Vocal Genre: Madrigals [嚙踝蕭嚙緬]
Madrigal tracks sung by SPYC School Choir

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• Another form of vocal genre, madrigal [嚙踝蕭嚙緬], dominated secular music in the sixteenth century, allowed Italy to assume a leading role in European music for the first time.

• Italian madrigal was a through-composed [嚙瘠嚙窯嚙諛律各嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭] setting of a short poem. The term ‘through-composed’ means that every line of poetry received a different musical setting reflecting the rhythm and sense of the words In a madrigal performance, all voices have essentially equal roles to play.

• Madrigals were composed chiefly for the enjoyment of the singers themselves and were typically performed in mixed groups of women and men at social gatherings, after meals, and at meetings of academies [嚙罵嚙踝蕭].

• Some famous madrigal composers in Italy are, Jacques Arcadelt (ca. 1505-1568), Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565), Luca Marenzio (1553-1599), and last but not least, the giant Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643).

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Instrumental Music [嚙誰橘蕭嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭]

• It is not difficult to understand the reason why the history so far has been silent about instrumental music, with almost all the composers were trained principally [嚙瘩嚙緯嚙窮] as singers (most were choirboys), understandably, they channeled their talents and made innovative contributions to the body of vocal music sung in churches and courts.

• Also, during the Middle Ages, improvisation [嚙磐嚙踝蕭嚙請作] and playing from memory were the norm for instrumental music performance practice. Without notation, instrumental music could hardly survive.

• During the late Renaissance, there was a revival [嚙稻嚙踝蕭] of instrumental music mainly because some of the songs were written with accompaniment, such as lute songs [嚙罵嚙磅嚙稷(嚙稼嚙磅嚙稷)嚙線嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭嚙緬嚙踝蕭](solo song with accompaniment).

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Fun Facts

• Italian madrigal composers employed a technique called 嚙踝蕭word painting嚙踝蕭. When they were composing a madrigal, they were looking at the meaning of the poem and they would put notes to depict [嚙緙繪] the meaning in the poem. For instance, if the poem has a very somber and sad mood, the composer may write many sustained notes in the low register [嚙瘠嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭] as well as descending scales.

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Food for Thought

• What kind of music secured Italy to be one of the cultural hubs in Europe during the Renaissance Period?

• What is the most significant difference between the musical style in Middle Ages and Renaissance?

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Music Examples

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)"Settimo libro de Madrigali"
- O come sei gentile
- Io son pur vezzosetta
- Tu dormi?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX7Ty9I7jiQ

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