Madrigal

I

Introduction

Madrigal, in music, secular composition for two or more voices, introduced in Italy in the 14th century and revived in a different form during the 16th century, at which time it also became popular with English, French, German, and Spanish composers. The word madrigal is thought to have been derived from mandriali (a short pastoral poem) or from matricale (a rustic song or poem in the mother tongue), or perhaps madriale (a hymn to the Virgin Mary).

II

First Form

The 14th-century Italian madrigal was a poetic and musical form. The poem was usually of two or three stanzas, each one three lines long, followed by a refrain of two rhyming lines. The music was usually for two voices or parts, sometimes for three, and the melody for the stanzas differed from the melody for the refrain. Amorous subjects predominated.

III

Later Forms

The form and style of the 16th-century Italian madrigal had little in common with the form and style of the 14th-century madrigal. The 16th-century madrigal was conceived not as a piece for chorus alone but as vocal chamber music, and it was sometimes based on a text of high literary quality. The musical form of the 16th-century madrigal evolved in three stages: early (c. 1525-c. 1560); middle (c. 1560-c. 1590); and late (c. 1590-c. 1620).

Madrigals of the early stage were composed in a homophonic musical style (a predominant melody with a subordinate accompaniment) and were generally intended for four voices. Voice parts, however, were occasionally played by or doubled by instruments. Outstanding composers of madrigals in this stage were the Dutch Jakob Arcadelt and the Flemish Philippe Verdelot.

Madrigals of the middle stage were typically polyphonic (two or more independent voice parts), more expressive, and often musically imitative or descriptive of the sounds of nature and people. Composers began to prefer thick textures of five- and six-voice parts to textures of three- and four-voice parts. The Flemish Adrian Willaert, Philippe de Monte, and Orlando di Lasso excelled as composers of madrigals in this middle stage.

Madrigals of the late stage often used bold harmonic progressions and chromaticism (the use of large numbers of tones outside those of the prevailing key or mode) to produce intensely dramatic or emotional effects. They also made greater use of the solo voice, frequently in a virtuoso way (with a show of technical mastery). Major composers of madrigals in this late stage were the Italians Luca Marenzio, Don Carlo Gesualdo, and Claudio Monteverdi.

The poetical form of the 16th-century Italian madrigal was a brief poem, the lines of which could be long or short. Its overall rhyme scheme and number of lines were unrestricted by rule.

IV

English Madrigal

The Italian madrigal form was most successfully imitated by the English. The texts were taken from popular poets of the day, and the subjects reflected the English environment, the country home and English rural life. William Byrd, Thomas Morley, Thomas Tomkins, John Wilbye, Thomas Weelkes, and Orlando Gibbons are among the most outstanding English composers of madrigals.