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{{Short description|Italian prince, composer and murderer (1566–1613)}}
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[[File:Carlo-gesualdo-détail.JPG|thumb|1609 [[donor portrait]] of Gesualdo from ''[[Il Perdono di Gesualdo]]'']]
'''Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa''' (between 8 March 1566 and 30 March 1566 – 8 September 1613) was an Italian nobleman and composer. Though both the Prince of [[Venosa]] and [[Count of Conza]], he is better known for writing [[madrigal (music)|madrigals]] and pieces of [[Religious music|sacred music]] that use a [[Chromaticism|chromatic]] language not heard again until the late 19th century. He is also known for killing his first wife and her aristocratic lover upon finding them ''[[in flagrante delicto]]''.

== Biography ==

=== Early life ===
Gesualdo's family had acquired the principality of [[Venosa]], in what is now the [[Province of Potenza]], Southern Italy, in 1560.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} He was probably born on 30 March 1566, three years after his older brother, Luigi,{{sfn|Watkins|2010|page=15}} though some sources have stated that he was born on 8 March.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Older sources give the year of birth as {{circa}} 1560 or 1561, but this is no longer accepted.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} A letter from Gesualdo's mother, Geronima Borromeo, indicates that the year is most likely 1566.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} Gesualdo's uncle was [[Carlo Borromeo]], later Saint Charles Borromeo. His mother was the niece of [[Pope Pius IV]].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Carlo was most likely born at Venosa, then part of the [[Kingdom of Naples]], but little else is known about his early life.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} "His mother died when he was only seven, and at the request of his uncle Carlo Borromeo, for whom he was named, he was sent to Rome to be set on the path of an ecclesiastical career. There he was placed under the protection of his uncle Alfonso (d.&nbsp;1603), then dean of the [[College of Cardinals]], later unsuccessful pretender to the papacy, and ultimately Archbishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples|Naples]]."{{sfn|Watkins|2010|page=15}} His brother Luigi was to become the next Prince of Venosa, but after his untimely death in 1584, Carlo became the designated successor. Abandoning the prospect of an ecclesiastical career,{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}, he married, in 1586, his first cousin, Donna Maria d'Avalos,{{sfn|Ober|1973|page=635}} the daughter of Carlo d'Avalos, prince of [[Principality of Montesarchio|Montesarchio]] and Sveva Gesualdo.{{sfn|Watkins|2010|page=15}} They had one child, a son, [[Emanuele, Count of Conza|Don Emmanuele]].{{sfn|Ober|1973|page=635}}

Gesualdo had a musical relationship with [[Pomponio Nenna]], though whether it was student-to-teacher, or colleague-to-colleague, is uncertain.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Regardless of this, however, he had a single-minded devotion to music from an early age, and is said to have shown little interest in anything else.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} In addition to the [[lute]], he played the [[harpsichord]], and [[guitar]].{{sfn|Newcomb|1968}} In addition to Nenna, Gesualdo's ''[[Academia|accademia]]'' included the composers [[Giovanni de Macque]], [[Scipione Dentice]], [[Scipione Stella]], [[Scipione Lacorcia]], [[Ascanio Mayone]], and the nobleman lutenist [[Ettorre de la Marra]].{{sfn|Watkins|1991|p=297}}

=== Homicide ===

Some years into her marriage with Gesualdo, Donna Maria began an affair with Fabrizio [[House of Carafa|Carafa]], third Duke of [[Andria]] and seventh Count of [[Ruvo di Puglia|Ruvo]].{{sfn|Ober|1973|page=635}} On the night of 16 October 1590,{{sfn|Gray|Warlock|1926|page=18}} at the [[Palazzo di Sangro|Palazzo San Severo]] in Naples, the two lovers were caught ''[[in flagrante]]'' by Gesualdo, who killed them both on the spot.{{sfn|Mullenger|1998}}{{sfn|Ober|1973|page=635}}

The day after the killing, a delegation of Neapolitan officials inspected the room in Gesualdo's apartment where the killings had taken place, and interrogated witnesses. The delegation's report did not lack in gruesome details, including the mutilation of the corpses and, according to the witnesses, Gesualdo going into the bedroom a second time "because he wasn't certain yet they were dead".{{sfn|Ross|2011}}

The Gran Corte della Vicaria found Gesualdo had not committed a crime.{{sfn|Ober|1973|page=636}}

=== Successor ===
About a year after the gruesome end of his first marriage, Gesualdo's father died and he thus became the third Prince of Venosa and eighth Count of Conza.{{sfn|Watkins|2010|page=15}}{{sfn|Ross|2011}}

=== Ferrara years ===
By 1594, Gesualdo had arranged for another marriage, this time to [[Eleonora d'Este (1561-1637)|Leonora d'Este]],<ref name=Britannica>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carlo-Gesualdo-principe-di-Venosa-conte-di-Conza|title=Carlo Gesualdo, Principe di Venosa, conte di Conza|access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref> the niece of Duke [[Alfonso II d'Este|Alfonso II]].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} That year, Gesualdo ventured to [[Ferrara]], the home of the d'Este court<ref name=Britannica/> and also one of the centers of progressive musical activity in Italy, especially the [[madrigal (music)|madrigal]]; Gesualdo was especially interested in meeting [[Luzzasco Luzzaschi]], one of the most forward-looking composers in the genre.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Leonora was married to Gesualdo and moved with him back to his estate in 1597.<ref name=Britannica/> In the meantime, he engaged in more than two years of creative activity in the innovative environment of Ferrara, surrounded by some of the finest musicians in Italy.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} While in Ferrara, he published his first book of madrigals.<ref name=Britannica/> He also worked with the ''[[concerto delle donne]]'', the three virtuoso female singers who were among the most renowned performers in the country, and for whom many other composers wrote music.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

In a letter of 25 June 1594, Gesualdo indicated he was writing music for the three women in the ''concerto delle donne''; however, it is probable that some of the music he wrote, for example, that in the newly developing [[monody|monodic]] and/or [[stile concertato|concertato]] styles, has not survived.{{sfn|Watkins|1991|p=300}}

=== Return to Gesualdo and final years ===
[[File:Castello di Gesualdo ottobre2012.jpg|thumb|Castle of Gesualdo]]
After returning to his castle at [[Gesualdo, Campania|Gesualdo]] from Ferrara in 1595, he set up a situation similar to the one that existed in Ferrara, with a group of resident virtuoso musicians who would sing his own music. {{citation needed|date=July 2020}} While his estate became a center of music-making, it was for Gesualdo alone.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} With his considerable financial resources, he was able to hire singers and instrumentalists for his own pleasure.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} He rarely left his castle, taking delight in nothing but music.{{sfn|Sadie|1980}} His most well-known music was published in [[Naples]] in 1603 and from the castle of Gesualdo (with printer {{ill|Giovanni Giacomo Carlino|it}})<ref>[http://www.lastamperiadelprincipegesualdo.it/site/?page_id=1701 Giovanni Giacomo Carlino] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512230052/http://www.lastamperiadelprincipegesualdo.it/site/?page_id=1701 |date=12 May 2014 }} at {{url|www.lastamperiadelprincipegesualdo.it}}</ref> in 1611.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} The most notoriously [[chromatic]] and difficult portions of it were all written during his period of self-isolation.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

The relationship between Gesualdo and his new wife was not good; she accused him of abuse, and the Este family attempted to obtain a divorce. She spent more and more time away from the isolated estate. Gesualdo wrote many angry letters to [[Modena]] where she often went to stay with her brother. According to [[Cecil Gray (composer)|Cecil Gray]] and [[Peter Warlock]], "She seems to have been a very virtuous lady ... for there is no record of his having killed her."{{sfn|Gray|Warlock|1926|p=43}}

In 1600, Gesualdo's son by his second marriage died. It has been postulated{{by whom|date=March 2022}} that after this Gesualdo had a [[Il Perdono di Gesualdo|large painting]] commissioned for the church of the [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|Capuchins]] at Gesualdo, showing Gesualdo, his uncle Carlo Borromeo, his second wife Leonora, and his son, underneath a group of angelic figures; however, some sources suspect the painting was commissioned earlier, as the identity of the child is unclear.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Late in life he suffered from [[depression (mood)|depression]].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} According to [[Tommaso Campanella|Campanella]], writing in [[Lyon]] in 1635, Gesualdo had himself [[Flagellation|beaten]] daily by his servants, keeping a special servant whose duty it was to beat him "at stool",{{sfn|Gray|Warlock|1926|page=51}} and he engaged in a relentless, and fruitless, correspondence with Cardinal [[Federico Borromeo]] to obtain [[relic]]s, i.e., skeletal remains, of recently canonized uncle Carlo Borromeo, with which he hoped to obtain healing for his mental disorder and possibly absolution for his crimes.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Gesualdo's late setting of [[Psalm]] 50, the ''[[Psalm 50|Miserere]]'', is distinguished by its insistent and imploring musical repetitions, alternating lines of [[Monophony|monophonic]] chant with pungently chromatic [[polyphony]] in a low vocal [[tessitura]].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Gesualdo died in isolation,{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} at his castle Gesualdo in [[Avellino]],<ref name=photojournal/> three weeks after the death of his son [[Emanuele, Count of Conza|Emanuele]], his first son by his marriage to Maria.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} One 20th-century biographer has raised the possibility that he was murdered by his wife.{{sfn|Gray|Warlock|1926|p=43}} He was buried in the chapel {{citation needed span|date=July 2020|of Saint Ignatius}}, in the [[Gesù Nuovo|Church of the Gesù Nuovo]], in [[Naples]].<ref name=photojournal>{{cite news|title=A Gesualdo Photojournal|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-gesualdo-photojournal|access-date=1 March 2022}}</ref> The sepulchre was destroyed in the [[1688 Sannio earthquake|earthquake of 1688]].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} When the church was rebuilt, the tomb was covered over, and now lies beneath it.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} The burial plaque, however, remains visible.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

== Compositions and style ==
{{See also|List of compositions by Carlo Gesualdo}}
{{Listen|filename=Gesualdo-moro lasso al mio duolo.ogg|title=''Moro lasso al mio duolo'' (2:40)|description=Performed by MIT Chamber Chorus (William Cutter, director)|format=[[Ogg]]}}

The evidence that Gesualdo was tortured by guilt for the remainder of his life is considerable, and he may have given expression to it in his music. One of the most obvious characteristics of his music is the extravagant text setting of words representing extremes of emotion: "love", "pain", "death", "ecstasy", "agony" and other similar words occur frequently in his madrigal texts, most of which he probably wrote himself. While this type of [[word-painting]] is common among madrigalists of the late 16th century, it reached an extreme development in Gesualdo's music.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

His music is among the most experimental and expressive of the [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]], and without question is the most wildly chromatic. Progressions such as those written by Gesualdo did not appear again in Western music until the 19th century, and then in a context of [[tonality]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Gesualdo's published music falls into three categories: sacred vocal music, secular vocal music, and instrumental music. His most famous compositions are his six books of madrigals, published between 1594 and 1611, as well as his ''[[Tenebrae Responsoria (Gesualdo)|Tenebrae Responsoria]]'', which are very much like madrigals, except that they use texts from the [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]], a form ([[Tenebrae]]) used by many other composers. As in the later books of secular madrigals, he uses particularly sharp [[Consonance and dissonance|dissonance]] and shocking chromatic juxtapositions, especially in the parts highlighting text passages having to do with [[Jesus|Christ's]] suffering, or the guilt of [[St. Peter]] in having denied him.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

The first books of madrigals that Gesualdo published are close in style to the work of other contemporary madrigalists. Experiments with [[chord progression|harmonic progression]], [[cross-relation]] and violent rhythmic contrast increase in the later books, with Books Five and Six containing the most famous and extreme examples (for instance, the madrigals "Moro, lasso, al mio duolo" and "Beltà, poi che t'assenti", both of which are in Book Six, published in 1611). There is evidence that Gesualdo had these works in score form, in order to better display his contrapuntal inventions to other musicians, and also that Gesualdo intended his works to be sung by equal voices, as opposed to the ''[[concerted madrigal]]'' style popular in the period, which involved doubling and replacing voices with instruments.{{Sfn|Newcomb|1968}} In addition to the works which he published, he left a large quantity of music in manuscript. This contains some of his richest experiments in chromaticism, as well as compositions in such contemporary avant-garde forms as [[monody]]. Some of these were products of the years he spent in Ferrara, and some were specifically written for the virtuoso singers there, the three women of the ''[[concerto di donne]]''.

Characteristic of the Gesualdo style is a sectional format in which relatively slow-tempo passages of wild, occasionally shocking chromaticism alternate with quick-tempo [[diatonic]] passages. The text is closely wedded to the music, with individual words being given maximum attention. Some of the chromatic passages include all twelve notes of the chromatic scale within a single phrase, although scattered throughout different voices. Gesualdo was particularly fond of chromatic third relations, for instance juxtaposing the chords of [[A major]] and [[F major]],{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} or even [[C-sharp major]] and [[A minor]], as he does at the beginning of "Moro, lasso, al mio duolo".<ref>{{ChoralWiki|Moro, lasso, al mio duolo (Carlo Gesualdo)|Moro, lasso, al mio duolo|prep=of}}</ref>

==Reception==
[[File:Carlo Gesualdo.png|thumb|Portrait of Carlo Gesualdo, Painting by [[Francesco Mancini (1679–1758)|Francesco Mancini]], c. 18th century]]
The fascination for Gesualdo's music has been fuelled by the sensational aspects of his biography. In 2011 [[Alex Ross (music critic)|Alex Ross]] wrote in ''[[The New Yorker]]'':{{sfn|Ross|2011}}{{blockquote|If Gesualdo had not committed such shocking acts, we might not pay such close attention to his music. But if he had not written such shocking music we would not care so much about his deeds. Many bloodier crimes have been forgotten; it’s the nexus of high art and foul play that catches our fancy.}}

In his own lifetime, the salacious details of Gesualdo's killing of his first wife and her lover were widely publicized, including in verse by poets such as [[Torquato Tasso|Tasso]] and an entire flock of Neapolitan poets, eager to capitalize on the sensation.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} The accounts of his cruelty were expanded with apocryphal stories such as the alleged killing of an illegitimate child of Donna Maria and her lover, which according to one variant of the made-up story was "suspended in a [[bassinet]] and swung to the point of death".{{sfn|Ross|2011}} Until the 1620s his music was imitated by Neapolitan composers of polyphonic madrigals such as [[Antonio Cifra]], [[Michelangelo Rossi]], [[Giovanni de Macque]], [[Scipione Dentice]], [[Girolamo Frescobaldi]] and [[Sigismondo d'India]].{{sfn|Bianconi|2001}}{{sfn|Brown|Stein|1999|p=350}}{{sfn|Arnold|1984|p=85}}{{sfn|Mann|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uFCwJF1MEtUC&pg=PA10 10]}}

After the Renaissance Gesualdo's life story and his music were largely forgotten until the 20th century: in 1926 Gray and Warlock published their book on Gesualdo.{{sfn|Ross|2011}}{{sfn|Gray|Warlock|1926}} The life of Gesualdo provided inspiration for numerous works of fiction and musical drama, including a novel by [[Anatole France]]{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} and a short story by [[Julio Cortázar]].{{sfn|Roberts|2013}} Several composers responded to Gesualdo's music: In 1960 [[Igor Stravinsky]] wrote ''[[Monumentum pro Gesualdo]]'', containing an arrangement of Gesualdo's madrigal "Beltà, poi che t'assenti".{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} In 1995 [[Alfred Schnittke]] wrote an opera based on Gesualdo's life.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Another Gesualdo opera was written by [[Franz Hummel]] in 1996.<ref>[http://arthaus-musik.com/dvd/musik/spielfilm/media/details/gesualdo_death_for_five_voices.html Death for Five Voices] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222112827/http://arthaus-musik.com/dvd/musik/spielfilm/media/details/gesualdo_death_for_five_voices.html |date=22 December 2015 }} at {{url|arthaus-musik.com}}</ref> [[Salvatore Sciarrino]] arranged several of Gesualdo's madrigals for an instrumental ensemble.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

=== Music based on Gesualdo's life and music ===
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2016}}
Operas based on Gesualdo's life and music:
*''Maria di Venosa'' (1992) by [[Francesco d'Avalos]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''Gesualdo'' (1993) by [[Alfred Schnittke]].
*''Gesualdo'' (1998) by [[Franz Hummel]].
*''The Prince of Venosa'' (1998) by [[Scott Glasgow]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''[[Luci mie traditrici]]'' (1998) by [[Salvatore Sciarrino]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''Gesualdo'' (2003) by [[Bo Holten]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''Gesualdo'' (2010) by [[Marc-André Dalbavie]], lyrics by [[Richard Millet]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

Other music inspired by Gesualdo or his music includes:
*''[[Monumentum pro Gesualdo]]'' (1960) by [[Igor Stravinsky]]
*''Omaggio a Gesualdo'' (1971) per violino e sei gruppi strumentali, by [[:nl:Jan van Vlijmen|Jan van Vlijmen]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''Tenebrae Super Gesualdo'' (1972) for Alto Flute, Bass Clarinet, Cello, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Harpsichord, Marimba, Mezzo-Soprano, Viola, Violin and Celeste by [[Peter Maxwell Davies]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*Italian singer-songwriter [[Franco Battiato]] wrote and recorded the song "Gesualdo da Venosa" about him, for his 1995 album ''[[L'ombrello e la macchina da cucire]]''.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} The song was remastered in 2008.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
* In 1997, Australian composer [[Brett Dean]] paid homage to Gesualdo in ''Carlo'', a work for string orchestra, tape and sampler.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''Tenebre'' (1997) for String Orchestra by [[Scott Glasgow]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''Le voci sottovetro: Elaborazioni da Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa'' (1998) for voice and ensemble by [[Salvatore Sciarrino]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*In 1998 [[Italian jazz]] arranger and composer Corrado Guarino, of [[Bergamo]], in collaboration with [[Livorno]] saxophonist Tino Tracanna, released the CD ''Gesualdo''. The work featured arrangements from books I, IV and VI of the Madrigals.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}
*''La terribile e spaventosa storia del Principe di Venosa e della bella Maria'' (1999) music for l'[[Opera dei Pupi]] for voice and ensemble by [[Salvatore Sciarrino]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''Sulla morte e la follia'' (2004) for Violin, Violoncello and Piano by [[Sergio Blardony]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*''Tenebrae'' (2008) by [[John Pickard (composer)|John Pickard]]{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
*Mexican/British composer [[Hilda Paredes]] has arranged three madrigals from Book Six for [[countertenor]] and [[string quartet]]: "Belta, poi che t'assenti", "Arditta zanzaretta" and "Moro lasso", published by [[University of York Music Press]], were premiered in [[Tokyo]] at the Ishibiashi Memorial Hall by countertenor Jake Arditti and the [[Arditti String Quartet]] in 2012.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} The quartet have continued to perform them since.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}
*''Night of Your Ascension'' (2015), album by experimental music collective [[Wrekmeister Harmonies]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wrekmeister Harmonies: Night of Your Ascension|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21208-night-of-your-ascension/|access-date=1 September 2021|website=Pitchfork|language=en}}</ref>
*''The Prince of Venosa - for string quartet'' (2016) by [[Caio Facó]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/suplementopernambuco/docs/pe_156_web |title=Pernambuco 156|work=Issuu |date=19 February 2019 |page=10}}</ref>
*''The Second Violinist'' (2017), an opera composed by [[Donnacha Dennehy]], written and directed by [[Enda Walsh]], in which the central character is in love with the music of Carlo Gesualdo, and with a plot that echoes his life.<ref name="2ndViolinist">{{Cite news|url=https://operavision.eu/en/library/performances/operas/second-violinist#synopsis |title=The Second Violinist |date=8 January 2018 |work=OperaVision |language=en }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=July 2020}} The score is influenced by part of Gesualdo’s motet ''Tristis anima mea''.<ref name="2ndViolinist" />{{failed verification|date=July 2020}}

=== Legacy ===
The Conservatorio di Musica Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa ([State] Conservatory of Music Carlo Gesualdo do Venoza), Potenza, in the region of Basilicata, Italy, was founded in 1971 and named for the composer.<ref>{{url|www.conservatoriopotenza.it}}</ref>

In ''[[The Doors of Perception]]'' (1954), [[Aldous Huxley]] writes of Gesualdo's madrigals:

<blockquote>
Mozart's C-Minor Piano Concerto was interrupted after the first movement, and a recording of some madrigals by Gesualdo took its place.

'These voices' I said appreciatively, 'these voices – they're a kind of bridge back to the human world.'

And a bridge they remained even while singing the most startlingly chromatic of the mad prince's compositions. Through the uneven phrases of the madrigals, the music pursued its course, never sticking to the same key for two bars together. In Gesualdo, that fantastic character out of a Webster melodrama, psychological disintegration had exaggerated, had pushed to the extreme limit, a tendency inherent in modal as opposed to fully tonal music. The resulting works sounded as though they might have been written by the later [[Arnold Schoenberg|Schoenberg]].

'And yet,' I felt myself constrained to say, as I listened to these strange products of a [[Counter-Reformation|Counter-reformation]] psychosis working upon a late medieval art form, 'and yet it does not matter that he's all in bits. The whole is disorganized. But each individual fragment is in order, is a representative of a Higher Order. The Highest Order prevails even in the disintegration. The totality is present even in the broken pieces. More clearly present, perhaps, than in a completely coherent work. At least you aren't lulled into a sense of false security by some merely human, merely fabricated order. You have to rely on your immediate perception of the ultimate order. So in a certain sense disintegration may have its advantages. But of course it's dangerous, horribly dangerous. Suppose you couldn't get back, out of the chaos...'
</blockquote>

[[David Pownall]]'s play ''Music to Murder By'' (1976) juxtaposes the life of Gesualdo with that of twentieth-century composer [[Peter Warlock]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220119212433/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/8ca22c86a5a24680a249b06206c46d3b ''Radio Times'' listing, Issue 2765, 9 November, 1976]</ref> In 1985 the French writer [[:fr:Michel Breitman|Michel Breitman]] published the novel ''{{ill|Le Témoin de poussière|fr}}'' based on the latter part of the life of Gesualdo.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} In 1995,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_GEDwAAQBAJ&dq=herzog+death+for+five+voices+%221995%22&pg=PA190|page=190|title=Werner Herzog: Filmmaker and Philosopher|first= Richard |last=Eldridge |date= 27 February 2019|publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9781350091665 }}</ref> [[Werner Herzog]] directed the film ''[[Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices]]'' about the life and music of Gesualdo.<ref name="hh">{{Cite book
 | last      = Herzog
 | first      = Werner
 | title      = Herzog on Herzog
 | publisher      = [[Faber and Faber]]
 | year      = 2001
 | pages     = viii-ix
 | isbn      = 0-571-20708-1
 | url-access      = registration
 | url      = https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz
 }}</ref>

In the ''[[NME]]'' musician [[Anna Calvi]] named Gesualdo as one of her ultimate cult heroes:<ref>[http://www.nme.com/list/ultimate-cult-heroes/216779/article/217198 Ultimate Cult Heroes: Gesualdo] at {{url|www.nme.com}}</ref>{{blockquote|Gesualdo was an Italian composer who, because of mental illness, murdered his wife and her lover, and wrote music in the 16th century that was so progressive and extreme that no one attempted to recreate his style until the 20th century... It wasn't until centuries later that he was rediscovered, and his work is a huge inspiration to me.}}

Gesualdo's name is used by [[The Gesualdo Six]], a British vocal consort, directed by Owain Park. The group was founded in [[Cambridge]] in 2014 for a performance of the [[Tenebrae Responsoria (Gesualdo)|Tenebrae Responsories]] for [[Maundy Thursday]] in [[Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge]]. The group perform a broad-ranging repertoire, from the music of the medieval period through to contemporary compositions of the present day.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thegesualdosix.co.uk/meet-the-team/ |title=Meet the team |work=The Gesualdo Six |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref>

==Score editions==
* Carlo Gesualdo: ''Madrigali a cinque voci (Libro Quinto – Libro Sesto)'', Edizione critica a cura di Maria Caraci Vela e Antonio Delfino, testi poetici a cura di Nicola Panizza, con uno scritto di Francesco Saggio, prefazione di Giuseppe Mastrominico, [http://www.lastamperiadelprincipegesualdo.it/site/ La Stamperia del Principe Gesualdo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001122551/http://www.lastamperiadelprincipegesualdo.it/site/ |date=1 October 2020 }}, Gesualdo, 2013. {{ISBN|978-88-906830-2-2}}

== Recordings ==
Gesualdo's madrigals and his ''Tenebrae Responsoria'' are often recorded.

===Madrigals===
{{unsourced section|date=February 2022}}
* Gesualdo, ''Madrigaux''. [[Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)|Les Arts Florissants]]: Harmonia Mundi France CD 901268 ''(selection from madrigal books 4–6)''
* Gesualdo, ''Complete Sacred Music for Five Voices''. [[Oxford Camerata]], [[Jeremy Summerly]]: Naxos 8.550742
* Gesualdo, ''Madrigali Libri I-III''. Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam: CPO 777 138–2
* Carlo Gesualdo de Verona, "The Complete Madrigals" [Libri I-VI]. 7 discs. Marco Longhini & [[Delitiæ Musicæ]]. Naxos 8507013.
* Gesualdo, "Madrigali a 5 voci" Books 1-6 [Complete] 6 discs. Quintetto Vocale Italiano Newton Classics 8802136
* Gesualdo, ''Madrigali, Libro I''. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5221 (only complete edition of Gesualdo's madrigals currently available)
* Gesualdo, ''Madrigali, Libro II''. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5222
* Gesualdo, ''Madrigali, Libro III''. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5223
* Gesualdo, ''Madrigali, Libro IV''. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5224
* Gesualdo, ''Madrigali, Libro V''. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5225
* Gesualdo, ''Madrigali, Libro VI''. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5226
* Gesualdo, ''Quarto Libro di Madrigali''. La Venexiana: Glossa GCD920934
* Gesualdo, ''Quinto Libro di Madrigali''. La Venexiana: Glossa GCD920935
* Gesualdo, ''Quinto Libro di Madrigali''. The [[Hilliard Ensemble]]: ECM New Series. ECM 2175 476 4755
* Gesualdo, ''Quinto Libro di Madrigali''. The Consort of Musicke, Anthony Rooley. L'Oiseau-Lyre 475 9110 DM
* Gesualdo, ''Sesto Libro di Madrigali''. IL Complesso Barocco: Symphonia SY94133 (deleted), now Pan Classics PC10229
* Gesualdo, ''Sesto Libro di Madrigali''. La Compagnia del Madrigale: Glossa GCD922801

===Tenebrae===
{{see|Tenebrae Responsoria (Gesualdo)#Recordings}}

===Other===
* ''Il cembalo intorno a Gesualdo'', Paola Erdas (harpsichord)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paolaerdas.it/discografia/ |title=Discografia |website=Paola Erdas }}</ref>
* Gesualdo, ''Sacrae Cantiones Liber Secundus''. Vocalconsort Berlin, [[James Wood (composer)|James Wood]]: HMC 902123{{cn|date=February 2022}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Sources ==
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFSadie1980|CITEREFBianconi2001}}
* {{cite book
 |last1                = Arnold
 |first1               = Denis
 |author-link1         = Denis Arnold
 |display-authors      = etal
 |date                 = 1984
 |title                = Italian Baroque Masters: Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Cavalli, Corelli, A. Scarlatti, Vivaldi, D. Scarlatti
 |series               = The New Grove
 |publisher            = Macmillan
 |isbn                 = 9780333382356
 }}
* {{cite Grove |title=Gesualdo, Carlo, Prince of Venosa, Count of Conza |last=Bianconi |first=Lorenzo |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.10994}}
* {{cite book
 |last1                = Brown
 |first1               = Howard Mayer
 |author-link1         = Howard Mayer Brown
 |last2                = Stein
 |first2               = Louise K.
 |author-link2         =
 |date                 = 1999
 |title                = Music in the Renaissance
 |series               = History of Music
 |publisher            = Prentice Hall
 |isbn                 = 9780134000459
 }}
* {{cite book
 |last1                = Gray
 |first1               = Cecil
 |author-link1         = Cecil Gray (composer)
 |last2                = Warlock
 |first2               = Peter
 |author-link2         = Peter Warlock
 |date                 = 1926
 |title                = Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa: Musician and Murderer
 |location             = London
 |publisher            = [[Routledge|Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd]]
 }}
* {{cite book
 |last1                = Mann
 |first1               = Brian
 |author-link1         =
 |date                 = 2002
 |title                = The Madrigals of Michelangelo Rossi
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=uFCwJF1MEtUC
 |series               = Monuments of Renaissance Music
 |volume               = 10
 |publisher            = [[University of Chicago Press]]
 |isbn                 = 9780226503387
 }}
* {{cite web
 |url= https://www.musicweb-international.com/gesualdo.htm
 |title= Don Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, Count of Conza
 |last= Mullenger
 |first= Len
 |author-link=
 |date= 1998
 |website= MusicWeb International
 }}
* {{cite journal
| last1                 = Newcomb
| first1                = Anthony
| author-link1          = Anthony Newcomb
| date                  = October 1968
| title                 = Carlo Gesualdo and a Musical Correspondence of 1594
| url                   = 
| journal               = [[The Musical Quarterly]]
| publisher             = [[Oxford University Press]]
| volume                = 54
| issue                 = 4
| pages                 = 409–436
| doi                   = 10.1093/mq/LIV.4.409
| jstor                 = 741067
}}
* {{cite journal
| last1                 = Ober
| first1                = William B.
| author-link1          = 
| date                  = July 1973
| title                 = Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa: Murder, Madrigals, and Masochism
| url                   = https://europepmc.org/article/pmc/pmc1807043
| journal               = Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
| publisher             = [[New York Academy of Medicine]]
| volume                = 49
| issue                 = 7
| pages                 = 634–645
| pmc                   = 1807043
| pmid                  = 4575970
}}
* {{cite journal
| last1                 = Roberts
| first1                = Nicholas
| author-link1          = 
| date                  = 2013
| title                 = Variations on a Theme: Scored Music and Language in Julio Cortázar's 'Clone'
| url                   = http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11746/1/11746.pdf
| journal               = Bulletin of Spanish Studies
| publisher             = [[Durham University]]
| volume                = 90
| issue                 = 6
| pages                 = 1011–1034
| doi                   = 10.1080/14753820.2013.810920
| s2cid = 53021224
}}
* {{cite magazine
 |url= https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/12/19/prince-of-darkness
 |title= Prince of Darkness: The Murders and Madrigals of Don Carlo Gesualdo
 |last= Ross
 |first= Alex
 |author-link= Alex Ross (music critic)
 |date= 12 December 2011
|magazine= [[The New Yorker]]
 |series= A Critic at Large
 }}
* {{Cite NewGrove1980|title=Carlo Gesualdo|last=|first=|volume=|pages=}}
* {{cite book
 |last1                = Watkins
 |first1               = Glenn
 |author-link1         = Glenn Watkins
 |date                 = 1991
 |title                = Gesualdo: The Man and His Music
 |others               = Preface by [[Igor Stravinsky]]
 |edition              = 2nd
 |publisher            = Clarendon Press
 |isbn                 = 9780198162162
 }}
* {{cite book
 |last1                = Watkins
 |first1               = Glenn
 |author-link1         = Glenn Watkins
 |date                 = 2010
 |title                = The Gesualdo Hex: Music, Myth, and Memory
 |others               = Preface by [[Claudio Abbado]]
 |location             = New York
 |publisher            = W. W. Norton & Company
 |isbn                 = 9780393071023
 }}

== Further reading ==
* [[Alfred Einstein]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4WoMAQAAIAAJ ''The Italian Madrigal''.] [[Princeton University Press]], 1949.
* [[Gustave Reese]]. ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. {{ISBN|0-393-09530-4}}
* [[Nicolas Slonimsky]]. ''The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th ed. New York, Schirmer Books, 1993. {{ISBN|0-02-872416-X}}
* Annibale Cogliano. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9CYUAQAAIAAJ ''Carlo Gesualdo: il principe, l'amante, la strega''.] Napoli: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 2004. {{ISBN|88-495-0876-X}}.
* Annibale Cogliano. ''Inventario – Centro Studi e Documentazione Carlo Gesualdo''. Avellino: Elio Sellino Editore, 2004.
* Annibale Cogliano. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HicUAQAAIAAJ ''Carlo Gesualdo omicida fra storia e mito.''] Napoli: ESI, 2006. {{ISBN|88-495-1232-5}}.
* Salvatore La Vecchia, with a Preface by Ruggero Cappuccio. ''La Giostra del principe: Il dramma di Carlo Gesualdo'' Atripalda (AV): Mephite Editore, 2010. {{ISBN|978-88-6320-063-8}}
* Sandro Naglia. ''Il processo compositivo in Gesualdo da Venosa: un'interpretazione tonale''. Rome, IkonaLiber, 2012. {{ISBN|978-88-97778-06-6}}
* Annibale Cogliano. ''Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa: Per una biografia.'' Giuseppe Barile, 2014 {{ISBN|9788885425828}}
* Joel Epstein, ''The Curse of Gesualdo: [https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Gesualdo-Music-Murder-Madness/dp/B08DSS8533 Music, Murder and Madness]''. New York: Juwal Publications, 2020, ISBN 979-8671541731. 

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.lastamperiadelprincipegesualdo.it/site/ La Stamperia del Principe Gesualdo (Gesualdo, Italy)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001122551/http://www.lastamperiadelprincipegesualdo.it/site/ |date=1 October 2020 }}
* {{url|carlogesualdo.altervista.org}}
* {{IMSLP
|work=List of works by Carlo Gesualdo|cname=List of works
|work2=Category:Gesualdo, Carlo|cname2=available scores
|descr=by Carlo Gesualdo, }}
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* [https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Composer=GesualdoC Free scores] at the [[Mutopia Project]]

{{Carlo Gesualdo}}
{{Concerto delle donne}}
{{Renaissance music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gesualdo, Carlo}}
[[Category:Carlo Gesualdo| ]]
[[Category:1566 births]]
[[Category:1613 deaths]]
[[Category:Musicians from the Kingdom of Naples]]
[[Category:People from Venosa]]
[[Category:Italian Renaissance composers]]
[[Category:Italian male classical composers]]
[[Category:Madrigal composers]]
[[Category:16th-century Italian musicians]]
[[Category:Italian murderers]]
[[Category:17th-century Italian composers]]
[[Category:17th-century Italian male musicians]]
[[Category:Uxoricides]]