EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble • Chromatic Renaissance (CD)

•• "CHROMATIC RENAISSANCE" WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR SEPTEMBER 2025 ••
Click here to read our blog about this release!

The Chromatic Renaissance is a journey into the heart of a forgotten musical revolution. Beginning in 16th-century Italy, composer-theorists like Nicola Vicentino shattered the limits of conventional harmony, dividing the scale into 31 equal notes – not just the usual 12. These revolutionary ideas resulted in intricate microtonal madrigals and highly chromatic works that challenged musical boundaries and delighted ambitious princes and patrons alike.

These masterpieces paved the way for composers like Carlo Gesualdo, Cipriano de Rore, Luca Marenzio and Orlando di Lasso, whose works remain some of the most emotionally intense and sophisticated music of the era.

Since 2017, EXAUDI has been at the forefront of reviving this extraordinary music. To our knowledge, our residency at Aldeburgh Music in 2017 marked the first time in modern history that a vocal ensemble has sung Vicentino’s microtonal works unaccompanied.  EXAUDI is still the only ensemble regularly exploring this incredible and fiendishly difficult music.