- Research Article
- 10.25371/troja.v20223937
Alfred Einstein’s Scholarship, the Italian Madrigal, and The Italian Madrigal
- Oct 29, 2025
- troja. Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik
- Benjamin Ory
In 1924 Alfred Einstein summarized the scope of and scholarly need for a history of the sixteenth-century Italian madrigal: A history would demarcate the epochs in the development of the Madrigal, and characterize the various schools and the various masters -assuredly a most absorbing and much needed description of the natal hour of modern music. 2 In his correspondence, Einstein made clear not only that he someday aimed to write such a book, but also that his expertise would make him the ideal person to undertake the task.Writing in 1932 to one of his antagonists, Hans Engel, Einstein boasted that he was the best connoisseur of the madrigal in Germany, [more knowledgeable than his doctoral advisor Adolf] Sandberger, [Theodor] Kroyer, and [Engel] put together (no offense). 3
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