Personalities | Jacques Arcadelt | Renaissance | Classical

(Zhak Är’-ka-delt) c. 1505–68
French composer

Although probably of French birth, Arcadelt spent much of his adulthood in the great Italian cities of Florence, Rome and Venice. He is best known for madrigals (although he composed Masses, motets and chansons as well), including some of the genre’s most precious gems. They are almost all easy to sing, but their simplicity is deceptive. The justly famous ‘Il bianco e dolce cigno’ (‘The White and Gentle Swan’), with its play on the term ‘death’, uses word-painting and other devices to amuse and delight its singers. For example, the poem’s final line, ‘If this is death, I would like to die 1,000 deaths a day’ (mille morte il di) is set to a musical joke: each singer repeats the phrase many times in a figurative 1,000 deaths.

Recommended Recording:
English and Italian Renaissance Madrigals, Hilliard Ensemble (dir) Paul Hillier (Virgin/Erato)

Introduction | Renaissance | Classical
Personalities | Adriano Banchieri | Renaissance | Classical

AUTHORITATIVE

An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...

CURATED

Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.

Rock, A Life Story

Rock, A Life Story

The ultimate story of a life of rock music, from the 1950s to the present day.

David Bowie

David Bowie

Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers his life, music, art and movies, with a sweep of incredible photographs.