A madrigal is a setting for two or more voices of a secular text, often in Italian. The madrigal has its origins in the frottola, and was also influenced by the motet and the French chanson of the Renaissance. It is related mostly by name alone to the Italian trecento madrigal of the late 13th and 14th centuries; those madrigals were settings for 2 or 3 voices without accompaniment, or with instruments possibly doubling the vocal lines. The frottola is the predominant type of Italian popular, secular song of the fifteenth and early sixteenth century. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... Chanson is a French word for song, and in English-language contexts is often applied to any song with French words, particularly a cabaret song. ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... The Madrigal is an Italian musical form of the 14th century. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ...

The madrigal was the most important secular form of music of its time. It bloomed especially in the second half of the 16th century, losing its importance by the third decade of the 17th century, when it vanished through the rise of newer secular forms as the opera and merged with the cantata and the dialogue. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... The New Opera in Oslo, Norway The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. ... A cantata (Italian, sung) is a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ...

Its rise started with the Primo libro di Madrigali of Philippe Verdelot, published in 1533 in Venice, which was the first book of identifiable madrigals. This publication was a great success and the form spread rapidly, first in Italy and up to the end of the century to several other countries in Europe. Especially in England the madrigal was highly appreciated after the publication of Nicholas Yonge's Musica Transalpina in 1588, a collection of Italian madrigals with translated texts which started a madrigal culture of its own. The madrigal had a much longer life in England than in the rest of Europe: composers continued to produce works of astonishing quality even after the form had gone out of fashion on the Continent (see English Madrigal School). Philippe Verdelot was a French composer of the Renaissance, who spent most of his life in Italy. ... Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... Nicholas Yonge (c. ... 1588 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... The brief but intense flowering of the musical madrigal in England, mostly from 1588 to 1627, along with the composers who produced them, is known as the English Madrigal School. ...

Late madrigalists were particularly ingenious with so-called "madrigalisms" — passages in which the music assigned to a particular word expresses its meaning, for example, setting riso (smile) to a passage of quick, running notes which imitate laughter, or sospiro (sigh) to a note which falls to the note below. This technique is also known as "word-painting" and can be found not only in madrigals but in other vocal music of the period. The most important of the late madrigalists are certainly Luca Marenzio, Carlo Gesualdo, and Claudio Monteverdi, who integrated in 1605 the basso continuo into the form and later composed the book Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi (1638) (Madrigals of War and Love), which is, however, an example of the early Baroque madrigal; some of the compositions in this book bear little relation to the a cappella madrigals of the previous century. Word painting, also known as; Tone Painting or Text Painting is the musical technique of having the music mimic the literal meaning of the words of a song. ... Luca Marenzio (1553? - August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance. ... Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa. ... Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi. ... 1605 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervallic content (the intervals which make up a sonority), later chords, in relation to a bass note. ... Events March 29 - Swedish colonists establish first settlement in Delaware, called New Sweden. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ...

Madrigals today

Nowadays, madrigals are often sung by high school or college madrigal choirs often in the context of a madrigal dinner which may also include a play, Renaissance costumes, and instrumental chamber music. A Madrigal Dinner or Madrigal Feast is an American form of dinner theater often held by schools and church groups during the Christmas season. ...

Composers of early madrigals

• Jacques Arcadelt
• Adrian Willaert
• Costanzo Festa
• Cypriano de Rore
• Philippe Verdelot
• Bernardo Pisano

Jacques Arcadelt (also Jacob Arcadelt) (1504 or 1505 – October 14, 1568) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the middle to late Renaissance, principally of madrigals and chansons. ... Adrian Willaert (c. ... A collection of polyphonic hymns and Magnificats by Costanzo Festa; this is the earliest surviving such collection by a single composer in the Vatican archive Costanzo Festa (c. ... Cypriano de Rore or Cipriano de Rore (1515 or 1516 – 11 September to 20 September 1565) was a Flemish composer and teacher. ... Philippe Verdelot was a French composer of the Renaissance, who spent most of his life in Italy. ... Bernardo Pisano (also Pagoli) (October 12, 1490 – January 23, 1548) was an Italian composer, priest, singer, and scholar of the Renaissance. ...

The classic madrigal composers

• Orlando di Lasso
• Andrea Gabrieli
• Claudio Monteverdi
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
• Philippe de Monte

Orlande de Lassus, a. ... Andrea Gabrieli (c. ... Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi. ... Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c 1525–2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of Renaissance music. ... Philippe de Monte (1521 – July 4, 1603) was a Flemish composer of the late Renaissance. ...

The late madrigalists

• Giaches de Wert
• Luzzasco Luzzaschi
• Luca Marenzio
• Carlo Gesualdo
• Sigismondo d'India

Giaches de Wert (1535 – May 6, 1596) was a Franco-Flemish composer active in Italy. ... Luzzasco Luzzaschi (c. ... Luca Marenzio (1553? - August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance. ... Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa. ... Sigismondo dIndia (c. ...

Composers of Baroque "concerted" madrigals (with instruments)

• Orazio Vecchi
• Adriano Banchieri
• Giulio Caccini
• Claudio Monteverdi
• Heinrich Schütz
• Hans Leo Hassler
• Johann Hermann Schein

Orazio Vecchi (December 6, 1550 (baptized) – February 19, 1605) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance. ... Adriano Banchieri. ... Caccini, Le Nuove musiche, 1601, title page Giulio Caccini (October 8, 1551 – December 10, 1618) was an Italian composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist and writer of the very late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. ... Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi. ... Heinrich Schütz. ... Hans Leo Hassler (baptized October 26, 1564 – June 8, 1612) was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. ... Johann Schein Johann Hermann Schein (January 20, 1586 – November 19, 1630) was a German composer of the early Baroque era. ...

English madrigal school

• William Byrd
• John Dowland
• John Farmer
• Orlando Gibbons
• Thomas Morley
• Thomas Tomkins
• Thomas Weelkes
• John Wilbye

Some 60 madrigals of the English School are published in The Oxford Book of English Madrigals William Byrd William Byrd (c. ... John Dowland (1563 – February 20, 1626) was an English composer, singer, and lutenist. ... John Farmer (c 1570–c 1605) was an English composer, mainly of madrigals. ... Orlando Gibbons Orlando Gibbons (baptised December 25, 1583 – June 5, 1625) was an English composer and organist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean periods. ... Thomas Morley (1557 or 1558 – October 1602) was an English composer, theorist, editor and organist of the Renaissance, and the foremost member of the English Madrigal School. ... Thomas Tomkins (1572 – June 9, 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. ... Thomas Weelkes (baptised 25 October 1576 – buried 1 December 1623) was an English composer and organist. ... John Wilbye, English 16th-century madrigal composer, was born probably at Bury St Edmunds, but the details of his life are obscure. ... The Oxford Book of English Madrigals was edited by Philip Ledger, and published in 1978 by the Oxford University Press. ...

External links

• English translations of texts from Monteverdi's Fourth Book of Madrigals (Quarto libro dei madrigali) at http://marshall.charles.googlepages.com/
• Read more about Early Music. Listen to free recordings of English Madrigals, free recordings of German Lieds and free recordings of Spanish Madrigals, from Umeå Akademiska Kör.
  
• The scores for many madrigals can be found at the Choral Public Domain Library.