Carlo Gesualdo

Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa was born in March 1566, an Italian nobleman who held the titles Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza. He found his first wife in bed with her aristocratic lover and killed them both. What followed was a turn to composition: madrigals and sacred music built on chromatic progressions so advanced they vanished from European music until the late 19th century. He died on 8 September 1613, leaving behind a catalogue that still sounds like it arrived too early.