Claudio Monteverdi
Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi
(Madrigals of Battle and Love)
for eight voices and instruments

Performers
Harmonia Stellarum Houston

Mario Aschauer, artistic director

Monteverdi’s eighth book of madrigals, entitled Madrigali guerrieri at amorosi, strike a distinctly different tone than his previous works. In the preface he writes:

“The principal passions or affections of our mind are three, namely anger, moderation and humility or supplication; … In all the works of former composers I have indeed found examples of the ‘soft’ and the ‘moderate’, but never of the ‘agitated’, a genus nevertheless described by Plato … in these words: ‘Take that harmony that would fittingly imitate the utterances and the accents of a brave man who is engaged in warfare’. And … I have applied myself with no small diligence and toil to rediscover this genus.”

The breathtaking palette of musical expression as displayed in what are usually regarded as the masterpieces of this volume, Or che’l cielo e la terra e’l vento tace and the Lamento della ninfa, combine more than one of the aesthetic positions espoused by Monteverdi during his career, even though they are ostensibly incompatible. And in doing so the Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi are quite representative of his achievement as a whole.