Madrigal (music)

A madrigal is a setting for 4–6 voices of a secular text, often in Italian. The madrigal has its origins in the frottola, and was also influenced by the motet and the French chanson of the Renaissance. It is related mostly by name alone to the Italian trecento-madrigal of the late 13th and 14th centuries; those madrigals were settings for 2 or 3 voices without accompaniment, or with instruments possibly doubling the vocal lines.

The classic madrigal composers

• Orlandus Lassus
• Andrea Gabrieli
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
• Philippe de Monte