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This is a unique survival of a 1586 edition of a set of songs by the very popular composer Jacques Arcadelt (1507–68).

Arcadelt was born in Flanders but travelled to the court of Alessandro de Medici in Florence in the 1530s. His most popular work took the form of madrigals, short songs written in a deceptively simple style for unaccompanied voices.

The song ‘Il bianco è dolce cigno’ (shown on left-hand page) is based on a poem by Giovanni Guidiccioni (1480–1541). It describes the gentle white swan who dies for love, punning on the ‘little death’ of the act of love.

Citation:
Archadelt Primo Libro De Madrigali; a Quattro Voci, Novamente Ristampato (Venice, 1586).,
Marsh's Library Exhibits,
accessed June 24, 2025,
https://www.marshlibrary.ie/digi/items/show/459