Il Festino

by Adriano Banchieri with English translation by Jodie O’Regan

Il Festino is renaissance magic and nonsense at its finest - an acapella work for 5 parts by Bolognan Monk Adriano Banchieri. I translated the text into English for my community choir.

I am in love with the music of this work. The harmonic language sounds so fresh and new to my ears - just thrilling. What a piece of music. It's raucous and rowdy and cheeky and beautiful. The text ranges from the most sublime love poetry, to a canon of ridiculous animal noises.

The whole work is a romp of joyful silliness mixed with stunning choral writing. The work is a collection of madrigals, woven together with commentary and interjections from the ridiculous character Modern Pleasure. Madrigal comedies come from late renaissance Italy and draw on the characters and ideas of commedia dell'arte. They were written to be sung but not fully dramatised. They are playful, theatrical and raucous. There were only about two dozen ever composed - evolution favoured the rise of opera! So this piece holds a special little spot in musical history.

Here is the sheet music for the full work. Rehearsal tracks are below for every part. I rearranged some of the more challenging movements to SATB.

sheet music pdf

  1. Modern Pleasure Makes An Introduction (and 20)

1. Sop 1
1. Sop 2
1. Alto
1. Tenor
1. Bass

2. The Old Men Of Chioggia Prepare To Dance

2. Sop 1
2. Sop 2
2. Alto
2. Tenor
2. Bass

3. The Masquerade Of The Peasant Girls

3. Sop 1
3. Sop 2
3. Alto
3. Tenor
3. Bass

4. After The Masquerade

4. Sop
4. Alto
4. Tenor
4. Bass

5. Madrigal To A Nightingale

5. Sop
5. Alto
5. Tenor
5. Bass

6. Masquerade Of The Lovers

6. Sop 1
6. Sop 2
6. Alto
6. Tenor
6. Bass

7. The Lovers Dance The Spindle

7. Sop 1
7. Sop 2
7. Alto
7. Tenor
7. Bass

8. The Sad Madrigal Of The Lovers

8. Sop 1
8. Sop 2
8. Alto
8. Tenor
8. Bass

9. The Lover’s Farewell

9. Sop and Tenor solos

10. Aunt Bernadina’s Story

10. Sop 1
10. Sop 2
10. Alto
10. Tenor
10. Bass

11. Caprice For Three Voices

11. Sop
11. Alto
11. Bass

12. The Animals In Counterpoint

12 Sop 1
12 Sop 2
12 Alto
12 Tenor
12 Bass

13. A Rather Lovely Madrigal

13. Sop 1
13. Sop 2
13. Alto
13. Tenor
13. Bass

14. The Swindling Spindle Sellers

14. Sop 1
14. Sop 2
14. Alto
14. Tenor
14. Bass

15. The Spindle Sellers Madrigal

15. Sop 1
15. Sop 2
15. Alto
15. Tenor
15. Bass

16. The Fountain And The Count

16. Sop 1
16, Sop 2
16. Alto
16. Tenor
16. Bass

17. The Feasters

17. Sop 1
17. Sop 2
17. Alto
17. Tenor
17. Bass

18. Drinking And Thinking

18. Sop
18. Alto
18. Tenor
18. Bass

19. A Rather Foolish Moment To Sell Treasures

19. Sop 1
19. Sop 2
19. Alto
19. Tenor
19. Bass