, to assure that the listener doesn’t miss the insinuations. Most of the lines in the composition are of contrapuntal texture which overlaps in a playful manner. Its charming, dance-like melody and slightly suggestive lyrics give an effect of playfulness and simplicity that epitomize the genre.

Farmer cleverly ends the composition by creating a resolution to the story line. First, he moves from an imitative, polyphonic texture to a homorhythmic texture. He then creates a playful mood through his portrayal of the text, “when he found her, they fell a kissing…” Farmer uses a contrasting triple to duple meter and duple to triple meter (“King’s Singers – Madrigal History Tour – Fair Phyllis”, 2016). A light, lilting pastoral image is created through Farmer’s masterful skill of combining music and text in this delightful madrigal. A piece such as this was meant to be enjoyed by audiences and performers alike, with its challenging imitative entrances, mixed meter and enchanting text.

References

John Farmer – Fair Phyllis I saw – The Cambridge Singers. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 18 July 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eeVMEMxlkc

King’s Singers – Madrigal History Tour – Fair Phyllis. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 18 July 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYbN_2hqFoI

composer

John Farmer

published in

1599

language of text

English

performing forces

four a cappella voices

texture

polyphonic

imitation involves

all four voices

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