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THE RENAISSANCE ERA (CA 1450- CA 1600)

ITALIAN MADRIGAL

BACKGROUND:
• 14th Italy ,”madrigal “referred to a poetic form and its musical setting (usually strophic )as a secular song
• 16th and 17th “madrigal denoted a type of secular song that flourished in the small aristocratic courts of Italy, including Venice,, Ferrara and Mantua; it then gained widespread popularity in Europe and England
• Initially homophonic with focus on bringing pleasure to the performers – amateur musicians
• Later evolved into more complex polyphonic texture with increased chromaticism-composed for an aristocratic audience
• In final 16th and 17th it assumed a highly mannered virtuosic style; a more personalized expression of the composer
• In early 17th it featured elements of baroque style(such as the use of bosso continuo and a dramatic declamatory style)

CHARACTERISTICS:
• Texts were short poems of a lyric or reflective character
• Generally through-composed in structure
• Topics included love and desire, [political themes, humour and satire
• Word painting was prominent – ideas, images, and emotions in the poems were conveyed through the music
• Chromaticism featured as an expressive device