Welcome
to the 6th Annual Lincoln-Way East High School Madrigal Dinners!
This event, founded by Mr. Charles Stark in 1970, has been and continues
to be an important tradition to the Lincoln-Way community.
The
Madrigal is one of the most enduring musical forms in all of history.
During its early development in 16th century Italy, the madrigal found
favor with the noble class. Lords and Ladies would perform these
songs at banquets and other social events. The Madrigal flourished
in this setting in part due to its secular nature - the songs were
nearly all about love and revelry. Italian Madrigal composers
were noted for the high, almost melodramatic level of emotion in their
works. Eventually, the Madrigal founds its way to England, and
the English put their own distinctive touches on the form. The
content was still highly secular, but the English Madrigals generally
demanded greater versatility from their singers and contained long
"nonsense syllable" sections, often using the syllables
"fa lala." All members of the English nobility were
expected to have musical training and to be able to sing songs like
these on sight. Indeed, failure to do so would lead others to think
that one was ill-bred! The fact that we are still performing
these songs, some of which are four hundred years old, is a testament
to their musical worth.
