Here is an overview of the madrigal in the literature of the renaissance lute. A madrigal is a polyphonic, non-religious vocal piece that reached its peak in the sixteenth century. The topics discussed often focus on love or nature. The lyrics of the madrigal are mainly in Italian. There are madrigals based on other musical forms such as the frottola, villanella or canzonetta. Defining exactly what can be considered a madrigal remains difficult. In case of doubt, CPDL (Choral Public Domain Library) was used as a reference. Concordances for cittern or keyboard are also mentioned. For each song, the first printed vocal source is credited. This does not necessarily mean that this source was actually used for current intabulation. There will be an update on a regular base.
Tom Van Eygen , December 2025 (update January 2026)