Madrigals

If Vivaldi’s string concertos represent the late Baroque, Italian madrigals hold equal significance for the early Baroque. Madrigal actually refers to two different genres, though we are concerned here only with its later meaning: an affective secular setting of Petrarchan poetry developed in Italy and elsewhere after 1520. Distinctive features include a high degree of expressivity, chromatic experimentation, a popular strain, and the quality of its poetry. The madrigal’s home was Venice, where it developed in the hands of Willaert, Rore, and Arcadelt, but by the mid-1500s it was being cultivated across Italy. Luzzasco Luzzaschi (c. 1545-1607) lived and worked his entire life in Ferrara. Though not a great deal is known about his day-to-day activities, Luzzaschi was clearly among the most skilled organists and composers of the time. He was appointed court organist of the powerful d’Este family around his 20th year, circulating with the most influential patrons and artists of that glittering court, including Duke Alfonso II, Tasso, and Guarini.
In the 1570s Alfonso and Luzzaschi formed a series of private musical concerts devoted to the latest experiments in expressive vocal writing. They featured female virtuosi at a time when women were forbidden to perform in public. These activities evolved into the acclaimed concerto delle donne (consort of ladies) which transformed the role of professional female musicians in the 1580s. At its peak, the consort featured three or four “superstar” sopranos. Luzzaschi’s madrigals for multiple voices, as heard this evening, represent the pinnacle of the consort’s art. Richly decorated melodic lines, marked by pungent dissonance and chromatic cross relations, vivify key words such as “languish” and “dolor.” He composed to challenge and inspire these women to present astounding performances—which, because of social conventions, could only be enjoyed by a small private audience. The madrigals were eventually published in 1601.

(c) Jason Stell