Musica Antigua de Albuquerque's first program of the year celebrates the 450th birthday of Morley with a concert exploring all genres of his work. Sunday's performance took place in the group's new Albuquerque home, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, and featured two new members, soprano and instrumentalist Ruth Helgeson, and tenor and instrumentalist David McGuire. The two new voices proved welcome additions to the mix allowing for a host of a capella (unaccompanied) songs up to five voices.

The afternoon began with three of the period's most celebrated tunes arranged by Morley for instrumental performance. Joyne Hands by Morley himself comes from his canzonet "See, see mine own sweet jewel," while Lachrimae Pavin is an arrangement of Dowland's "Flow, my fears" followed by the dance tune La Coranto, anonymous or perhaps also written by Morley.

While Morley was working from Italian models, there is a particularly English sound to his music, just as "Greensleeves" (from the same period) can easily be identified as English. The reason is no doubt due to the characteristic sound of British folk music, as melodically rich as any to be found anywhere.

Then followed a group of "Englished" works by Italian composers. These were outstanding madrigals which Morley had translated into the newly forming language of English— beautiful works, but clearly not English-sounding music.

The section of Springtime & Rustic Pleasures finds Morley doing what he does best. Sprightly secular vocal music with generous sprinklings of the so-called nonsense syllables "Fa-la-la."

The Elizabethans were lusty, bawdy people and the phrase is more than likely erotic innuendo (think Monty Python's "Nudge, Nudge, Say no more" routine). Too much of our understanding of the period has come through the G-rated filter of the Victorians. The fun-loving "Sing We and Chant it" is a prime example: "To take our pleasure / Fa-la-la. To live in pleasure / Fa-la-la.

Colleen Sheinberg's sweet soprano warbled the pastoral romance Thyrsis and Milla, accompanied by husband Art Sheinberg on the harpsichord. Two more "Fa-la-la" songs, "Though Philomela lost her love" and "Those dainty daffadillies" found both Morley and the ensemble at their very best, the latter accompanied by a bass recorder.

Poets and musicians alike were always completing for the attention of Queen Elizabeth and Morley's madrigal collection The Triumphs of Oriana (a poetic reference to Elizabeth) included contributions from twenty-three of his colleagues. His own offering "Hard by a Crystal Fountain" is one of his most ambitious compositions, which the entire ensemble sang with great verve, concluding with the requisite phrase "Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana / Long live fair Oriana.

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