The Madrigal Society


The Madrigal Society is a British association of amateur musicians, whose purpose is to sing madrigals. It may be the oldest club of its kind still in existence in England. It was founded by John Immyns. Sir John Hawkins was an early member of the club and, in his General History of the Science and Practice of Music of 1776, gives the date of its foundation as 1741; the earliest documentary evidence dates from 1744.
In April 1940, during The Blitz on London, the society suspended its regular meetings, and did not resume them until after the end of the Second World War.