Summary Of The Song 'Fair Phyllis'

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The song that I picked from the Renaissance era is Fair Phyllis which is also called Fair Phyllis I saw which was composed by John Farmer on 1599. Born in England 1570, Farmer was a composer and beforehand worked as an organist in the Renaissance era and his music advanced and had a huge impact on the development of English madrigal separating it from its Italian legacy. He later published one book of Marginals and during his career, his work made an extraordinary achievement including this piece Fair Phyllis attributable to its stunning verses and amazingly satisfying music. Fair Phyllis portrays the tale of Amyntas, a shepherd searching for his lover Phyllis who was feeding her flock close to the mountain. He doesn't know where she went, the shepherds don't know as well, however, …show more content…

The marginal is entertaining, light-hearted and has a happy ending. Fair Phyllis has 6-line poem in the form of English Marginal. Fair Phyllis is sung in a cappella with four voices (SATB) starting with the Soprano who hits the highest note followed by Alto, Tenor, and Bass which are a mix of men and women voices. The soprano begins with “Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone” which is then repeated after “Feeding her flock near to the mountain side.” The overall form of this piece is secular and is comprised of short repeated segments and the compositional is imitation with each part beginning with the soprano's voice followed by each voice ending with the bass. Throughout the song, the voices are rising with imitative lines repeating the words, "Here and there he meandered." The song has differentiating meters switching from triple to duple meter. What also makes this piece great to listen to is the changing of textures. With various textures beginning with monophonic texture which is the

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