Montella: Primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci

Giovan Domenico Montella (ca. 1570–1607), the lutenist of the royal chapel of the viceroy court and contemporary of Carlo Gesualdo and Giovanni de Macque, was one of the most active Neapolitan composers at the end of the sixteenth century and the first decade of the seventeenth. His Primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci was printed by Nicola Antonio Stigliola at the Stamperia à Porta Regale in 1594. It was one of the few works that marked the beginning of a gradual revival of music printing in Naples. Montella used the texts not only of well-known poets but also of local authors; his is the first setting of "Se i lumi vostri" by Giambattista Marino, which was later printed in the poet’s Rime of 1602. Musically, his works in the Primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci display skillfully handled rhetorical details within the traditional contrapuntal style of cinquecento madrigals.