[Theme music begins]

Welcome to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

This hour, we’ll hear music inspired by the bird who often proclaims warmer weather...the cuckoo, and its association with human behaviors. The cuckoo’s simple call, which sounds like its name, is often imitated in music. From medieval rounds glorifying the wonders of nature; to Renaissance madrigals about birds and love; to Baroque concerti with instruments acting as birds — listen carefully for the cuckoo’s call, and references to its interesting quirks in songs, stage works, and more.

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MUSIC TRACK
The four seasons: Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, op. 8 ; La cetra, op. 9
Monica Huggett, violin; Raglan Baroque Players
Virgin Classics 2003 / 0724356226050
Antonio Vivaldi
From subsection: The Four Seasons: Violin Concerto in G Minor, Op. 8, No. 2, RV 315, "L'estate" (Summer):
Tr.4 I. Allegro (4:48)

Monica Huggett and the Raglan Baroque Players performed the first movement, “Summer,” from Vivaldi’s concerto set known as the Four Seasons. Setting the mood of summer from its slow doldrums to its tempestuous storms and unpredictable rhythms.

[Audio of cuckoo bird call https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1WcxRaMmIM]

The cuckoo and its song are a part of a medieval English secular song that describes the beauty of nature at the beginning of summer. In modernized English, the primary text states:

Summer is coming in, loudly sings the cuckoo,
The seed grows; the meadow blossoms, and the woods aliven anew.
The ewe bleats after the lamb; the buck “ferteth” –
the cow lows after the calf;
The bull leaps; the goat capers; merrily sing cuckoo!
Well sing you, cuckoo--don't ever stop now.

This song is a rota, a medieval genre that features several parts in a round over a repeated line. The text describes all the natural wonders of summer, sung over repeated phrases of “sing cuckoo” and “sing cuckoo now” in two lower parts called the “pes,” meaning foot. The cuckoo’s sound is the underlying footprint in this sonic definition of summer.

MUSIC TRACK
Sumer is icumen in: chants médiévaux anglais
Hilliard Ensemble
Harmonia Mundi 1985 / HMC 901154
Anonymous
Tr.1 Sumer is icumen in - Three songs (St Godric) (01:58)

Paul Hillier led the Hilliard Ensemble in the 12th-century English song of summer, Sumer is icumen in.

While this song is now upheld as an early example of English polyphony, when it was first being rediscovered in the 18th century, historian and antiquary Sir John Hawkins noticed a common theme. In a footnote to the he wrote: [quote] “It is observable that the most ancient species of musical imitation is the song of cuckow [sic], which must appear to be a natural and very obvious subject for it. Innumerable are the instances that might be produced to this purpose.” [end quote] He goes on to list a variety of compositions by John Bennet, John Lampe, and Antonio Vivaldi, saying “a very fine madrigal in three parts, composed by Thomas Weelkes, organist of Chicester cathedral about the year 1600… has in it the cuckow’s [sic] song.” Songs about birds, sometimes a thin guise for humans, abound in both Italian and English madrigals of the Renaissance.

MUSIC TRACK
Madrigals & songs from the Renaissance
The King’s Singers
Warner Classics 2018 / 190295691004
Thomas Weelkes
Tr.145 Weelkes: The nightingale the organ of delight (1:04)
Jacques Arcadelt
Tr.3 Il bianco e dolce cigno (2:04)
John Bartlett
Tr.10 Of All the Birds that I Do Know (2:16)

The King’s Singers performed a variety of madrigals starting with “The nightingale the organ of delight” by Thomas Weelkes, followed by Arcadelt’s “Il bianco e dolce cigno,” (The sweet white swan), and concluding with John Bartlett’s “Of All the Birds that I Do Know.”

In his listing of cuckoo-related music, Hawkins not only lists Renaissance vocal works imitating the bird’s call, but also 18th century concerti where instruments imitate nature.

MUSIC TRACK
Four seasons; Concerto in D 'Grosso mogul' RV 208; Concerto in A 'The Cuckow' RV 335
Elizabeth Wallfisch, baroque violin; Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
ABC Classics 1997 / 196292177176
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for Strings in A Major, RV 335, "The Cuckow"
Tr.16 I. Allegro (3:52)
Tr.17 II. Largo (2:05)
Tr.18 III. Allegro (3:34)

Vivaldi’s “Cuckow” Concerto played by Elizabeth Wallfisch, Baroque violin, and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.

You’re listening to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

MUSIC TRACK
An evening at the theatre: English stage and dance music
The Theater of Music
Ramee 2021 / RAM2002
Anonymous / Playford (arr. M. Fermé)
Tr.14 A Frolic (excerpt of 1:09)

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Welcome back.

[Audio of cuckoo bird call] This hour we’re listening to music inspired by the cuckoo bird.

So many Renaissance songs mimic the sound of the cuckoo or discuss the bird in some way. It even appears in a song within Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (c. around 1595). In Act III, Scene 1, the character Bottom thinks his companions want to make a fool of him or frighten him away from his location. He says, [quote] “But I will not stir from this place, do what they can. I will walk up and down here, and I will sing that they shall hear I am not afraid.” Bottom then sings a song about the cuckoo:

The ousel [oozle] cock so black of hue,
With orange-tawny bill;
The throstle with his note so true,
The wren with little quill.

The song refers to the action of the female cuckoo who lays her eggs in another bird’s nest, a distinctive behavior of the species.

MUSIC TRACK
Songs & dances from Shakespeare
The Broadside Band
Saydisc 1995 / CDSDL409
Anon. (arr. Jeremy Barlow)
Tr.14 Anonymous: The woosel cock, so black of hue (1:56)
Thomas Morley (arr. Jeremy Barlow)
Tr.5 Morley: It was a lover, and his lass As You Like It (2:32)
Anon. (arr. Jeremy Barlow)
Tr.3 Anonymous: O mistress mine where are you roaming? (1:29)

Music from Shakespeare’s plays—an anonymous song "The woosel cock,” followed by [Thomas] Morley’s “It was a lover, and his lass,” and finally the anonymous “O mistress mine”—all performed by Deborah Roberts, soprano; John Potter, tenor; and the Broadside Band with Jeremy Barlow, director.

The colloquial name of cuckoo refers to the species Cuculus canorus, a migratory bird that flies to the British Isles in April, therefore, becoming associated with the sounds of spring and summer to British composers. It’s behavior of laying eggs in another bird’s nest led to the term cuckolding, referring to the behavior of a wife cheating on a husband. The husband is then called a cuckold. Occasionally, the term is used with a cheating husband as well. Earliest references to this term in English appear in the 13th century and show up in famous English medieval texts like Piers Plowman and Chaucer’s Parlement of Foules in the 14th century. Cuckolding is a regular topic for early song texts, and a plot device in opera and other stage productions. Many of the tunes to these vocal settings became popular for instrumentalists to use as dance tunes, which were adapted and republished in countless tune books, distributed by publishers like John Playford.

MUSIC TRACK
Short tales for a viol: English music of the 17th century for viola da gamba and lyra-viol
Vittorio Ghielmi
Winter and Winter 2004 / 910085-2
Tr.25 Anonymous: Room for Cuckolds (1:09)
Tr.2 Anonymous: Title Unknown (Ayre) (1:42)
Tr.3 Anonymous: I have been a piper (1:54)

MUSIC TRACK
An evening at the theatre: English stage and dance music
The Theater of Music
Ramee 2021 / RAM2002
Anon. (arr. S. Dupé, M. Fermé and M. Seattle)
Tr.41 The Cuckold Come Out of the Amrey - Robertson's Rant (6:19)

Theatre of Music performed “The Cuckold Come Out of the Amrey - Robertson's Rant.” Before that, Vittorio Ghielmi played the anonymous tunes “Room for Cuckolds” and “I have been a piper” on lyra viol.

You’re listening to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

Our featured recording this hour is Delight in Musicke: English Songs and Instrumental Music of the 16th and 17th century by the recorder quintet called “Seldome Sene,” and soprano Klaartje van Veldhoven. It features sacred and secular songs and a variety of instrumental genres popular in Renaissance England.

Given the title Delight in Musicke, it may seem odd to find many sad songs on the album, including some sorrowful birds in John Bennet’s consort song “Venus’ birds, whose mournful tunes.” But sad songs, (be they about birds or humans), were all the rage in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, especially the works of composer and lutenist John Dowlande, well known for his lute songs, including the mournful “Flow my Teares,” which was famously covered by pop musician Sting in 2006. Perhaps its text, with the opening phrase: “Flow my teares fall from your springs! Exiled for ever: Let me morne” allows listeners to delight in the emotional release of sadness. The opening notes of this song, [Angie singing] “flooow my tears,” are also in many instrumental versions, often titled Lachrymae or Tears.

MUSIC TRACK
Delight in musicke: English songs and instrumental music of the 16th and 17th century
Klaartje van Veldhoven, soprano; Seldom Sene, recorder quintet
Brilliant Classics 2018 / BC95654
John Dowland
Tr. 1 Lachrimæ antiquæ (5:13)

The recorder quintet called “Seldom Sene” played the “Lachrimæ antiquæ” movement from John Dowland’s work Lachrimae, "Seaven Teares" on our featured release Delight in Musicke: English Songs and Instrumental Music of the 16th and 17th century.

Not all delight in music comes from sadness, however. Many pieces on this album contain references to nature, love, human relationships, and the joyful imitation of the cuckoo. Two works involve the cuckoo specifically. The first features the recorder consort alone, and in the second, we’ll hear imitations of the cuckoo’s signature call alternate between recorder and voice.

MUSIC TRACK
Delight in musicke: English songs and instrumental music of the 16th and 17th century
Klaartje van Veldhoven, soprano; Seldom Sene, recorder quintet
Brilliant Classics 2018 / BC95654
John Baldwin
Tr. 7 Baldwin: Cockoow as I Me Walked (02:03)
Attr. Richard Nicholson
Tr. 15 Nicholson: Cuckoo, so merrily sings (01:33)

Two cuckoo songs: John Baldwine’s “Cockoow as I Me Walked” and Richard Nicholson’s “Cuckoo, so merrily sings” performed by soprano Klaartje van Veldhoven and the Seldom Sene recorder quintet on our featured recording Delight in musicke: English songs and instrumental music of the 16th and 17th century.

EXTRA FILL MUSIC
Delight in musicke: English songs and instrumental music of the 16th and 17th century
Klaartje van Veldhoven, soprano; Seldom Sene, recorder quintet
Brilliant Classics 2018 / BC95654
William Byrd
Tr. 13 Browning a 5; The Leaves be Green (EXCERPT of 4:00)
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Harmonia is a production of WFIU and part of the educational mission of Indiana University.

Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that advocates and supports the historical performance of music of the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched by it. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.

Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

We welcome your thoughts about any part of this program, or about early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. You can follow us on Facebook by searching for Harmonia Early Music.

The writer for this edition of Harmonia is Devon Nelson.

Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Aaron Cain, and John Bailey. I’m Angela Mariani, inviting you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.

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