El Grillo by Josquin des Prez
Natalie gave a nice presentation on Josquin last week at rehearsal, so I went hunting for one of his pieces in our repertoire to post here. I found this awesomely fun version of El Grillo by the Hilliard Ensemble. I also giggled at the picture in the background!
Italian Text:
El grillo è buon cantore
Che tiene longo verso.
Dalle beve grillo canta.
Ma non fa come gli altri uccelli
Come li han cantato un poco,
Van de fatto in altro loco
Sempre el grillo sta pur saldo,
Quando la maggior el caldo
Alhor canta sol per amore.
English Translation (from cpdl)
The cricket is a good singer
He can sing very long
He sings all the time.
But he isn’t like the other birds.
If they’ve sung a little bit
They go somewhere else
The cricket remains where he is
When the heat is very fierce
Then he sings only for love.
