In addition to being a highly trained musician and a prolific composer, Monteverdi was apparently a well-educated, thoughtful person who intentionally set out to understand and explore the development of new trends in music. Living in an era when publication of music was an established and common practice, he was able to methodically group and issue his work over the years. Monteverdi stood at the crossroads between the old Flemish/Netherland polyphony, or prima prattica, and the newer Baroque styles. In addition to developing a more lyric style, with the text acquiring a greater importance than the rules of polyphony would have allowed, Monteverdi also pioneered in the transition to a chordal harmonic structure, with the bass part anchoring the harmony, thus permitting the upper voices more independence and freedom of expression. Monteverdi intentionally chose to develop his skills in the realm of secular music. This choice may reflect the conservative restrictions on sacred music in Italy during the Counter-Reformation. It could also reflect the importance of secular music in court life in Italy.

Over his lifetime, Monteverdi produced nine books of madrigals, which document his purposeful exploration and musical growth. The first two books were completed while Monteverdi was still living in Cremona, the city of his birth, and are early works of exploration. The Third Book of Madrigals (1593) does not represent a big departure musically from the previous publications, except for the choice of text. Here Monteverdi intentionally chose texts with a greater expression of drama and passion; this increasingly becomes a hallmark of his madrigal composition. The text of "O primavera gioventù dell'anno," from this third book, is taken from Il pastor fido, a pastoral drama by Guarini, who supplied many of Monteverdi's texts. The madrigal starts with a solo statement of an energetic theme, which is then picked up in other parts. New motifs begin new sections of text and are woven into a single overall composition. At this time, Monteverdi, at 27 years old, had published six collections of work. He had moved to the court in Mantua, where he was hired as a singer and violist, but still had time for composing. His work was becoming known outside of Mantua and first aroused the interest and criticism of more conservative musicians, particularly Giovanni Artusi, the Italian theorist and composer. This famous and well-documented conflict continued well into Monteverdi's middle life.

There is a ten-year break before Monteverdi's next publication, the Fourth Book of Madrigals (1603). During this period he married and had children. As a member of the Mantuan court, he also travelled extensively and was away from home for lengthy periods. With the publication of the fourth book, it is evident that Monteverdi has firmly developed the style that characterizes his mature works. The variety, the expressive lyricism and dissonance, the use of trios and duets within the traditional five-part madrigal form, and the transition to a more chordal harmonic structure characterize the works of this collection. The four madrigals on our program from Book 4 illustrate this variety of treatment. In "Sfogava con le stele," we see the composer exploring dramatic expression with the use of recitative-like chant. "Ah, dolente partita" begins as a duet with the two top voices in unison and develops exquisite harmonic dissonances as the phrase progresses. (A more mature treatment of this effect appears later in this program in the tenor duet "Interrozi sperati.") "A un giro sol de' begl'occhi lucenti" includes colourfully expressive motifs as a duet and trio on the text "ride l'aria" (the air laughs) and "e 'l mar s'acqueta e i venti" (the sea and the winds become calm). "Quel augellin che canta" presents parallel duets contrasting with five-part choral sections.

The two laments, "Lagrime d'amante al sepolcro dell'amata" and "Lamento d'Arianna," appear in the Sixth Madrigal Book (1614), published almost ten years after the previous collection. By this time, Monteverdi had completed two very successful operas and a collection of sacred works that included the mass In illo tempore and what has come to be known as the Vespers of 1610. He had also experienced the personal tragedy of the death of his beloved wife. Book 6 is the last collection of Monteverdi's work that features the traditional five-part madrigal. After this, his madrigal composition turns to solos and duets with specific instrumental accompaniments. Most of the texts in Book 6 are concerned with grief, loss, and leave-taking, and the music explores the expression of these emotions. "Lagrime d'amante al sepolcro dell'amata," Monteverdi's heartrending tribute to his wife, who died in 1607, is a set of six madrigals, also referred to as the "Sestina," reflecting the very specific, six-verse form in which the words that end each line of the first verse all appear at the end of verse lines in different, prescribed places in subsequent verses. The six sections are musically related stylistically and harmonically. The overall style is characterized with slow and intense phrases sung by different combinations of voices interspersed with more rapid rhythmic sections. "Lamento d'Arianna" is a group of four madrigals that Monteverdi adapted from the aria in his opera of 1608, L'Arianna, (the rest of this opera has been lost). This aria had become popular almost immediately. According to the Florentine composer Severo Bonini, "there was no home that possessed either harpsichords or lutes that did not also possess a copy of this lament" (1640). The four madrigals are more varied among themselves musically than the "Sestina" verses, but they are joined harmonically and, of course, by the progression of Arianna's lament in the text.

"Eri già tutta mia" and "Sì dolce è 'l tormento" are solo works with instrumental accompaniment. This music is lighter and more dance-like, and in each case follows the verse structure, repeating almost identically for each verse. Both works appear in later collections, published at the height of Monteverdi's fame, but without his direct input. These publications often included a variety of popular works, not necessarily current compositions, which Monteverdi had not previously included in his collections.

Book 7 presents a large variety of forms. At this point in his career, Monteverdi has gone beyond the traditional five-part madrigal form, and his structure is now related solely to text. Duets are the most common form, the vocal lines now totally independent of the bass, which anchors the harmonic structure. The "Interrotte speranze" is a duet for two tenors on the ever popular theme of unrequited love. Monteverdi creates a breathtaking tension, beginning with a slow, intense unison that then diverges into two vocal lines. Tirsi e Clori (1616) is a ballo, or dance, probably written for the coronation of Duke Ferdinand of Mantua in 1616. Although Monteverdi had moved to Venice several years prior to this event, he continued to have a strong musical connection with the Mantuan court. This work is divided into two main sections: a duet in the form of a dialogue between Tirsi and Clori, in which Tirsi successfully convinces Clori to join him in the dance, and lively dance sections sung by a larger five-part ensemble.