A Brief History of Western Music
Madrigals
The madrigal was an important genre of secular music in Renaissance Italy (more specifically, in the 16th century). It was a type of song that was "through-composed": there were no refrains or any sort of form in the music. A madrigal's text was often serious in nature; the composers of madrigals sought to match the seriousness and nobility of poetry. Below, you can listen to a couple of examples of madrigals:
Moro, lasso, al mio duolo ("I die, alas, in my suffering") is a madrigal written by Carlo Gesualdo (1561 - 1613). As you can most likely tell from the title, the song's lyrics are dark and full of grief; these emotions are portrayed in the intense chromaticism of the opening phrase.
Il bianco e dolce cigno ("The white and sweet swan") is a madrigal written by Jacques Arcadelt (1505 - 1568). This madrigal also contains themes of death and suffering; the opening lyrics proclaim: "The white and sweet swan dies singing. And I, weeping, come to the end of my life."