Madrigals

Early music from Italy in the form of Monteverdi. Another two cd set, Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi by the Consort of Musicke led by Anthony Rooley. These are from Monteverdi's 8th book of madrigals and are divided into madrigals of love and war. Sadly, the cd I have is a mid price reissue and the record label hasn't gone to the trouble of including texts in the booklet notes. So I am only guessing what they are singing about for the most part, not being fluent in Italian. I expect the texts are online somewhere, may search one day. There aren't any immediately obvious musical differences between love and hate in these pieces, with the exception of Il Combattimento di Tancredi et Clorinda, a folk tale about Clorinda dressing in disguise and following her love Tancredi to war. Tancredi doesn't recognise her, they fight and he ends up killing her ( I think ! ) Anyway, the instrumental accompaniment to this section is much more agitated. Generally, instrumental backing is minimal, some harpsichord continuo and a little solo violin. Much of the singing is unaccompanied. In the early nineties when this was recorded, English ensembles were keeping interest in Monteverdi alive, whereas in recent years more native Italian groups have begun to reclaim the territory.