Renaissance Madrigals for Brass Ensembles, Vol. 1

Ghirlanda de madrigali by Vittoria Aleotti contains eighteen four-voice madrigals for soprano (canto), alto, tenor, and bass. The madrigals are short, imitative, alternating with chordal sections, and with the expected meter changes from duple to triple. Duets and trios are common in the musical fabric. Dissonance is carefully placed both in the melody as well as in the chords. Renaissance Madrigals for Brass ensembles Vol. 1, includes Baciai per aver vita (I Kissed with Expectation), Hor che la vaga Aurora (Now with the Dawn the Sun Wakes), Io v’amo vita mia (I Love You my Life), and T’amo mia vita, la mia cara vita (I Love You My Life, My Dearest Life), and are examples of her secular, madrigal style. Also included in Vol. 1 is a sacred motet, Se je souspire/Ecce Iterum (Thus I Sigh and Lament / Behold, again a New Sorrow Comes!) by Margaret of Austria (1480-1530), written on the death of her brother, Philip the Handsome.