In the last years of the sixteenth century, the madrigal form had reached such an advanced state of quality that there seemed little more could be done with it. Northern European composers, in particular Willaert and Rore, held a virtual monopoly on greatness in the madrigal; it took composers of genius to challenge the hegemony of the exquisite style they had imparted to the whole continent. Monteverdi was one of a group of four Italian composers each of whom, by his own unique solution, gave the madrigal its last real breath of life. They mixed the Northern madrigal style with the style of Italian canzonette, a light, breezy, charming popular secular form of three voice songs. Although some of the madrigals are quite traditional in conception, Non sono in queste rive is one of those that had few direct precedents; many of its novel touches point clearly to the innovations that would bring about the Baroque in music.

The bass part has, for example, become an almost purely functional element, providing harmonic support. So melodic motions, like consecutive fifths, arise that would've been quite striking to Monteverdi's audience, if they seem commonplace now. The music is on a shiny nugget by Torquato Tasso, and again Monteverdi flaunts his newfound talent at word setting, which is now supported by his sure, modern use of harmony, and kept brilliant by ever-shifting tonal colors. Note the completely unexpected, gorgeous modulation across some intriguing suspensions at the word "harmony," the breezy runs of the high voices on "summer breezes," listen to the spontaneous-sounding similarity of the motifs that bind the music together everywhere, and the restless rhythmic energy sustained all the way through. Monteverdi has not only fully absorbed the useful elements of canzonette, but expanded in the meantime the formal possibilities of the madrigal, giving it a final, unexpected moment of triumph.

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