Carlo Gesualdo

The Profile

Italian late Renaissance composer (1566–1613), Prince of Venosa, renowned for intensely chromatic madrigals and sacred music; historically noted for the 1590 murder of his wife and her lover.

Composer of radical five-voice madrigals and Holy Week Responsories; Italian (Prince of Venosa); life dates 1566–1613; famed for extreme chromaticism and dramatic text setting; notorious for a double homicide in 1590.

A fervent praise of Gesualdo’s jagged five-part madrigals: clashing harmonies, sharp angles, and extreme chromaticism matched to texts full of oxymorons. The review hails him as the essence of the 16th‑century madrigal and a poetic-musical peak.