madrigale

Madrigale, plural madrigali, is a form of secular vocal music that originated in Italy in the 16th century. It is typically written for four to six voices and performed a cappella, though instrumental doubling or continuo was sometimes used in the late Renaissance. Like other Renaissance polyphonies, madrigals are usually through-composed, with the music tailored to the meaning and emotion of the text rather than following a fixed stanza structure.

The genre emerged in Florence and surrounding regions in the early 1530s, and spread rapidly to other Italian cities and beyond. The first widely circulated madrigals were published by Jacques Arcadelt (Il primo libro di madrigali a quattro voci, 1539). Filippo Verdelot and other composers contributed to its early development. By the mid-16th century the madrigal had become the leading form of Italian secular vocal music.

In late 16th century, composers such as Cipriano de Rore, Luca Marenzio, and Carlo Gesualdo expanded the emotional range, using chromaticism and word painting. The poetry ranged from love lyrics to pastoral and classical themes. The English-speaking world also developed its own tradition of madrigals in imitation of the Italian model, with composers such as Thomas Morley and John Wilbye producing popular anthologies in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

With the rise of opera and figured bass, the Italian madrigal declined in prominence in the 17th century, though its influence persisted in vocal writing and in the development of programmatic song.