Abstract:
Gesualdo's compositional writing evolves throughout his six books of madrigals. While the first two books bring the polyphonic tradition of Renaissance, the harmonic experimentalism predominates in the madrigals of the third and fourth books. However, in the last two, there is a higher frequency of the procedures typically associated with the mature composer - the chromatic and dissonant writing. The main element that connects his writing along the three periods is the relation between music and text. Observing the treatment given by the composer to two words in the madrigals - love and death - from different periods, it is possible to confirm his increasing text painting and its implications in the resulting sound. In the first period, Gesualdo used the most common procedures, such as the contrast between counterpoint and homophony. In the following periods, he began to look for more sophisticated musical elements in order to explore different sounds. Through this process, the composer vigorously emphasized words and, thus, the narrative of the poems, reaching for uncommon harmonic resultants and false melodic relations. The analysis of these words in procedures by Gesualdo reveals his deepening of expressivity and a maturing style.
Keywords:
Renaissance; Italian madrigal; Carlo Gesualdo; music and text
