This new piece is another one from the Triumphs
of Oriana. Thomas
Morley was the editor of that collection, and both of his
contributions to it are somewhat atypical.
They all have an ending chorus that says:
Then sang the shepherds and Nimphs of Diana,
Long live faire Oriana.
Most of them set this section off from the rest of the
madrigal with a grand pause, or at least a full cadence, and
then have the parts singing monophonically for the narrative
Then sang the shepherds.
In this one, Morley has the middle voice, Quintus, start
Then sang while the other voices are cadencing,
and they come in polyphonically.
It's also one of those bargain-basement polychoral pieces
where the cantus and altus are one choir, the tenor and bass are
another, and the quintus joins one or the other as needed.
If you just look at the ambits, the quintus is a fairly high
tenor, but there are only one or two low D's, which can easily
be taken up an octave, which makes it a fairly easy G-g range
for a low alto.