Madrigal facts for kids

A madrigal is a special type of song meant for a small group of singers. These songs were very popular in the 1500s and 1600s. This time was the end of the Renaissance music period and the start of the Baroque period. Madrigals first appeared in Italy. They quickly became popular there, and also for a while in England and France. The words of madrigals are always about everyday, non-religious topics, often about love.

What is a Madrigal?

When Italian composers first created madrigals, they were inspired by other songs. These included the frottola, the motet, and the French chanson. Early madrigals were written for just two or three voices. Later, many madrigals were made for four or five voices. Each voice part could be sung by one person or by several people. Sometimes, musical lines were also played by an instrument. However, madrigals are usually sung without any instruments.

Madrigals were the most important non-religious music of their time. In Italy, they were very popular between about 1550 and 1630. In England, the madrigal period lasted from about 1588 to 1620.

The Rise of Madrigals

In 1533, a book called Primo libro di Madrigali was published in Venice. Philippe Verdelot collected these first madrigals. This book helped make madrigals very popular. Jacob Arcadelt also published many madrigal collections. These were important for how madrigals developed.

In 1588, Nicholas Yonge published a book in England. It was called Musica Transalpina, meaning "Music from over the Alps". This book contained Italian madrigals with their words translated into English. After this, madrigals became extremely popular in England. Their popularity lasted until after 1620, when they slowly became less important.

Why People Loved Madrigals

People enjoyed madrigals because they were fun. Composers often made the music sound like the words being sung. This was called "word-painting". For example, a word like "smile" might have quick, happy music. A word like "sigh" might have a note followed by a short pause, like a real sigh. If the words were "rise so high", the music would go up very high.

Word-painting was also found in religious music. But the way it was used in madrigals was new and exciting. Often, madrigals had a verse and a chorus. The chorus was sometimes sung to simple words like "fa la la la la". The songs were often about shepherds and shepherdesses falling in love.

Famous Madrigal Composers

Many important composers wrote madrigals. In Italy, some of the most famous were Giovanni da Palestrina, Luca Marenzio, Jacques Arcadelt, Adrian Willaert, Cipriano de Rore, Carlo Gesualdo, Giaches de Wert, and Claudio Monteverdi.

In England, key madrigal composers included William Byrd, Thomas Morley, John Wilbye, Thomas Weelkes, John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons, and Thomas Tomkins. Other notable composers were Orlando di Lasso and Josquin des Prez from the Franco-Flemish region. From Spain, there were Tomás Luis de Victoria and Mateo Flecha.

Performing Madrigals

In the Renaissance, madrigals were performed in two main ways. They were sung as entertainment at important feasts. They were also enjoyed by groups of amateurs (people who sing for fun) in their homes. This was because madrigals were a non-religious style of song.

Today, madrigals are often sung by high school or college choirs. They are sometimes performed as after-dinner entertainment. Singers might even wear Renaissance costumes for these performances.

Images for kids

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  The Lute Player (c. 1600) by Caravaggio. The lutist reads madrigal music by the composer Jacques Arcadelt. (Hermitage, Saint Petersburg)

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  Cardinal Pietro Bembo helped make vernacular Italian popular for poetry. This helped composers create lyrical madrigal styles in the 1500s. (Titian)

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  Luca Marenzio (1553–1599) was an important madrigal composer in the late 1500s.

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  A statue of Nicholas Yonge (1560–1619). He brought madrigals to England.

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  Carlo Gesualdo (1566–1613) composed madrigals with unusual chromaticism.

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  Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) was a very important madrigal composer in the early 1600s. (Bernardo Strozzi, 1640)

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  Title page of Le nuove musiche (1601), by the madrigalist Giulio Caccini

See also

In Spanish: Madrigal (música) para niños