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Claudio Monteveri’s “Cruda Amarilli” is a Renaissance Italian madrigal from his Fifth Book (1605). It sets Guido Rangel's pastoral poem, exploring themes of love and loss through complex five-part harmonies. The work gained recognition for its innovative use of dissonance, mirroring concerns raised...
Dolcissima mia vita is a five-voice Italian madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo, published in his Fifth Book of Madrigals in 1611. Its anonymous text addresses a beloved whose desired death-dealing kiss would transform suffering into sweetness. Gesualdo's setting is noted for abrupt chromatic shifts, dissona...
O Mirtillo is a five-voice madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi, published in his Fifth Book of Madrigals in 1605. Its text comes from Giovanni Battista Guarini's pastoral drama Il pastor fido and voices a lament addressed to the shepherd Mirtillo. The work belongs to the repertory associated with Monteve...
T'amo, mia vita is a madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi, published in his Fifth Book of Madrigals in 1605 and based on a text by Giovanni Battista Guarini. The setting distinguishes the beloved's declaration through a prominent upper vocal line while the remaining voices respond and comment, creating a...
"Se la mia morte brami" is an Italian secular madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo for five unaccompanied voices, published in his sixth book of madrigals in 1611. Its text addresses a beloved who desires the speaker's death, allowing Gesualdo to connect images of desire, suffering, and dying with abrupt harm...
Ecco, Silvio, colei is a five-voice Italian madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi, published in his Fifth Book of Madrigals in 1605. Its text comes from Giovanni Battista Guarini's pastoral tragicomedy Il pastor fido and concerns the characters Silvio and Dorinda. The piece participates in a connected dram...
Italian madrigal from Monteverdi's Fourth Book (1603), the concluding piece of the extended 'Ecco, Silvio' dramatic sequence, expressing the wound of unrequited love.
Italian madrigal from Monteverdi's Fourth Book (1603), part of the 'Il pastor fido' cycle in which the nymph Dorinda expresses her unrequited love for the shepherd Silvio.
“Era l'anima mia” is a five-voice Italian madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi, published in his Fourth Book of Madrigals in 1603. It sets a text by Giovanni Battista Guarini and uses shifting vocal combinations, dissonance, and close attention to individual words to dramatize the poem. The work belongs t...
Italian madrigal from Monteverdi's Fourth Book (1603), a continuation of the 'Ecco, Silvio' cycle drawn from Guarini's pastoral drama 'Il pastor fido.'
Italian madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo addressing the beloved's eyes as the source of the speaker's life, expressed through his characteristically intense harmonic language.
Italian madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo meaning 'Ah, I now grow pale,' employing chromaticism to portray emotional pallor within his six-book madrigal series (1594–1611).
Italian madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo setting 'Love, what must I do,' a text also composed by Monteverdi, illustrating the shared poetic sources of late Renaissance Italian composers.
