ItalianMadrigal.com

MADRIGALS MINUS 1

Like all music of the period, madrigals were typically printed or copied in partbooks, not scores; thus, for example, five-voice madrigals were published as five-partbook sets. The vagaries and vicissitudes of their subsequent fate not infrequently led to sets being broken up and dispersed, and in some cases one or more partbooks were irretrievably lost, or at any rate no surviving copies can presently be located. Some of the more prominent instances of madrigal publications of which one partbook has not survived include Gastoldi's Terzo libro di madrigali a cinque of 1598 (missing the Alto); Massaino's Primo libro di madrigali a cinque of 1571 (missing the Basso); Croce's collection of Carnival pieces entitled Mascarate piacevoli e ridicolose of 1590 (lacking the Tenore) and Dalla Casa's Secondo libro di madrigali a cinque voci, con i passaggi, also of 1590 and also lacking the Tenore, this last of exceptional interest since it includes a number of madrigals with extensive written-out vocal ornamentation.

I claim no particular expertise in reconstructing missing parts, but when I have had the time to try my hand at it, I have found the exercise to be both challenging and rewarding, as well as a way of gaining greater insight into the music. It is also extremely gratifying to hear, or sing, the result. The few specimens provided here, which can be downloaded from the corresponding entries in the Master List of Composers, are offered in the hope that they will stimulate greater interest in this pursuit.


Dalla Casa, Girolamo
Dice la mia bellissima Licori (SSATB) A rare example of an ornamented madrigal (the Tenore has been reconstructed). Dalla Casa was the author of a well-known treatise on the art of diminution. The text provided the model for Wilbye's "Thus saith my Cloris bright."
Se'l dolce bacio (SSATB) Another unusual example of an ornamented madrigal (also with reconstructed Tenore)
Gastoldi, Giovanni Giacomo
Pascon del vago e dilettoso aprile (SSATB) A nice example of the pastoral madrigal, replete with shepherds and shepherdesses cavorting in the spring sunshine, amidst the birds and flowers. The Alto has been reconstructed.
Chi di veder procura (SS A/T TB) The geographical references in the text seem to point to the town of Fano on the Adriatic, thus suggesting that the piece commemorates the elevation of Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini of Fano to the Papacy (as Clement VIII) in 1592. The Alto part has been reconstructed.
La mia donna bevea (prima parte of 2) (SSATB) The protagonist is smitten by the sight of his beloved drinking chilled wine from a glass, however, his efforts to quench his passion backfire. The Alto has been reconstructed.
Io che per lei ardea (seconda parte) (SSATB)
M’è più dolce il penar (SSATB) Mirtillo's riposte to Corisca's provocative advances (Pastor Fido, III/vi). The Alto has been reconstructed.
Marenzio, Luca
Donna bella e crudel (SSATB) Marenzio's earliest known madrigal, published in an anthology of 1577, three years in advance of his ground-breaking Primo libro a 5. The work displays considerable sophistication, as well as hints of developments to come. Only the Canto and Alto partbooks survive; James Chater has ably reconstructed the three missing parts and has obligingly made the piece available to this site.