Best 5 Voice

Henry Gibbons’ Silver Swan is a significant English madrigal composed in 1612. This five-voice work explores themes of loss and fading beauty through a serene lament. It's notable for its intricate vocal writing and represents a high point within the late Renaissance madrigal tradition. The piece is...

Monteverdi’s “Cruda Amarilli” is a five-voice madrigal from his Book V (1605). Notable for its innovative use of dissonances, it was highlighted by theorist Giovanni Maria Artusi around 1600 as a pioneering example of expressive musical freedom. This work is particularly relevant to musicologists, s...

Marenzio’s “Solo e pensoso” is a madrigal composed for five voices, showcasing a masterful exploration of chromaticism. Written in the late Renaissance style around 1599, it sets Petrarch's sonnet about contemplation and wandering. The piece is notable for its prominent soprano line, often described...

"Now is the Month of Maying" is a ballet by English composer Thomas Morley, published in his First Book of Ballets (1595), celebrating spring with a lively fa-la refrain.

"Da le belle contrade d'oriente" is a 5-voice madrigal by Flemish-Italian composer Cipriano de Rore, celebrated for its intense chromaticism and expressive text-painting.

Five-voice madrigal from Monteverdi's fourth book (1603), setting Guarini's text on sorrowful parting with deeply expressive chromaticism and vocal intensity.

Five-voice madrigal from Monteverdi's fourth book (1603), one of his most sensually charged works, built on the erotic conceit of the beloved's kiss as a little death.

Weelkes's two-part, six-voice madrigal from 1600, notable for its expressive chromatic harmonies conveying melancholy through the metaphor of care as a deadly force.

Italian madrigal by Palestrina (c.1525–1594) from his second book of madrigals (1566), one of his most celebrated secular works, widely arranged and parodied by later composers.

Five-voice madrigal from Monteverdi's fourth book (1603), renowned for its depiction of a lover addressing the stars with bold harmonic and declamatory writing.

Gibbons's five-voice madrigal (1612) setting a poem by Sir Walter Raleigh, offering a philosophical meditation on life as theatrical performance and its ultimate vanity.

"Suzanne un jour" is a chanson by Orlando di Lasso setting the biblical story of Susanna, which became one of the most widely reprinted chansons of the late 16th century.

Polyphonic setting of Psalm 130 by Cipriano de Rore (c. 1515–1565), a Flemish-born composer whose chromatic innovations profoundly shaped the development of the Italian madrigal.

English song by William Byrd setting a text attributed to Sir Edward Dyer, published in Byrd's Psalmes, Sonets, & songs (1588) and admired for its stoic philosophy.

Italian secular madrigal by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525–1594), included in his first book of madrigals (1555), one of his comparatively rare forays into secular song.

Chromatic madrigal by Cipriano de Rore (c. 1515–1565) setting a Latin text, renowned for its bold enharmonic intervals and engagement with ancient Greek modal theory.

Italian madrigal by Andrea Gabrieli setting a text from Petrarch's Canzoniere, exemplifying the Venetian Renaissance approach to the elevated Petrarchan lyric.

"Voi ch'ascoltate in rime" is a madrigal by Giaches de Wert setting the opening sonnet of Petrarch's Canzoniere, composed during his tenure at the Gonzaga court in Mantua.

A Marenzio setting of Petrarch's lament on cruel and inexorable death, notable for its somber chromatic language and expressive five-voice polyphony.