Cipriano de Rore, a Franco-Netherlandish pupil of…

Cipriano de Rore, a Franco-Netherlandish pupil of the composer Adrian Willaert, had in around 1540 become the first to use chromatic harmony as a means of further enhancing the text of the madrigal.

At this time, madrigals are written for as few as three and as many as eight parts, although a four-part texture is generally preferred.

Often sung by solo voices, one to a part, they are also performed with instruments that either substitute for some of the voices or double the various parts.

Rore, a central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish composers after Josquin Desprez who have gone to live and work in Italy, and who have been formative in the development of the late Renaissance styles here, is also one of the most prominent mid-century composers of madrigals.