The Note Nere Anthologies

The 1540s were the heyday of the note nere madrigal, also known as madrigali di misura di breve or cromatici. ¹ Although the first of Gardano’s editions to advertise madrigals in the new notational style appeared in 1542, a few pieces with the characteristic C signature and short note values can be found in earlier publications, notably the collection of music performed in 1539 at the wedding of Cosimo de Medici and Eleonora of Toledo ² and Arcadelt’s fourth book of four-voice madrigals, ³ in which two madrigals, Yvo’s Pace non trovo and Arcadelt’s Viddifra l’herbe verde display the characteristics of the note nere style. ⁴ Gardano then published editions throughout the forties which pointed to the note nere style on their title pages. ⁵ These included three books de diversi for four voices, Rore’s first book of five-voice madrigals, two books of duos by Agostino Licino, and Ruffo’s first book of four-voice madrigals. ⁶