General Biography on Marenzio

One of Monteverdi’s most influential predecessors, Luca Marenzio (c. 1553-99) composed over 500 exceptional madrigals during a short career in Rome. Having works appear in a widely circulated collection helped to spread his fame as far as England, but his strongest impact derived from works written on commission for the Medici, d’Este, and Gonzaga families. He was a true pioneer in forcing music to respond to the changing emotional and topical references of the poetry.

(c) Jason Stell