Madrigal

A madrigal is a secular vocal composition, usually for four to six parts, that flourished in Europe during the late Renaissance and into the early Baroque era. It is typically sung a cappella and set to a short lyric or poem in the vernacular, often about love, nature, or pastoral themes. The term madrigal comes from the Italian madrigale, and the genre began in Italy before spreading to other countries.

Origins and development in Italy. Early madrigals appeared in the 1530s among Italian composers such as Philippe Verdelot and Jacques Arcadelt, whose Il bianco e dolce cigno became a model for the genre. The form rapidly grew in complexity and texture at major Italian centers like Venice and Ferrara. Composers such as Adriano Banchieri, Cipriano de Rore, Carlo Gesualdo, and Luca Marenzio extended the polyphonic craft, and Claudio Monteverdi’s late madrigals in the late 16th and early 17th centuries pushed expressive chromaticism and vivid word painting toward the brink of the Baroque idiom.

English madrigals. From the 1580s onward, English composers adapted the Italian model, often writing witty or sentimental settings in English. Notable figures include Thomas Morley, John Wilbye, and Thomas Weelkes. Collections such as Morley’s The Triumphs of Oriana (1601) helped establish a distinctive English tradition characterized by vivid word painting, rhythmic variety, and occasionally pastoral humor.

Performance and legacy. Madrigals are typically performed by small vocal ensembles without instrumental accompaniment, though some later examples incorporate continuo or instrumental doubling. The genre declined as opera rose in significance in the early 17th century, but it influenced Baroque vocal music and experienced periodic revivals and scholarly interest in later centuries.