Musica Transalpina

Musica Transalpina is a collection of madrigals published in England by Nicholas Yonge in 1588. The madrigals had crossed the Alps (hence the name) in the sense that the madrigal form was borrowed from the Italians, and the pieces included in the collection were mainly by Italians. However, the lyrics were rendered into English by Yonge. In a preface Yonge explained that the English had shown interest in Italian madrigals, but for many people the fact that they were in Italian was a barrier to performing them.

It was the first and largest Elizabethan anthology of Italian madrigals. Musica transalpina contains 57 separate pieces by 18 composers, with Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder having the most, and Luca Marenzio second most. Ferrabosco had lived in England in the 1560s and 1570s, which could explain the large number of his compositions in the book; he was relatively unknown in Italy. The publication marked the beginning of the golden age of the madrigal in England. English composers were encouraged to produce original madrigals.