Proper Names

Reading Abbey [’rJdiN ’xbi]

John of Fornsete [‘GOn qf ’fLnsqt]

John Dunstable [‘GOn ’dAnsteibl]

Leonel Power [‘lFqnql ’pQuq]

Chapel Royal [‘tSxpql ’roiql]

John Taverner [‘GOn ’txvqnq]

Elizabeth [i’lizqbqT]

William Shakespeare [‘wiljqm ’Seikspiq]

John Marbeck [‘GOn ’mRbqk]

Thomas Tallis [‘tOmqs ’txlis]

Christopher Tye [‘kristqfq ’tQi]

William Byrd [‘wiljqm ’bWd]

Thomas Morley [‘tOmqs ’mLli]

Thomas Weelkes [‘tOmqs ’wJlks]

John Wilbey [‘GOn ’wilbi]

Orlando Gibbons [L’lxndou ’gibqns]

John Dowland [‘GOn ’dQulqnd]

John Bull [‘GOn ’bul]

Pelham Humfrey [‘pelqm ’hAmfri]

Henry Purcell [‘henri ’pWsql]

After you have read the text

1. Answer the following questions about the text.

1. What is the title of the earliest surviving English song?

2. Whу is this song an important document in the history of music?

З. Whоsе work is mentioned in the text as the next landmark of development of English music?

4. How did English kings treat music?

5. Why was the Chapel Royal important for musicians?

6. What was John Taverner famous for?

7. How was the Elisabethan Period called?

8. In what way is it connected with the name of William Shakespeare?

9. What did John Marbeck work on?

10. Who overshadowed musical achievements of Thomas Tallis?

11. Why was William Byrd in danger during the period of religious strife?

12. How did it come that he was spared persecution in that dangerous time?

13. What music did William Byrd write?

14. Who were his followers?

15. What is the name of the supreme master of solo song?

16. What is John Bull famous for?

17. How did the reign of the Puritans influence the development of English music?

18. What changes did the Restoration bring in the field of music in England?

19. What place did the music take in the masque?

20. Who was the first English composer of international fame?

2. Learn the following information.

– England was an important musical center in the Middle Ages. Sacred polyphony was well established by the early 11th century, and by the 13th English polyphony had taken on traits distinguishing it from Continental styles. In the early 15th century John Dunstable (ca. 1390 – 1453) achieved the widest reputation among several important composers. English music of that time is usually held to have had a decisive influence on the development of Continental musical style and compositional procedures. Thereafter, although works of high quality were written, English music was of mainly local importance, and influences tended to run in the other direction, from Italy and France, producing such Englisn versions of Continental developments as the English madrigal, the lute ayre, and the seri-opera.

– One of the most remarkable features of the Elizabethan age was the popularity of music making. In a period when public concerts were still unknown, the abundance of musical publications is explained by the great demand for music by amateurs. Everyone sang madrigals, most sizable households possessed a chest of viols, and the virginal, for which the keyboard composers poured out such flood of fine music, was still more popular – the queen, herself a devoted virginalist, setting the example. As for the lute, such was its popularity that it was even to be found in barbers' shops, so that customers might pluck a few chords while awaiting their turn. Excepting large choral and orchestral works, Elizabethan music embraces every style and genre. But although it cannot offer us anything comparable to the large-scale splendour of the Venetians, the beauties of the keyboard and chamber music may be regarded as ample compensation.

– Verginal is a 16^th-century type of harpsichord used mainly in England, but described first in a German book of 1511. It is uncertain whether it is so called because it was played by young ladies or with reference to the Latin word virga (rod or twigpart of the playing mechanism). The instruments were of various shapes. The virginalists were the first to develop an idiomatic harpsichord style, including many elements of the later piano style, e.g., rapid scales, broken-chord figurations, broken octaves, quick passages in parallel thirds and sixths for one hand, full chords, etc.

– The great vogue of the madrigal during the last twenty years of Elisabeth's reign and the early years of the next had precedents – the native tradition of part– song writing and the occasional traces of Italian influence from the 1550s which had prepared the ground for the English passion for the madrigal. There was a group of amateur singers in England who were regular and enthusiastic performers of Italian madrigals. Then the English composers began to produce their own madrigals. But these were by no means slavish imitations of their models. The English madrigal was generally lighter and gayer in mood than the Italian. Unlike the Italians, the English composers were writing for an almost entirely amateur public, for whom the generally undemanding sentiments and comparatively simple technical demands were ideally suited. As Gustave Reese has said in his monumental “Music in the Renaissance”: “In every way the English madrigal was a less esoteric and more popular movement” (than the Italian).

3. Insert the words given below in the correct form into the sentences.

1. The musician ... Bach's work for the accordion. 2. ... is a choral composition to some religious text. 3. Many English musicians received their musical training in the ... 4. In British libraries there are some ... manuscripts dating from the 11th century. 5. The … of the pupil overshadowed that of the teacher. 6. The King of Saxony ... Wagner. 7. … many difficulties the author published his work. 8. The composer and his wife worked on the score of the opera ... 9. The Middie Ages are known as time of persecution for ... 10. Italian madrigals … the way to national ones in England. 11. Unarranged life did not ... Schubert from writing cheerful songs. 12. When we speak about the history of English music we have to ... the greatest English composer of the 17th century Henry Purcell. 13. The young British ... an old dance connected with the name of Robin Hood. 14. In ancient times the musicians wrote not only church music but ... music as well. 15. The performance of “The Nibelungs’ Ring” in Bayreuth was an unforgettable ...

fame, in spite of, Chapel Royal, adapt, secular, faith, prevent, anthem, jointly, pave, extent, revive, favour, spectacle, recall

4. Select the correct meaning of the words.

1. survive a) страстно желать

2. revive b) приспосабливать

3. suprime c) мирской, светский

4. secular d) благоприятный

5. foster e) быть пощаженным

6. follow f) последователь

7. be spared g) пережить

8. be keen h) господствовать, править

9. accents i) речь, язык 10. peoples j) быть сэкономленным k) вeрxoвный, высочайший 1) следовать m) поощрять

n) народы о) возрождать, восстанавливать

5. Annotate text A in written form.

6. Discuss the history of English music with your friends.

7. Read and retell text B.