There are basically two kinds of madrigal in Monteverdi's fifth book: six dedicatedly forward-looking continuo madrigals at the end of the collection, and the 13 more traditional madrigals that precede it. But the more "traditional" madrigals are actually a unique hybrid of recitativo and polyphonic styles that cannot be found anywhere else. A subtly scored homophonic declamation is overwhelmingly the main texture in all of the more traditional pieces, but the purpose of the homophonic manner is to give the best possible dramatic recitation of the text. In Che dar più vi poss'io commentators see a clear precursor to Monteverdi's later, stripped -down, single-voiced recitativo style, found most prominently in Book 7 and in the operas. The music alternates between the homophonic recitations, poised against brief solo phrases in the tenor, and pure homophony. It is rarely boring because he so carefully balances the elements to achieve a sense of forward momentum, everything is tightly controlled and crisply focused. Neither the harmony nor the melody is very interesting in and of itself, each leaves precisely the right amount of psychological room for the other so the two can interlock in perfect musical symbiosis. Both would fail without the other. Renaissance composers built their music on layers of vocal lines, each of which was melodically strong on its own. Monteverdi's new way of part-writing, in some places termed the "new polyphony," indicates a radical change in musical thought that would be the foundation of European music until today. If not as attractive to some ears as either the later or earlier work, pieces like Che dar più vi poss'io are, at least, completely self-sure in its immediate aims, a product of a lucid stylistic concept that was neither quite polyphonic madrigal nor quite monodic recitative. What's lost in psychological dynamism is regained perhaps in uniqueness, lucidity, and singularity of style.

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