madrigalism

1. : a medieval short lyrical poem in a strict poetic form. 2. a. : a complex polyphonic unaccompanied vocal piece on a secular text developed especially in the 16th and 17th centuries.

madrigalism is the use of musical gestures/devices (like dynamics and rhythm) to evoke text depiction, or various emotional states – another more general term for it is word-painting.

Madrigalism aims to intensify the textual content within a musical composition, allowing audiences to experience a deeper connection and comprehension of the words being sung. The origins of madrigalism can be traced back to the 16th century, during the Renaissance period.

ornamentation, in music, the embellishment of a melody, either by adding notes or by modifying rhythms. In European music, ornamentation is added to an already complete composition in order to make it more pleasing.

Word painting, emotive text setting, and many meanings are typical characteristics of madrigals. Unaccompanied secular vocal composition with three, four, or more parts. The Renaissance madrigal is known for its strong use of musical pictorialization of words as an expressive tool.

One of the most famous and finely crafted madrigals is Il bianco e dolce cigno (The White and Sweet Swan) by Jacques Arcadelt. This Renaissance-era piece is certainly known for its beautiful harmonies and expressive text painting.

The origin of the term madrigal is uncertain, but it probably comes from the Latin matricale (meaning “in the mother tongue”; i.e., Italian, not Latin). The 14th-century madrigal is based on a relatively constant poetic form of two or three stanzas of three lines each, with 7 or 11 syllables per line.

As a composition, the madrigal of the Renaissance is unlike the two-to-three voice Italian Trecento madrigal (1300–1370) of the 14th century, having in common only the name madrigal, which derives from the Latin matricalis (maternal) denoting musical work in service to the mother church.

The Madrigal: A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a part song, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, madrigals are unaccompanied using two to eight voices and often polyphonic in texture. They were sung by small groups of singers with only one person per part.

In the 16th century, the musical form of the Italian madrigal greatly influenced secular music throughout Europe, which composers wrote either in Italian or in their native tongues. The extent of madrigalist musical influence depended upon the cultural strength of the local tradition of secular music.

secular A madrigal is a type of secular, polyphonic song that became popular during Europe's Renaissance and early Baroque periods.

The 14th-century madrigal is based on a relatively constant poetic form of two or three stanzas of three lines each, with 7 or 11 syllables per line. Musically, it is most often set polyphonically (i.e., more than one voice part) in two parts, with the musical form reflecting the structure of the poem.