As part of my continuing project to transcribe Monteverdi's madrigals onto winds, here is the 6th book. In this book we see a much greater development towards dramatic representation. In a way, this book is divisible into two Scenes with a number of single items in between. The vocal lines are all much more complex and we can also see the beginnings of monodic writing appear in the semi-recit sections of some of the songs.

Also clearly developing are delineations of the voices into soloists and chorus. Several songs in this book are almost akin to arias, with clear soloistic writing for the higher voices (Cantus/Tenor).

The first four songs form a kind of introductory 'scena', which Monteverdi calls Lamento d'Arianna. A little later, there is a set of 6 songs which he grouped together under the title Sestina.

This song, No 10 starts with the line Here Tirsi laughed and wriggled under the two(twin?) stars of the beautiful Clorinda I think you get the picture! We can see plenty of musical laughing and wriggling in the music with dotted rhythms and semiquaver runs. The top two voices are Clorinda (doing a fair amount of wriggling herself) while the bottom two take the part of Tirsi. There are places where all four voices give vent to an exclamation and where, presumably, the two lovers had to stop for breath! The original incorporates a very basic continuo part, which I have shared between the resting voices.

As with all things madrigalian, the lyrics are rife with double entendres.