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Appreciate the Meaning- Caroline Tucker

 Reading about English madrigals was interesting and enlightening. I found it interesting how the transition from Italian to English happened and what caused it to happen. It is very interesting the idea or motivation behind translating the madrigals from Italian to English. Thomas Morley believed that the songs would not be appreciated enough or enjoyed enough if no one knew what the lyrics meant. To combat this, he translated the Madrigal songs for those around him and even wrote books of the translations. I think this is an interesting concept. This idea is different from all the other cultural tendencies we have read so far this semester. Before this, if you did not know the language (AKA Latin) you had to trust inflection, performance, and what people told you to know what is being said in songs. Morley believed that those who do not understand what is being said cannot appreciate what is being said. It does not have enough impact. I think this interesting because up to this point everything in music is pointing to the words. This comes from performance and word painting. So, the idea that songs need to be translated to be fully understood, appreciated, and enjoyed is a new and very important idea. What do you think?

P.s. I commented on Madalyn’s and Addison’s posts. 

Comments

  1. Abigale BellApril 26, 2021 at 9:57 PM

    Hi Caroline! Great post! I tend to agree with Morley's point of view that valued a person's own understanding of the words. I think of my own experience when listening to music (or reading a book, or looking at a piece of art). It changes my perspective when I can understand the original words. It's like having context for a story. The composer's (or author's, or painter's) intention is easier to understand and harder to skew when one understands the text.

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  2. Emma Kate PattersonApril 27, 2021 at 2:01 AM

    I think it is important to recognize that even though songs from different cultures maybe in a different language we can still learn from the music by translating it. I love that you pointed out the reason behind translating the songs and how this differed from what we have previously read this semester.

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