madrigals

A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, typically for four to six voices, that originated in Italy in the early 16th century. Madrigals are usually polyphonic and a cappella, though some later settings included instrumental accompaniment. They set poetry to music in the vernacular, initially Italian, and later English, Dutch, French, and Spanish texts. The form spread from Florence to centers such as Ferrara and Venice, becoming a vehicle for expressive word painting—music that mirrors the meaning and imagery of the text through melodic contour, rhythm, and harmony.

Important early composers include Jacques Arcadelt, Cipriano de Rore, and Luca Marenzio. In the late Renaissance and early Baroque, Claudio Monteverdi helped expand the genre, pushing its expressive potential. The English madrigal, developed in the late 16th century, adapted the Italian model to English verse, with composers such as Thomas Morley, John Wilbye, and Thomas Weelkes producing popular collections. English madrigals are noted for witty wordplay, vivid images, and bold contrasts.

During the late 16th and early 17th centuries, composers experimented with concertato madrigals and with madrigal cycles, or madrigal comedies, in which a sequence of pieces narrates a story. The genre declined in the mid-17th century as opera and cantatas rose to prominence, though it left a lasting influence on secular vocal writing and the broader choral tradition. The term madrigal is still used for modern pieces that imitate Renaissance style.