Velos lilas (Madrigales sobre poemas de Delmira Agustini) by Sidney Corbett is a 17-minute work for three female voices. In setting the poems for these madrigals, Sidney Corbett has drawn inspiration from the rich tradition of Italian Renaissance madrigals, but the musical language always remains his own. The poems are full of sensual imagery, but also of a complex polyphony of vowels and consonants, which allowed the composer to write a three-part musical polyphony that masterfully incorporates textual cross-references.
The madrigals were premiered on 10 August 2021 at the Bregenzer Festspiele by the ensemble The Present.