The Probert Encyclopaedia of Music

MADRIGAL

Madrigal is a term often used in a loose sense for any light song, but properly denoting a type of song of Italian origin which normally consists of two or three tercets, followed by one or more couplets. It is also used for the music written for such songs. Madrigals were either sung by three or more unaccompanied voices, or played upon viols. They were written by most of the 16th and 17th century composers. Ultimately the form was merged in the glee.
Research Madrigal