The Fourth Book displays an increased tendency towards chromatism, but short of the extreme experimentalism of the two following collections. Amidst the stormy and poignant intensity of pages like Sparge la morte or Moro, e mentre sospiro, there is still room for fleeting accents of gentleness and lightness, traces of luminosity and a certain ease in the movement of the high parts (perhaps an echo of the vocal charms of the ‘Trio of Dames’). Thus, this Fourth Book serves as a bridge in Gesualdo’s production. The result is a jewel that shines with a light at once brilliant and somber. By the way, does not the surprising façade of Gesualdo’s first residence in Ferrara – the Palace of Diamonds – produce the same impression? Perhaps the spirit of Ferrara speaks, in covert fashion, in these madrigals.
