Cold dark night rendered in plangent dissonances shows off underappreciated art of the madrigal

Thanks to David Guion for suggesting "La nuite- froide et sombre" as a piece to distract us from oppressive summer heat.

So much of what is magnetic about Renaissance polyphony comes from the tension generated by the voices as their lines slide, rub and trip by each other. You don't even have to know what the words are saying to immediately get a sense of mood and atmosphere.

Imagine an vast, dark great room, one of those medieval rooms with a fireplace larger than a Toronto studio condo, with a cluster of friends and neighbours making music together after dinner.

The lyrics come from 16th century poet du Bellay, this 1576 setting for four voices is by Orlando di Lasso.

La nuict froide & sombre
Couvrant d'obscure ombre
La terre & les cieux,
Aussi doux que miel,
Fait couler du ciel
Le sommeil aux yeux.

Puis le jour luisant
Au labeur duisant,
Sa lueur expose,
Et d'un tein divers,
Ce grand univers
Tapisse & compose.

I'd translate it this way:

The cold, dark night
Covers with sombre shadow
Both earth and sky,
As sweetly as honey
It causes from the sky to pour
Sleep into the eyes.

Then gleaming day
Working its way along
Turns up its beams,
And with its many hues
Furnishes and arranges
This great universe.

Here are the men of Venezuelan choir Conclave: