A madrigal is a type of secular vocal music that was popular during the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods. Some later European composers also revisited the form. The polyphonic madrigal is sung without instruments, and the number of voices ranges from two to eight, though most madrigals use three to six voices. The rhythm of a madrigal typically includes two or three groups of three lines (tercets), followed by one or two groups of two lines (couplets). Unlike songs that repeat the same music for each verse, most madrigals are through-composed, meaning different music is written for each stanza of the lyrics. This allows the composer to express the emotions in each line and individual words of the poem.
Madrigals from the 1520s were influenced by several musical styles. Some came from the frottola, a form with three to four voices that used repeated verses. Others were inspired by Italian poetry, French chansons, and the polyphonic motet. The frottola used the same music for each stanza, while the madrigal used different music for each stanza. Renaissance madrigals differ from earlier 14th-century Italian madrigals, which had two to three voices. Both share the name "madrigal," though the origin of the word is unclear. Some suggest it comes from the Latin "matricalis," meaning "related to a mother church" or "simple." Others believe it comes from the Hebrew word "madriga," meaning "step," with the suffix "-al" meaning "in the style of," describing the step-like progression of the melody.
During the Renaissance, the madrigal was the most important form of secular music in Italy. It reached its peak in the late 16th century, when German and English composers, such as John Wilbye, Thomas Weelkes, and Thomas Morley, adopted the form. Most English madrigals were a cappella (without instruments) and used three to six voices, often copying or adapting Italian styles. By the mid-16th century, Italian composers began blending madrigals with the cantata and dialogue. By the early 17th century, the aria replaced the madrigal in opera.
History
The madrigal is a type of music that began in Italy during the 1500s. This happened because of changes in how people used language and the influence of certain writers and composers. In 1501, Pietro Bembo published a book of poems by Petrarch, who lived in the 1300s. Bembo also wrote about writing in a graceful style, using Latin rules for rhythm, word sounds, and sentence structure. As a form of poetry, the madrigal had lines of varying lengths (usually 7–11 syllables) and did not repeat lines.
At the same time, many composers from France and the Low Countries, called the Franco-Flemish school, moved to Italy. They were drawn to Italian culture and jobs in aristocratic courts or the Roman Catholic Church. These composers were skilled in writing complex religious music and knew about secular music from their homeland, like the chanson, which was different from the lighter styles of Italian music at the time.
The invention of the printing press helped spread sheet music in Italy. Popular music forms like the frottola and ballata were simple and used repeated lines and a style where the soprano voice was the main one. These forms were less complex than the music of the Franco-Flemish school. Meanwhile, Italian tastes in literature were changing from simple, playful poems to more serious ones, like those written by Bembo. This change required more flexible music styles than the frottola and similar forms.
The madrigal slowly replaced the frottola in the 1520s. Early madrigals were published in a book called Musica di messer Bernardo Pisano sopra le canzone del Petrarcha (1520) by Bernardo Pisano. Though no piece was named a madrigal, some used Petrarchan poetry and word-painting, which became features of later madrigals. In 1530, Philippe Verdelot published a book called Madrigali de diversi musici: libro primo de la Serena, which included music by several composers.
Between 1533 and 1534, Verdelot published two books of four-voice madrigals in Venice, which were reprinted in 1540. This success led Adrian Willaert, the leader of the Franco-Flemish school, to rearrange some madrigals for single voices and lute. In 1541, Verdelot published madrigals with five and six voices. A book by Jacques Arcadelt, Il primo libro di madrigali (1539), became the most reprinted madrigal book of its time. Arcadelt and Verdelot’s music was closer to the French chanson than to the Italian frottola or motet, as French was their native language. They focused on setting the text clearly, as Bembo suggested, and used through-composed music instead of repeating sections.
Though the madrigal began in Florence and Rome, Venice became the center of musical activity by the mid-1500s. Events like the Sack of Rome (1527) and the Siege of Florence (1529–1530) reduced those cities’ importance. Venice was a major music publishing hub, and St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice attracted composers from across Europe. Adrian Willaert and his colleagues at the basilica, including Girolamo Parabosco and Cipriano de Rore, were key madrigal composers.
Willaert preferred complex, polyphonic music, similar to motets, but varied his style to highlight the text. He favored Petrarch’s sonnets. Cipriano de Rore, the most influential madrigal composer, used dramatic techniques like word-painting and unusual chord progressions, influenced by Nicola Vicentino. His style introduced madrigalisms and the five-voice texture, which became standard.
Later, composers like Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlande de Lassus, and Philippe de Monte developed the madrigal further. In Venice, Andrea Gabrieli wrote madrigals with bright, open textures. At the court of Duke Alfonso II d’Este in Ferrara, the Concerto delle donne (a group of female singers) performed ornamented madrigals. Other cities, like Florence and Rome, also adopted similar ensembles.
In the 1560s, composers like Marc’Antonio Ingegneri and Andrea Gabrieli added lighter, dance-like rhythms to madrigals, replacing serious themes with carefree ones. By the late 1500s, composers used word-painting to match music with lyrics, such as quick notes for “smile” or falling notes for “sigh.” However, in the 17th century, Thomas Campion criticized word-painting as childish in his work First Book of Ayres (1601).
By the end of the 16th century, the madrigal’s role in society changed, leading to new musical forms. Since its creation, the madrigal had two main purposes: (i) private entertainment and (ii) public performances in courts and churches.
Madrigalists
The old-style a cappella madrigals for four or five voices happened at the same time as the new concertato style of madrigal. However, the major change in the seconda prattica introduced a separate bass line, which was included in the Fifth Book of Madrigals (1605) by Claudio Monteverdi. Around 60 madrigals from the English School are collected in The Oxford Book of English Madrigals.