Sir John Hawkins, in his History of Music, vol. iii. p. 406., says the "occasion" of the publication of The Triumphs of Oriana was this:
"The Lord High Admiral, Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, was the only person, who, in the last illness of Elizabeth, could prevail on her to go into and remain in her bed; and with a view to alleviate her concern for the execution of the Earl of Essex, he gave for a prize-subject to the poets and musicians of the time, the beauty and accomplishments of his royal mistress, and by a liberal reward, excited them severally to the composition of this work. This supposition is favoured by the circumstance of its being dedicated to the Earl, and the time of its publication, which was the very year that Essex was beheaded. There is some piece of secret history which we have yet to learn, that would enable us to account for giving the Queen this romantic name; probably she was fond of it. Camden relates that a Spanish ambassador had libelled her by the name of Amadis Oriana, and for his insolence was put under a guard."
Dr. Burney, in his sketch of the Life of Thomas Morley (General History of Music, vol. iii. p. 101.), speaking of this work, says,
"As Italy gave the ton to the rest of Europe, but particularly to England, in all the fine arts, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it seems as if the idea of employing all the best composers in the kingdom to set the songs in The Triumphs of Oriana to music, in honour of our virgin queen, had been suggested to Morley and his patron, the Earl of Nottingham, by Padre Giovenale, afterwards Bishop of Saluzzo, who employed thirty-seven of the most renowned Italian composers to set Canzonetti in honour of the Virgin Mary, published under the following title: Tempio Armonico della Beatissima Virgine nostra Signora, fabbricatole per opera del Reverendo P. Giovenale, A. P. della Congregatione dell' Oratorio. Prima Parte, a tre voci, Stampata in Roma da Nicola Mutii, 1599, in 4to."
That by Oriana is meant Queen Elizabeth, there can be but little doubt. The appellation surely does not countenance the supposition that there "must be some secret piece of history" in the case. Queen Elizabeth, we all know, was a woman of inordinate vanity. Even at the age of three score and ten she delighted in the names of Cynthia, Diana, and such like; and Oriana, who was the heroine of the well-known romance Amadis de Gaul, and a lovely and virtuous woman to boot, could not fail to gratify her. How D'Espes, the Spanish ambassador, could libel her under the double title of Amadis Oriana, it is difficult to imagine; but so it was, according to Camden (anno 1569). "Libellos famosos spargit, in quibus Reginæ existimationem contumeliosè atterit sub nomine Amadis Orianæ."
The pretty sounding tale related by Sir John Hawkins, that the work in question was undertaken with a view to alleviate the grief of the queen for the death of the Earl of Essex, and that prizes were given by the Earl of Nottingham for the best composition for that purpose, is entirely without foundation. Sir John Hawkins gives no authority for his statement, and I believe it rests entirely upon conjecture.
The Triumphs of Oriana (as we have seen) was printed at London in the year 1601. In the same year was published at Antwerp a collection of madrigals with the following title: Il Trionfo di Dori, descritto da diversa, et posti in Musica, da altretranti Autori a Sei Voci, In Anversa, Appresso Pietro Phalesio, 1601. From the date of these two collections, it appears almost impossible that either should have been an imitation of the other; and yet, by an extraordinary similarity in point of style, number, variety of composers, and burthen of the poetry, there can be but little doubt such was the case. The point will be therefore to ascertain if either of these works was printed previously to this date, 1601. I have no doubt that the Orianas is the first and only edition of the work. On the other hand, there is good reason (from a variety of circumstances) to suppose that the copy of Il Trionfo di Dori with this date will turn out to be the second edition.
The poetry (if such it can be called) of the Orianas is a paraphrase of Il Trionfo di Dori. The Italian burden or conclusion is always—
"Cantiam Ninfe e Pastori
Viva la bella Dori."