The Art of Madrigal

A special Christmas and New Year Greeting to you and your family from Senior High School and Dubuque Community Schools

The costumes, the dinner, the music and the pageantry of Madrigal is a holiday tradition in Dubuque and has been maintained by Senior High School since 1978.

Video by Gary Olsen and Brandon Noel

Approximate Length 34 minutes

Under the direction of Mr. Chris Marple, Vocal Music Director, Senior High School

Here's an idea for the holidays. Keep this website handy and play it over the holidays. When your guests ask who is singing those beautiful Christmas carols, tell them "The Senior High School Madrigal Singers."

ne can argue that the first musical instrument was the drum. I would offer the theory that it was the human voice. Through the ages cultures have passed a great deal of their stories and life's lessons not just in written form but in song. It was the simplest way to convey oral history. And so it goes with the tradition of Madrigal.

During the time of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. madrigals were strictly vocal a cappella performances of Italian poetry. As the form spread throughout Europe, other cultures added their poems and songs to the musical form. Madrigal didn't start out just celebrating holy days like Christmas. It was popular secular music.

By the 18th Century, madrigals evolved and enjoyed a resurgence of popularity with western civilization's invention of moveable type, the printing press and the wide distribution of sheet music. Old composers were rediscovered, and madrigal became its own classical musical form.

At Dubuque Senior High School, now retired vocal music teacher Dan Nye formed a madrigal singing group in 1978, and it has been a holiday tradition ever since. Now Chris Marple, in his third year teaching at Senior, continues the tradition. The group sings at several venues throughout the Tri-State Area.

Their showcase event is a six course dinner at the majestic Masonic Temple on Locust Street in Dubuque. the huge stone building has a banquet hall that looks like it came straight out of Authurian England.

The Madrigal Dinner is held the second weekend of December, and you might want to make a note of it. Tickets are available at the Senior High School business office.

Click here for an archival version of the movie you can keep forever.