Was there a fabulously talented musician in late 16th century Italy akin to today's Taylor Swift? Discounting the cultural, social and economic differences (no-one in 16th century Italy could make a billion dollars touring), there sure was: Claudio Monteverdi, born in 1567. He published his first book of madrigals at age twenty in 1587. But this was not his first publication, no, three years earlier, at age seventeen, he published a volume of Canzonette. Here is a a sample from that book:
Yes, pretty simple stuff, but on the other hand, early Taylor Swift is pretty simple stuff too--and this has a bit of counterpoint. Now let's hear something from his first book of madrigals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBTnGyAtzhc
Featuring expressive shifts to capture the emotion of the text, this shows the influence of Luca Marenzio and Luzzasco Luzzaschi. But Monteverdi's second book of madrigals from 1590 contains his first masterpieces, skillful development of musical gestures reflecting the rhetorical elements of the texts as well as unusual rhythmic stratification--something not available in poetic forms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsr9CH1CI9M&list=RDNsr9CH1CI9M&start_radio=1
By 1592, when Monteverdi's third book of madrigals appeared, he had matured considerably. He had left his birthplace of Cremona and was now in the service of the Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga of Mantua. The amorous triflings of book two are now the more heroic passions influenced by fellow Mantuan composer Giaches de Wert.
I'll stop here for now and continue this another day. One final remarkable thing about Monteverdi is that after perfecting the madrigal he went ahead and invented opera--not singlehandedly, but his L'Orfeo of 1607 is the earliest opera to be a part of the operatic canon today.
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