Gesualdo di Venosa, Carlo: O come è gran martire for 5 voices or instruments

This madrigal first appeared in Gesualdo s Libro Secondo, the first known edition of which was published in 1594 in Ferrara by Vittorio Baldini, though the preface suggests that there had been an earlier private print under the pseudonym of Gioseppe Pilony.

This edition actually follows the Partitura of 1613, which contains all six of Gesualdo s madrigal books, and which gives a better text, several corrections having been made.

Although O come è gran martire is a relatively early work, and is less outlandishly chromatic than many later pieces, there are some unorthodox moments: while the double suspensions in bars 5 and 6 do not break any rules, they produce a couple of chords that we would not expect from the 1590s, and there are several other interesting uses of suspensions later on.

The original note values have been retained throughout. I am grateful to Peggy Forsyth for translating the text of this madrigal.

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