This CD will appeal to choral music lovers, particularly to fans of The Tallis Scholars and the Taverner Consort

This recording contains 16th century Italian madrigals by Cipriano de Rore and his pupils Giaches de Wert, Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Marcantonio Ingegneri. The madrigal was the most important genre of Italian secular music in the sixteenth century. Through it Italy became the centre of European music for the first time in its history.

Cipriano de Rore was an important innovator who set the trends that the madrigal was to follow in the second part of the century. Giaches de Wert further developed the madrigal to include bold leaps, recitative-like declamation and extravagant contrasts, all which had a marked influence on Monteverdi.

The madrigal at this time was a piece of vocal chamber music intended for performance with one singer to a part, however instrumental doubling or substitution was very common. The text was very important and emotional:hope, despair, rage, adoration, repugnance, pride, shame. This was reflected in the music through a combination of melodic, rhythmic and harmonic invention.

This CD forms part of the project "Female musicians at the court of Ferrara and Parma, 1565 - 1589". At this time Duke Alfonso d'Este assembled at his court a group of virtuoso women musicians and singers, a musica secreta to feed his fascination for the female voice...