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, humor and satire
• Word painting was prominent – ideas, images, and emotions in the poems were conveyed through the music
• Chromaticism featured as an expressive device
CARLO GESUALDO (CA 1561-1613)
MUSICAL STYLE:
• Italian composer and lutenist
• Intensely emotional style
• Extravagant word painting
• Exaggerated chromaticism with high level of dissonance
• Abrupt chord changes
• Frequent use of repetition
• Wrote his own texts, often reflecting his guilt and remorse.
GENRE AND TITLE:
• Madrigal:6 books
• Sacred music , Tenebrae Responssoria
• Instrumental music
ENGLISH MADRIGAL
BACKGROUND:
• The Italian madrigal spread from Italy yo England in the 1580
• The publication of Musica transalpine in 1588 launched the popularity of the madrigal in England
• As English composer s cultivated the genre, it took on a slightly different character
• Prominent English composers as Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Morley , Tomas Weelkes, John Wilbye composed madrigals
CHARACTERISTICS:
• Resembles the Italian madrigal of the mid 16th
• Polyphonic and homophonic textures alternate
• Utilized word painting
• Pastoral texts
• Included nonsense syllables as “fa la la “ and “nonny nonny no”
