Monteverdi's development of the madrigal form toward an entirely new, dramatic conception of music was careful and methodical. Following along in his books of madrigals, progress virtually be traced step by step in an unbroken, smooth continuity. Book 5 is to the point where it sometimes seems a stretch of the truth to even apply the term madrigal anymore. Almost all of the pieces transgress the proper boundaries of that form in some way, and Questi vaghi, the final piece in the collection, is especially conspicuous. It is a huge, brilliant sinfonia for nine voices, divided into two choirs of five and four parts each, scored with five unspecified obbligato instruments. Stylistically it follows the sparkling, grandiose model popularized by Andrea Gabrieli. The sinfonia sections are at the opening and at the beginning of the second stanza of text, the second sinfonie being a simple abbreviation of the first. For the rest, basso continuo accompanies the grand preening of antiphonal choirs and painfully intimate intervening solo sections.

As per the dramatic plan, the changes in texture all occur according to the changes in the subjective tone of the poem; the solos set the most subjective passages in the text, while the choral sections are used for either the most passionate or generalized moments. In his use of the dual-chorus structure,Monteverdi goes somewhat further than his contemporaries, who often used it for a mere echo-effect. The two halves, closely interlocked, draw material from each other, use variations on the sinfonie material, and are used to create a range of dazzling vocal colors in the splashy, Venetian way. The more madrigalistic, polyphonic sections, using the whole chorus, are especially rich. Although it stands perfectly well by itself, Questi vaghi is a small dramatic scene that suggests the scope of the large-scale theatrical music that was to come. Only two years after Book 5 was published, Monteverdi had, in fact, completed the still beloved Orfeo, his first true opera. Monteverdi's "new polyphony," harmonically lucid, makes possible an instrumental largesse that would've produced sheer muck in earlier days. Questi vaghi is an exuberant, proud music that seems intent on celebrating its own fresh, voluptuous beauty.

© All Music Guide