Nicholas Yonge (also spelled ''Young'', ''Younge''; c. 1560 in
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...
,
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
– buried 23 October 1619 in
St Michael, Cornhill,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
) was an
English singer and publisher. He is most famous for publishing the ''
Musica transalpina'' (1588), the earliest collection of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
madrigals with their words translated into English. The first of the Elizabethan madrigal anthologies, it was enormously popular, and began a vogue for the composition and performance of madrigals in England which lasted into the first two decades of the 17th century.
William Heather, founder of the music chair at Oxford University, included the book in his portrait, painted c. 1627, confirming the longevity of ''Musica transalpina's'' influence and popularit
The collection contains 57 separate pieces by 18 composers, with
Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder having the most, and
Luca Marenzio second most. Ferrabosco was living in England until 1578, which could explain the large number of his compositions in the book; he was relatively unknown in Italy.
In 1597, Yonge published a second book (''Musica transalpina: the Second Booke of Madrigalles, ... translated out of Sundrie Italian Authors'').
[Reese, p. 822] Composers such as
John Wilbye and
Thomas Weelkes used the pieces in both collections as models for their work.
Notes
References
*David Brown, "Nicholas Yonge". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980.
*
Gustave Reese, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yonge, Nicholas
1560s births
1619 deaths
English male singers
16th-century English singers
17th-century English singers