Madrigal Dinner: a tribute to the original Britons
By Ben Colmery
Staff Writer

Tonight and tomorrow night, Albion will pay tribute to the original Britons. This tribute is formally known as the 16th annual Albion College Madrigal Dinner.

"A madrigal dinner is a hypothetical reenactment of a medieval English feast," said Melvin Larimer, professor and chair of music.

"This would probably be in 15th, 16th century England, at a time when madrigal singing was the mode for the day at the houses of the nobility. They would invite in friends and have a big feast," he said. "And then following the feast it was typical to bring out the part books of the madrigals [love poems set to music] for the guests to sing."

According to Larimer, Albion's Madrigal Dinner is part of a movement that has been going on for about the past 30 years, and is gaining momentum around the country.

"Almost every college and university has a madrigal dinner. Most of them are associated with Christmas, but some of them tend to be at the other times of the year, like January."

Here, Madrigal Dinner has become a traditional part of the pre-Christmas season. It is always perfomed during the first weekend in December in Upper Baldwin.

"Dining and hospitality is very involved in the whole process - it's really a co-production [between the music department and the dining and hospitality staff]," said Myron McReynolds, visiting instructor of music.

Dining and hospitality workers do the decorating for madrigals, as well as the catering. They also measure and order everyone's costumes and print the brochures and tickets, according to Patricia Miller, associate director of dining and hospitality.

"There's a lot of pageantry involved. The royal court is dressed in Renaissance costumes. Even the waiters and waitresses are in costume," Larimer said. "We also have royal herald trumpeters who play fanfares to signal each of the big events that will be taking place, like the bringing of the wassail [a hot spiced fruit drink] bowl, the boar's head and the flaming fruit pudding."

"The boar's head was considered to be a delicacy in times dating from King Henry VIII. In our case, we don't use a roasted boar's head - we use a mounted one that's a real boar's head," he said.

The boar's name is Fred and he is on loan from Hisler's Hardware in Springport, according to Miller. Fred signifies the arrival of the main course, she said.

The Briton Singers, a select choral group of 16 singers and an accompanist, become the Royal Court and are the event's principal performers. "After [the dinner] there is a concert by the Royal Court, where they sing a group of madrigals and some Christmas selections to conclude it," Larimer said.

Joining the court this year is Queen Elizabeth I, played by Rebecca Grady, Royal Oak freshman, and her consort, played by Clark Dawood, Troy sophomore.

There is also a court jester played by James Spencer, Aurora, Ohio, senior. He acts more or less as the master of ceremonies, and provides some humor during the feast, according to Larimer.

The Royal Brass Ensemble and Royal Instrumental Consort, both comprised of Albion College instrumental students, will also provide musical entertainment.

The menu includes wassail, prime rib, parsley buttter potatoes, cheddar carrots and flaming fruit pudding.

The dinner will begin at 6:45 p.m. tonight and tomorrow. Tickets are $12 for board students, $17 for non-board students, and $22 for the public. A few tickets may still be available. For information call Miller at ext. 0365.