April is in my Mistress' face, Op. 73, No. 6 (1594/2016)

Program Notes:

In spring 2016, I took Basics of Orchestration at the Eastman School of Music with Aristea Mellos. As part of the course, we had seven orchestration assignments to demonstrate familarity with various instruments. Since I already had quite a bit of composition and arranging experience, I decided to have some fun with them!

Thomas Morley (1557-1602) was an English Renaissance composer, particularly known for his madrigals, including April is in my mistress' face. The text of the madrigal is as follows:

April is in my mistress' face

And July in her eyes hath place.

Within her bosom is September,

But in her heart a cold December.