MADRIGAL


Meaning of MADRIGAL in English

n.

Form of vocal chamber music, usually polyphonic and unaccompanied, of the 16th–17th centuries.

It originated and developed in Italy, under the influence of the French chanson and the Italian frottola . Usually written for three to six voices, madrigals came to be sung widely as a social activity by cultivated amateurs, male and female. The texts were almost always about love; most prominent among the poets whose works were set to music are Petrarch , Torquato Tasso , and Battista Guarini . In Italy, Orlande de Lassus , Luca Marenzio , Don Carlo Gesualdo , and Claudio Monteverdi were among the greatest of the madrigalists; Thomas Morley , Thomas Weelkes , and John Wilbye created a distinguished body of English madrigals.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.