https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vghXJ8nUzgw&list=RDvghXJ8nUzgw&start_radio=1

 

Now is the Month of Maying - A 16th Century English Song.

Henry Bard

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27,092回視聴 2025/05/21

Now is the Month of Maying was written by Thomas Morley and published in 1595. It is what's known as a 'ballett' - a light dance song interspersed with a chorus of 'fa-la-la.' It is based on a piece used by the Italian Composer Orazio Vecci, a canzonet entitled, So ben mi ch'a bon tempo from his 1590 work, Selva di varia ricreatione. Now is the Month of Maying was printed in 1595 in Thomas Morley's First Book of Ballets to Five Voyces. As with many songs from this period, there is use of double entendre. What appears to be a light hearted song about spring time is actually about the joys of spring love-making! Special mention goes to the delightful line, 'Shall we go Barley Break,' which means the same as going for 'a roll in the hay!' People of the time enjoyed these kind of puns. Thomas Morley was born in 1557 in Norwich, England. He was the son of a brewer who went on to be the most famous composer of secular music in Elizabethan England. He became master of choristers at Norwich Cathedral in 1583 and also studied under the famous composer, William Byrd.