Pomponio Nenna

Given a number of opportunities to study with people like Antiquis, de Marinis and Rodio in his home town of Bari, Nenna was able to print a number of madrigals and vilanellas during his career as a composer. It is argued that he borrowed a great deal from Gesualdo, whom Nenna served for five years, or, that Gesualdo borrowed from Nenna. Whatever the case, Nenna's madrigals demonstrate definitive periods in the character of his works. As he aged, the madrigals became shorter, and his use of imitation and repetition became more extensive. Early madrigals by Nenna characteristically employed an opening repetition of cadential chords in what may be considered an attempt to musically depict an echo effect. Later works included the influence of de Marinis whose texts appear seven times in a fifth book of madrigals by Nenna. The last madrigals, collected and published after his death, employ less chromaticism and dissonance than earlier works and counterpoint is used on a more regular basis. The later works were also quite popular as they were printed at least five times and even translated into English. ~ Keith Johnson