50
1. plea sure to amateur performers
2. grew in complexity
3. expanded to five or six voices
C. Later madrigal (1580–1620)
1. extends into Baroque era
2. Claudio Monteverdi: influential, Renaissance-
to- Baroque transitional composer
III. Monteverdi and Vocal Rhe toric
A. Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)
1. born in Cremona, Italy
2. court position to duke of Mantua
3. choirmaster at St.Mark’s in Venice, thirty years
4. wrote madrigals throughout his lifetime, nine
books
a. transformed the genre to emotionally charged
soloistic style
b. highlighted text through unprepared disso–
nances, speechlike melodies
c. rich chromatic harmony, dramatic declama–
tion, vocal virtuosity, vivid depiction of emo–
tional words, new emotional intensity
5. output: nine books of madrigals, sacred music,
operas, other dramatic music
B. Si ch’io vorrei morire (Truly I want to die)
1. from Monteverdi’s Fourth Book of Madrigals
2. music serves expressive power of text; words
conveyed clearly, passionately
3. reference to death: conceit for sexual climax
4. references to kissing, bodily interaction
C. LG 5: Monteverdi: Si ch’io vorrei morire (Truly I
want to die) (published 1603)
1. 5- voice, a cappella, Italian madrigal
2. through- composed, return of opening phrase
3. modal, with affective dissonances
4. alternates homophony and polyphony
OUTLINE
I. Social Music- Making in the Renaissance
A. Music- making expanded through secular genres
1. professional musicians: court and civic
festivities
2. amateurs: music- making in the home
3. vocal and instrumental music
4. prosperous homes: lute or keyboard instrument
B. Women in music
1. music education: well- bred women
2. women achieved fame as professional singers
( later 16th century)
C. Union of poetry and music
1. French chanson
2. Italian madrigal
3. poetry shaped musical forms
II. The Madrigal: Linking Music and Poetry
A. Madrigal most impor tant secular genre of the era
1. secular vocal composition for three to eight voices
2. aristocratic form, poetry and music
3. flourished at Italian courts
4. favorite diversion of cultivated amateurs
5. sung from part books, chamber music
6. text: short poems, lyric or reflective character
a. emotional words for weeping, sighing, trem–
bling, dying; set suggestively
7. topics: love, unrequited love, humor and satire,
politics, scenes of city and country life
8. word- painting: madrigalisms
a. music directly reflects meaning of words
b. e.g., harsh dissonance “death,” ascending line
“heaven,” “stars”
c. expressive device, enhanced emotional content
B. Early madrigal (c. 1525–50)
CHAPTERfi17 Singing in Friendship:
The Re nais sance Madrigal
dissonance, melisma, repetition, etc.). Use the text,
translation, and analy sis of Monteverdi’s Si ch’io vor–
word- painting gesture is being employed to set the word
or phrase in question.
words), and then the groups will discuss the pos si ble
meanings the music might be conveying. After playing
madrigal with words, and have the groups discuss how
the music conveys the meaning of the text (display the
text on the board). Reconvene after five minutes and
again invite the groups to share their ideas. How did the
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. The madrigal was one of the most popu lar genres for
amateur per for mance during the Re nais sance. Consider
that would be particularly difficult? How does the use of
word- painting contribute to the accessibility or level of
difficulty of each piece?
comparison applies to these two pieces? Why or why
not? Refer to specific musical and textual ele ments in
your answer.
5. words repeated for rhetorical effect
6. madrigralisms:
IV. The Madrigal in England
A. Flourished during Elizabethan era (1558–1603)
3. published collection of four- voice madrigals
4. clever word- painting, lighthearted works
Amyntas
3. happy conclusion
D. LG 6: Farmer: Fair Phyllis (published 1599)
jects of Chapter17. Singing in secular contexts is presented
here as an opportunity for social gathering and friendship,
as well as hearing the per for mances of mixed amateur and
professional singers.
2. To recognize the impor tant link between text and music
in the madrigal, with special emphasis on the incorpo–
ration of word- painting
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Discuss with your class the standard techniques of madri–
gal word- painting (homophony vs. polyphony, unexpected
52 | Chapterfi17
story is sung by a mixed- gender rather than single- gender
group?
Per for mance Model Response
ture) while a single voice sings
alone or above the three other
voices in a soloistic fashion.
Also separating the soloist from
the clear and bright solo singer.
Even though the language of the
text is not familiar to American
students, the texture produced
by this group makes hearing the
difficult to make out the text
precisely, but on account of the
strict rhythm (and with the
help of a director), most of the
phrases can easily be made out.
In addition, a mixed- gender
group is singing, which makes
it easier to hear the dif fer ent
parts, although because they
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Even with translations on hand, it can be difficult for students
to make connections between text and music in the Italian
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kerman, Joseph. The Elizabethan Madrigal. New York: American
overview of the sixteenth- century madrigal. While the primary
focus is the Italian madrigal, Roche also discusses the madrigal
in northern Eu rope and in England.
YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE
Can you find examples of twenty- first- century part songs
( whether in North Amer i ca or elsewhere) that are designed