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With this in mind, it becomes apparent that singing madrigals was more than simply
entertainment. It provided a safe, appropriate arena for flirting and speaking about sex. Through
the texts, as Macy explains, the erotic energy of the poetic material was mediated by music and
by metaphor which contained the sexual tension and relieved it in a socially appropriate
manner. 60 Casulana was particularly adept at channeling the erotic energy of the madrigal,
harnessing it to explore the dynamics of a sexual partnership or denying it altogether in favor of
a more contemplative atmosphere for addressing the paradox of love’s power to ignite and
extinguish, to give life and take it away.
60 Ibid, 8.
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