Monteverdi: Madrigals, Book I

Specials

Specials

Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi composed nine books of madrigals in half a century, which helped transform the genre from the polyphonic, a cappella madrigals of the late Renaissance to the 'concertato' madrigals of the early Baroque, shifting the style's focus to the ability of music to express emotions contained in a text. Paul Agnew leads Les Arts Florissants in the madrigals of Book I. Published on New Year's Day of 1587, Book I consists of seventeen madrigals for five voices.