I bei ligustri

Imagine a country house garden in springtime, perhaps the grounds of an English manor. This secular Italian song for three male voices, TTB, evokes such a setting. The composer Thomas Weelkes, a master of English madrigals, here sets a text that speaks of the beauty of nature – the lovely privet hedges and roses that nature has placed upon a lady – which nevertheless causes the singer to suffer greatly from unrequited love. The word painting in Weelkes’s madrigals is often vivid, and in this consort song, we can expect intricate vocal lines and expressive harmonies, perfect for a chamber choir looking for evocative Renaissance part-music.