Nicholas Yonge (c. 1560 – October 1619) was an English singer and publisher. He is most famous for publishing the Musica transalpina (1588), a collection of Italian madrigals, translated into English, which proved to be explosively popular, beginning (or fueling) a vogue for madrigal composing and singing in England which lasted into the first two decades of the 17th century. Musica transalpina contains 57 separate pieces by 18 composers, with Alfonso Ferrabosco (the elder) having the most, and Luca Marenzio second most. Ferrabosco was living in England, which explains the large number of his compositions in the book; he was relatively unknown in Italy.
In 1597 Yonge published a second book (Musica transalpina: the Second Booke of Madrigalles, ... translated out of Sundrie Italian Authors). Composers such as John Wilbye and Thomas Weelkes used the pieces in both collections as models for their work.
The development that caused the explosion of madrigal composition in England, however, was the development of native poetry — especially the sonnet — which was conducive to setting to music in the Italian style.
When NicholasYonge published Musica transalpina in 1588, it proved to be immensely popular, and the vogue for madrigal composition in England can be said to truly have started then.
Yonge himself published a second Musica transalpina in 1597, hoping to duplicate the success of the first collection.
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