Eighth Book - Madrigali Guerrieri

The great Heighth Book of madrigals is a monument in various ways.

In its size it is monumental; twice as long as any of the other books and divided clearly into two; the madrigals of Love and the madrigals of War (although we shouldn't be fooled by such titles since the wars are rather more amorous than military). So the Heighth Book of madrigals is really two books and we will perform it as such. These books mirror each other, each opening with a reflection on its title... Altri Canti d'Amor and Altri Canti di Marte, and each ending with a Ballo, a musical theatre piece which we will produce semi-staged. In the case of Guerrieri, the book of War we have the Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda of Tasso (famous for its virtuoso vocal imitation of the clashing blades of the warriors) and for Amoroses we have the Ballo dele Ingrate to the text of Rinuccini.

The Eighth Books are also monumental in their contents. The are monuments to Monteverdi's long career since both contain works from his much earlier Mantuan period, as well as his most modern compositions. Monteverdi, at his advanced age, must have been aware of the need to publish those works of which he was most proud, before it was too late. In this way the books are a very personal statement of Monteverdi's genius containing some of his most expressive and extraordinary music.

Finally, the Eighth Books are a monument to the madrigal itself. At the time of their publication in 1638, the madrigal is already considered by many as antique, having been supplanted by the aria and by the emergence of opera, but Monteverdi remains true to the madrigal in all its guises, loyal to the musical form that has served as his laboratory since his earliest compositions. It’s in the madrigal that he has experimented with his most audacious musical expression, and the Eighth Books represent the madrigals' greatest and last flowering.

After four intense and wonderful years, during which we have performed all of the first seven Books, we arrive finally at the crowning glory of Monteverdi's madrigal output, the Eighth Book of madrigals.

Since we have performed the complete cycle of Monteverdi's madrigals, we have been able to follow closely Monteverdi's stylistic development from his youthful first publication at the age of 19, edited whilst living at home in Cremona, through the transformational years in Mantua, as monody and opera flourished, to Venice, where the mature composer, famed and revered by now, will write his masterful late operas and publish the enormous miscellany that is the Eighth Book of madrigals.

Paul Agnew

This concert is part of a complete cycle of Monteverdi madrigals being performed by Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew throughout Europe between 2011 and 2015, in partnership with the théâtre de Caen and the Cité de la musique-Philharmonie de Paris.

Video

Editions musicales : 
Les Arts Florissants (Pascal Duc)