A conductor's guide madrigali guerrieri et amorosi claudio monteverdi

A Conductor’s Guide to Selected Concerted Madrigals from Madrigals Book 8 (Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi)

by Claudio Monteverdi A document submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in the Ensembles and Conducting Division of the College-Conservatory of Music October 31, 2011 by Glenda Crawford 274 Senator Place #10 Cincinnati, OH 45220 gcrawford15@gmail.com B.Mus. Ed. University of Western Ontario, 1981 B.Ed. University of Western Ontario, 1983 M.M. University of Western Ontario, 1992 Committee Chair: Earl Rivers, DMA

ABSTRACT The purpose of the document is to present a Conductor’s Guide to performing nine concerted madrigals from Book 8 Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi by Claudio Monteverdi suitable for choral ensemble. The nine madrigals are Altri canti d’Amor, tenero arciero; Cosi sol d’una chiara fonte viva; Altri canti di Marte e di sua schiera; and Due belli occhi fur l’armi onde traffitta; Hor che’l ciel e la terra e’l vento tace; Ardo, avvampo, mi struggo; Vago augelletto che cantando vai; Dolcissimo uscignolo; and Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core.

The document is divided into four main chapters: Historical and General Information, General Performance Issues, Examination of Individual Madrigals, and Finishing Touches.

Chapter One contains a literature review and biographical information on Monteverdi. Monteverdi’s harmonic language, including seconda prattica and stile concitato is discussed. The nature of Italian Renaissance poetry is presented.

Chapter Two discusses performing issues that all nine madrigals share such as size of vocal ensemble, vocal ranges, and vocal tone. Tempo, meter, and tempo relationships are examined. Use of dissonance, chromaticism, homophony and polyphony, cadences and harmonic language are given. Instrumental accompaniment, particularly the role of the basso continuo and obbligato, is discussed.

Chapter Three examines the individual madrigals. In each madrigal the poem, musical treatment and specific compositional devices are addressed.

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Chapter Four provides recommendations for performing and programming the madrigals.

The Appendix includes vocal ranges, IPA pronunciations and program notes.

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Copyright © 2011 by Glenda Crawford All rights reserved

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Dr. Earl Rivers for providing the opportunity to attain a doctoral degree at CCM. Being surrounded by such fine teachers and musicians has been an inspiring period in my career.

To my choral conducting colleagues at CCM I am grateful, their camaraderie and friendship has been invaluable, and I look forward to long lasting friendships with them.

In completing my document, the final step in securing my doctorate I would like to thank Dr. Brett Scott, for firstly suggesting these beautiful concerted madrigals and his careful and thoughtful remarks. I would also thank Professor David Adams for his patience and guidance in the IPA and Italian translations. I also am indebted to my colleague and friend, Sean Taylor for notating the musical examples. And finally, Dr Rivers, as my primary reader for my document, I thank for his conscientiousness and care.

Leaving my home to embark on a doctorate and thus completely change the direction of my life has been one of my greatest challenges and accomplishments. I left behind many friends and colleagues who continued to help and encourage me. Their tremendous support has been invaluable and I am so grateful to have such remarkable people in my life.

Finally, I wish to thank my two daughters Anna and Stephanie for their incredible love and support. In my absence they continued to flourish, mature and develop their own incredible independence and maturity. They have been a compelling force of encouragement to bring this goal to its completion.

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CONTENTS ABSTRACT

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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CHAPTER 1: HISTORICAL AND GENERAL INFORMATION Introduction Review of Literature Monteverdi’s Biography Monteverdi and Italian Culture Poetry of the Italian Renaissance Prima Prattica, Seconda Prattica, and Stile Concitato Monteverdi’s Tonal Language Book 8 Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi

1 1 1 6 9 12 15 17 19

CHAPTER 2: GENERAL PERFORMANCE ISSUES Singing and Vocal Ensemble Size of Vocal Ensemble Vocal Ranges Vocal Tone Delivering the Text Musical Considerations Tempo, Meter, Tempo Relationships Dynamics Instruments Basso Continuo Realizing the Continuo Part Obbligato Violins

22 22 22 23 23 24 26 26 29 30 30 31 33

CHAPTER 3: THE NINE MADRIGALS Introduction Canti Guerrieri (Songs of War) 1. Altri canti d’Amor 2. Hor che’l ciel e la terra 3. Così sol d’un chiara fonte viva 4. Ardo, avvampo Canti Amorosi (Songs of Love) 5. Altri canti di Marte 6. Due belli occhi 7. Vago augelletto 8. Dolcissimo uscignolo 9. Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core

34 34 35 35 42 48 54 60 60 67 70 74 77

CHAPTER 4: FINISHING TOUCHES Programming Issues and Ideas

79 79

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Spatial arrangements of the performing forces

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APPENDIX Table 1 Overview of Madrigals Table 2 Voice Ranges of Madrigals IPA Pronunciation Guide to Madrigals PROGRAM NOTES

84 84 85 86 91

BIBLIOGRAPHY SOUND RECORDINGS

93 96

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CHAPTER 1: HISTORICAL AND GENERAL INFORMATION Introduction Book 8 Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi (Madrigals of War and Love), published in 1638, represents the zenith of Monteverdi’s new style of composition that Monteverdi named seconda prattica, a style that he used in both his sacred and secular vocal music.

In addition, Monteverdi’s juxtaposition of the passion of love and the brutality of war provide a subject that is a valuable representation of his quest to seek new intensities of musical expression. The emotional content is equally as vivid: love, passion, suffering, hate, and desolation. Monteverdi’s unending pursuit was to make the listener feel more vividly the pain and pleasure of living. The madrigals contained in this volume are a collection of a variety of styles and for a variety of musical forces. Of the thirty-one madrigals in Book 8, nine employ ensembles of four or more voices. These nine madrigals are suitable for choral ensemble.

Review of Literature There are many excellent resources available that assist in scholarly research of Monteverdi. The major contributors to the body of knowledge of Monteverdi’s life and music are Leo Schrade, Denis Arnold, Denis Stevens, Gary Tomlinson, Paolo Fabbri, Massimo Ossi, Eric Chafe and Jeffrey Kurtzman.

Schrade sets the historical stage for Monteverdi by giving an account and analysis of the vocal repertory of the sixteenth century leading up to Monteverdi. From this, Schrade discusses the madrigals within the context of Monteverdi’s three historical periods: Cremona, Mantua and Venice.

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Denis Arnold’s book Monteverdi gives a synopsis of his life and music. Arnold’s The Monteverdi Companion, contains essays by various musicologists discussing specific aspects on the life and music of Monteverdi. Of particular use is the essay by Stevens, Madrigali Guerrieri, et Amorosi, which provides a discussion of Monteverdi’s prefatory introduction as well as an investigation of the overall structural framework of Book 8.

Stevens, author of Monteverdi in Venice, shares his personal and professional experiences discovering and performing the music of Monteverdi. His historical account is a diary of his own experiences as one of the first performer-musicologists to investigate Monteverdi. He examined the composer’s scores and documents for his own performances and provides informative details regarding Monteverdi’s life, his music and performances in Venice. Another important book is his translation and commentary The Letters of Claudio Monteverdi. Arranged chronologically with extensive background information, Monteverdi’s correspondences give a clear picture of his personality, reveal details of his professional career, and give a fascinating panorama of the many people he knew and with whom he collaborated. These letters also give insight into performance practice issues, such as vocal ranges of singers as well as his personal life struggles.

Fabbri is another important Italian Monteverdi scholar; his bio-bibliography (translated from the Italian by Tim Carter) is an assimilation of contemporary documents that give a broader spectrum of the life and music of Monteverdi.

As Monteverdi’s life and work bridges the Renaissance and Baroque periods, an investigation into the transition of these periods including culture, ideology and music practice is required. Erich Cochrane’s The Late Italian Renaissance provides a cultural, economical, political, and religious framework. Tomlinson’s Monteverdi and the End of Renaissance links the effects of this transitory period to Monteverdi’s secular music. As

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Monteverdi compositional techniques are central to laying the groundwork for functional tonality, Chafe’s Monteverdi’s Tonal Language will be resourced. He concludes that Monteverdi was beginning to assert tonal centers for organizing the musical material. He also contends that he used harmonic patterns to represent expressive content. Chafe’s findings will guide the structural analysis of the madrigals. Other stylistic attributes of the Book 8 Madrigals will be culled from Ossi’s Divining the Oracle: Monteverdi’s Seconda Prattica; Steven’s Monteverdi: Sacred, Secular, and Occasional Music as well as The New Monteverdi Companion (1985), co-edited by Arnold and Nigel Fortune.

Another important Monteverdi scholar, Jeffrey Kurtzman, in Monteverdi’s Changing Aesthetics (1995) addresses music-text relationships in the madrigals and Monteverdi’s use of large-scale musical symbolism. All these sources help to clarify Monteverdi’s taxonomies of passions, of the voice, and of music and how they are manifest in his musical depictions.

The Cambridge History of Italian Literature provides information about the poets and their respective styles as well as the trends in literature during Monteverdi’s life.

James Haar’s collection of essays Italian Poetry and Music in the Renaissance provides essential background information leading up to Monteverdi’s seconda prattica.

A recent resource is Joan Catoni Conlon’s Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide. Conlon’s book is “meant to introduce to the conductor the particularities of performing Monteverdi’s works.”1 Conlon’s general suggestions on what to look for in the madrigals have been a useful guide to complete an in-depth study of the Book 8 madrigals. Her thesis that all performances should begin with a thorough

1

Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide (Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 2001), x.

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understanding of the text will be the premise for examining the individual madrigals in Chapter 3.

Performance practice issues are an equally important area for successfully producing the madrigals. Beginning with Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Baroque Music Today: Music as Speech, his eloquent philosophy on the principles of performance practice from an experienced early music director are practical, of a high standard, and will set the tone for the ideas and techniques recommended in this document.

Another essential resource is a collection of essays edited by Raffaello Monterosso, Performing Practice in Monteverdi’s Music. Each essay deals with a specific facet of performing Monteverdi’s music. Of particular interest to this document are the essays concerning Acoustics, Tempo, and Interpretation by Stevens and Aspects of the Monteverdi Revival in the 20th Century by Albi Rosenthal.

Brenda Smith’s A Handbook of Choral Performance Practice and Steven Plank’s Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice give a summary for all periods for the choral medium. Frances Poe’s Teaching and Performing Renaissance Choral Music: A Guide for Conductors and Performers provides practical discussion on issues of tone, voicing, and programming. Jameson Marvin’s succinct handbook discusses choral and vocal issues. Jeffrey Kite-Powell addresses the “collegium nature of the choir” with recommendations for size and number of voices. David Adams’s Handbook of Diction for Singers will provide the source for IPA for all the texts.

The successful performance of these concerted madrigals is dependent on the role of the basso continuo ensemble and the obbligato instruments. Again, there are many resources available to assist with performance practice issues. Tharald Borgirs’s The Performance of the Basso Continuo in Italian Baroque Music will be utilized. As

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Monteverdi was on the threshold between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, authorities of both periods will be consulted. Many of these sources offer practical commentary on tempo, ornamentation, fictus, instruments for accompaniment and examples of accompaniment. In the Renaissance, the recommendations of such scholars as KitePowell, and in the Baroque, Donington are used. Mary Cyr’s Performing Baroque Music provides worthwhile insight into optimizing the function of the basso continuo and recommendations for realization. Finally, seven of the nine madrigals discussed use violins as obbligato. Peter Holman provides scholarly insights into Monteverdi’s use of string instruments in his vocal compositions in Col nobilissimo esercitio della vivuola: Monteverdi’s String Writing.

There are three sources for the musical scores. The annotated Dover edition, edited by Gian Francesco Malipiero, with translations of the texts by Stanley Appelbaum, is an affordable, accessible, and easy to read edition with English translations. For those considerations, it is assumed that conductors will use the Dover edition as their resource.

However, conductors are cautioned that the dynamics and expressive markings have been added by Malipiero and do not necessarily reflect what Monteverdi had intended. The urtext edition edited by Andrea Bornstein and the Dover edition will be compared to ensure authenticity when inconsistencies are discovered. The recently published critical edition and facsimile edited by Anna Maria Vacchelli will be referenced when discrepancies occur between the two modern editions.

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Monteverdi’s Biography Claudio Monteverdi was baptized on May 15, 1567 in Cremona, Italy. During his childhood, he was taught by Marc’Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Cremona where he sang in the cathedral choir. He also studied at the University of Cremona. His first compositions, written as a teenager, were motets Sacrae cantiunculae published in 1582 and sacred madrigals Madrigali spirituali published in 1583. By 1587, he had produced his first book of secular madrigals. In 1590, at 23, he was appointed to the Gonzaga Court of Mantua first as a singer and violist, then as music director. By 1602, he was working as court conductor. During Monteverdi’s tenure, the Gonzaga court had a considerable reputation as a center for the arts giving him many opportunities to develop his craft.2 However, Monteverdi found himself to be unhappy, primarily due to Duke Vincenzo’s chronic lateness in paying his and his family their salaries. In a letter to the Duke, dated October 14, 1604, Monteverdi writes: This humble petition of mine comes to you with no other aim but to beg Your Highness to kindly direct that I receive wages amounting to a total of five months, in which situation my wife Claudia and my father-in-law also find themselves, and this sum grows even larger since we do not see any hope of being able to get hold of future payments save by the express command of Your Highness, without which support all that I have been building up will be ruined and undone, since misfortunes continue to overwhelm day in and day out, and I have not the means to remedy them.”3 Monteverdi’s letters reveal that he had many other reasons for irritation and did not enjoy his time at Mantua. In a letter to a Councilor in the Mantuan Court from December 4, 1608, Monteverdi pleads: 2 3

Leo Schrade, Monteverdi—Creator of Modern Music (New York: W.W. Norton, 1950), 152.

Denis Stevens, The Letters of Claudio Monteverdi (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 35.

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“I assure you that unless I take a rest from toiling away at music for the theatre, my life will indeed be a short one, for as a result of my labours (so recent and of such magnitude) I have had a frightful pain in my head and so terrible and violent an itching around my waist….My father attributes the cause of the headache to mental strain, and the itching to Mantua’s air (which does not agree with me), and he fears that the air alone could be the death of me before long.”4 It was also during this time that Monteverdi became embroiled in the legendary Giovanni Maria Artusi debate regarding Monteverdi’s compositional style. Artusi in his 1600 treatise L'Artusi, overo delle imperfettioni della moderna musica (The Artusi or imperfections in modern music) condemned music that did not follow the prescribed rules of polyphony using Monteverdi’s Cruda Amarilli as an example. Monteverdi remained silent until he published Il quinto libro de Madrigali (1605) (The fifth book of madrigals), wherein he included in the forward a public letter of explanation of his compositional choices.

In 1613, Giulio Cesare Martinengo, the maestro di cappella of the Venice’s cathedral of San Marco, died. The cathedral officials had their sights on Monteverdi, as he had gained an excellent reputation throughout Italy. Monteverdi accepted the posting of maestro di cappella of one of Italy’s largest musical establishments. In addition to composing sacred music, he was responsible for providing music for many of the annual Venetian festivals. The new position and change of venue apparently agreed with him.

“His arrival in Venice in 1613 launched a period of intense creative activity. For once in his life he was well housed, well paid, and sufficiently pressured to ensure a constant stream of works for private and public consumption.”5 He also enjoyed the respect for his position as musician and composer:

4 5

Denis Stevens, The Letters of Claudio Monteverdi (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 53.

Denis Stevens, Monteverdi in Venice (Cranbury New Jersey: Associated Presses, Inc. 2001), 50.

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Also, it is clear from Monteverdi’s letters that his position in Venice soon gave him a personal dignity far exceeding anything he could have aspired to in Mantua.

He now acted almost as an equal of the aristocrats he came to know, not merely as their servant; small wonder that he took on some of their refined emotional restraint.6 Monteverdi spent the remainder of his life in Venice, making return trips to Mantua, as well as traveling to Parma, Padua, Bologna, and Rome. He also accepted commissions in opera, ballet, sacred and secular music beyond Venice.7 In 1614 Il sesto libro de madrigali a cinque voci (Sixth book of madrigals for five voices) was published and in 1619 Settimo libro di madrigali (Seventh book of Madrigals) was published, a significant collection as all were concerted madrigals. By 1630, the plague swept through Northern Italy and Venice lost almost one-third of its population. Monteverdi fortunately escaped, and published his Scherzi musicali in 1632.

Even though Monteverdi enjoyed success, respect, and fame, he was still troubled by the thirty-year-old renowned attack by theorist Artusi for his ignoring the established rules of counterpoint. In the 1630’s Monteverdi considered writing a musical treatise, in response to this controversy. In his treaty, he had hoped to discuss the issues of prima prattica and seconda prattica. In a letter to Giovan Battista Doni (a contemporary music theorist of Monteverdi) in 1634, Monteverdi writes: Whereupon I turned my studies I another direction, basing them on the principles of the best philosophers to have investigated nature. And because, in accordance with my reading, I notice that the results agree with those reasonings (and with the requirements of nature) when I write sown practical things with the aid of those observations, and really feel that our present rules have nothing to do with those requirements, I have for this basic reason given my book the title of Seconda pratica [sic]; and I hope to make this so clear that it will not be censured by the world, but rather taken seriously.

6

Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the end of the Renaissance (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990), 258.

7 Paolo Fabbri, Monteverdi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 254.

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I keep well away, in my writings, from that method upheld by the Greeks with their words and signs, employing instead the voices and characters that we use in our practice, because my intention is to show by means of our practice what I have been able to extract from the mind of those philosophers for the benefit of good art, and not for the principles of the First Practice, which was only harmonic.”8 However, this treatise was not written, and Fabbri states that “Monteverdi had freely admitted that scholarly research was not for him, and that he had instead directed his attention to illustrate the new ‘second practice’.9 By 1638 Monteverdi had prepared his eighth collection of madrigals, with the title Madrigalia Guerriera et Amorosi and it is in the preface where he outlines the theoretical framework for his seconda prattica (second practice).

Monteverdi continued to compose until his death on November 29, 1643. His funeral was held in Venice receiving the honor of the most solemn funeral service reserved for dignitaries. A fitting tribute to the great composer was the participation of “the largest choir that the city could bring together.”10

Monteverdi and Italian Culture The tracing of Monteverdi’s life and musical output does not tell the complete story. His musical output was influenced by the political, ideological, and cultural shifts that were taking place in Italy that current historians call the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque. This narrative will illuminate how Monteverdi was able to form a dynamic link between the two periods that inspired him to compose the madrigals of Book 8.

8

Denis Stevens, The Letters of Claudio Monteverdi (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 426.

Paolo Fabbri, Monteverdi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 230.

10 Paolo Fabbri, Monteverdi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 266.

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In the 1580’s northern Italy was politically secure and the internal bureaucracies of city-states such as Venice enjoyed economic and cultural stability. Venice thrived due to its monopoly on the textile industry as well as being in the center of the Adriatic and Aegean trade route. This period of prosperity was reflected in the ruling aristocracy’s show of courtly pomp and ritual. The aristocracy could indulge, at leisure, intellectual pursuits through academies devoted to literature, philosophy, and science. Broadening of intellectual and artistic horizons reflected “humanist” values especially among the aristocracy. As well, Venice seemed immune from the edicts of the CounterReformation. Unfortunately, this prosperity was short-lived. The turn of the seventeenth century was greeted with a deep economic downturn precipitated by such troubles as competition in trade from other countries, rerouting of trade routes, and more than a decade of agricultural hardship.

As well, the Venetian aristocracy was challenged by a younger patrician generation of thinkers. They aggressively sought to promote their views: “abandonment of political passivity, rebellion against the principle of universal authority, and the recognition of some independence of moral and political action from religious belief.”11 This new generation (which included Galileo) brought Venice into conflict with the Counter-Reformation Church. By 1600 the Catholic Church launched a vigorous campaign to control a range of intellectual pursuits. One such control was literature and poetry, and the Clementine Index was regularly updated with an extensive list of banned books that did not uphold Christian virtues. As a result, an atmosphere of suspicion and caution pervaded that engendered an avoidance of profound subjects in literature. “This

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Gary Tomlinson, Monterverdi and the End of Renaissance (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990), 244.

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led, as we have seen, to an enervating divorce of intellectual endeavor from its largest goals. Letters, arts, and sciences were now practiced with no nobler aim than to pass the time honorably.”12 Contemporary poets avoided “profound human issues…but may have encouraged them instead to pursue objective descriptions of sensual (not sexual) charms and displays of recondite rhetorical expertise.”13 Logical discourse valued previously, now gave way to oratory that avoided presenting deep ideas but was just a stylized and elegant phrasemaking and virtuosic eloquence. This trend left behind Petrarch and gave way to the hallmark poetic idioms of Marino: his love for “glittering, virtuosic conceits in poetry witty and dazzling paradox.”14 “It is clear from Monteverdi’s letters that his position in Venice soon gave him a personal dignity far exceeding anything he could have aspired to in Mantua. He now acted almost as an equal of the aristocrats he came to know, not merely as their servant; small wander that he took on some of their refined emotional restraint.”15 This is the Venice where Monteverdi composed his madrigals for Book 8. He was able to adapt his music to the trends of the time by developing musical gestures that depicted various passions and compose madrigals for the emotionally light poetry of Marino. Importantly, Monteverdi did not abandon the humanist ideals that were embodied in the poetry of Petrarch, and Book 8 represents a dualism that establishes him as composer who outlived the Renaissance and entered the Baroque.

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Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the End of Renaissance (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990), 252.

13 Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the End of Renaissance (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990), 252.

14 Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the End of Renaissance (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990), 252.

15 Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the End of Renaissance (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990), 258.

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Poetry of the Italian Renaissance For the nine madrigals presented in this document the poems were authored by Francesco Petrarch, Giovanni Battista Guarini, Giovanni Battista Marini, and an anonymous poet who wrote in the style of Marini.16 All are sonnets (or portions of sonnets) with the exception of the two final madrigals with texts by Guarini. Stevens notes Monteverdi’s preference for the sonnet: “There is ample evidence that Monteverdi, in his artistic maturity, chose the sonnet as the most suitable poetic medium for his serious works. Between the years 1624 and 1639, he wrote six compositions for 5,6,7, or 8 voices, with two violins and continuo, based on sonnets by Petrarch, Marini, and certain capable but anonymous imitators of those poets.�17 The structure of a typical Italian sonnet of this time included two parts that together formed a compact form of argument. The first eight lines are divided into two quatrains that describe the problem or proposition. The following six lines propose a resolution. Typically, the ninth line creates what is called the "turn" or "volta" that acts to signal the move from proposition to resolution. Even in sonnets that do not strictly follow the problem/resolution structure, the ninth line still often marks a "turn" by signaling a change in the tone, mood, or stance of the poem. Such is true for the sonnets outlined in this document. The sonnet has a formulaic syllabic and rhyme scheme: 14 lines of 11 syllables abba abba ababab, although there are slight variations (see fig. 1).

16

Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi, 47.

Denis Stevens, Monteverdi Sacred, Secular, and Occasional Music (New Jersey: Associated University Presses, Inc. 1978), 37.

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Figure 1 Sonnet by Petrarch Problem/Proposition: Hor che ‘l ciel e la terra e ‘l vento tace e le fere e gli augelli il sonno affrena Notte il carro stellato in giro mena e nel suo letto il mar senz’onda giace

a b b a

Now that sky, earth and wind are silent And sleep immobilizes beasts and birds, While Night circles in her starry chariot And the sea lies waveless in its bed,

Veglio, penso, ardo, piango e chi mi sface Sempre me’è innanzi per mia dolce pena.

Guerra è il mio stato, d’ira e di duol piena, e sol di lei pensando ho qualche pace.

a b b a

I am awake, I think, I burn, I weep, and she that undoes me is always before me to my sweet sorrow.

War is my condition, full of anger and grief, And only when thinking of her do I find some peace.

Resolution/Turn Così sol d’una chiara fonte viva move il dolce e l’amaro ond’io mi pasco.

Una man sola mi risana e punge.

E, perchè il mio martir non giunga a riva, mille volte il di moro e mille nasco, tanto dalla salute mia son lunge.

a b c a b c

Thus from a single, clear living spring (fountain) moves (comes) sweet and bitter from which I feed.

One hand alone heals me and pierces me.

And so that my suffering may not reach (not end) shore, a thousand times a day I die, and a thousand I am born, so far am I from my salvation.

Petrarch (1304-74) was a Tuscan poet who wrote in the vernacular. He dedicated his life to articulating his thoughts and ideas in the written word. He was also a humanist, and his themes were frequently looking at issues of love, passion and introspection using a language that “balances delicacy with intensity, and lyricism with refinement.”18 Hor ch’el ciel e la terra and Così sol d’una chiara fonte viva are excellent examples of how Petrarch uses imagery, contrast, and rhetoric to convey his internal conflict and yearning (see fig. 1).

Guarini (1538-1612) was a popular and prolific poet of the late Renaissance.

Monteverdi’s association with Guarini was the longest; his poems were included in five of the madrigal collections spanning from Book 1 to Book 8. His popularity was due to his providing texts to composers that were rich with possibilities for word painting, while

18

Joan Conlon, Performing Monteverdi, 29.

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preserving their dignity. Einstein characterizes them as “pastoral…smooth, amorous in their affection…and abound in phrases suitable for music.”19 The two madrigals Dolcissimo usignuolo and Chi vuol haver felice demonstrate the turn towards abandoning the excessive internal emotionalism that had become unfashionable in the seventeenth century.

As the cultural taste for humanism and rhetoric had become passé, poets now begin to experiment with the quality of single words, similes and metaphors. The themes of poetry changed too, leaving epic and tragic stories to occasional, daily and vulgar love.20 The result was what the Baroque had been known for: excesses. “Thematic innovations were part of this trend: but their trade-mark was the use of concetti and acutezze, that is, of dazzling metaphors. Metaphors contain the most far-fetched combinations.”21 Giovan Battista Marino became the icon for this new Baroque style of writing.

Giovan Battista Marino (1569-1625) was an Italian poet from Naples. He is considered the greatest poet of the seventeenth century and one of the greatest Italian poets of all time. His style of poetry, later referred to as Marinism, was imitated throughout Italy. A prolific author, his more than four hundred poems were arranged by genre (amorous, moral, rustic, heroic, etc.) and published in a book La lira (1614).

Marino’s poems are characterized by descriptive language and lyrical flow. The Cambridge History of Italian Literature states: his propensity to create visual poems, the polymetry, the eroticism and musicality, the symphonic construction of his poems, and

19

Alfred Einstein. The Italian Madrigal (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1949), 210.

Peter Brand and Lino Pertile, ed., The Cambridge History of Italian Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 303.

21 Peter Brand and Lino Pertile, ed., The Cambridge History of Italian Literature, 305.

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their mixture of sensual and macabre in a linguistic texture that creates a sense of soft sonority.”22 For reasons described in the section “Monteverdi and Italian Culture,” both the two genres of poetic style, the Petrarchan and the Marinist appealed to Monteverdi.

Petrarch represented the old tradition where “poetry was the stylized expression of human passion, a language that gave voice to their inner emotional world.”23 Monteverdi was still fascinated with textual persuasion: “Rhetoric provided a spectrum of conventional structures for conveying these passions artfully, compellingly, and rationally, serving thus in its humanist function as link between reason and emotion.”24 Marinist poetic ideals reflected the general cultural tendency to avoid rhetoric and humanist proclivities. Tomlinson describes the nature of Marinist poetry: Their poetry was not a language of emotion but a descriptive discourse on external objects or a treatment of amorous situations in their outward, despiritualized attributes alone. Introspection was not the goal of Marinist poets; they tended to mask their inner world rather than examine it. They reduced rhetoric to verbal virtuosity, a storehouse of images and tropes that endowed their plain description with a scintillating, captivating illusion of poetry.25 Prima Prattica, Seconda Prattica, and Stile Concitato At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Monteverdi became embroiled in a long and intricate controversy with Giovanni Artusi. Artusi published a treatise L’Artusi, overo Delle imperfettioni della moderna musica (The Artusi, or imperfections of modern music) in which he accused Monteverdi’s compositional techniques of contradicting traditional rules. Although Monteverdi was unnamed in the treatise, his madrigal Cruda Amarilli, was used to demonstrate all the faults such as his use of dissonance. In 1605 22

Peter Brand and Lino Pertile, ed., The Cambridge History of Italian Literature, 306.

Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the end of the Renaissance, 257.

24 Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the end of the Renaissance, 257.

25 Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the end of the Renaissance, 257.

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Monteverdi published his fifth book of madrigals, Il quinto libro de Madrigali, (which contained Cruda Amarilli) and in the book’s forward he responded to Artusi’s criticisms.

In the forward Monteverdi proposed that musical practice fell into two categories, which he called prima prattica and seconda prattica. Prima prattica was described as the previous polyphonic ideal of the sixteenth century, with flowing strict counterpoint, prepared dissonance, and equality of voices. Seconda prattica used much freer counterpoint with an increasing hierarchy of voices, emphasizing soprano and bass. In Prima Prattica the harmony controls the words. In Seconda Prattica the words should be in control of the harmonies. He referred to Artusi’s rules as prima prattica (first practice).

His brother, Giulio Monteverdi, was an outspoken defender of Monteverdi’s compositional style as well. He responded to Artusi’s attacks on Monteverdi's music in the forward of his Scherzi Musicale (1607), advancing the view that the old music subordinated text to music, whereas in the new music the text dominated the music.26 Monteverdi wanted to find new ways to express the text, and he states “the word, the text, with all its values and qualities, should be the master and not the servant of the musical harmony.”27 The compositional technique that Monteverdi is most famous for is found in Book 8, known as stile concitato (agitated style). Monteverdi explains the need for a new composition technique in his preface: “Our mind has three principal passions or affectations—anger, temperance, and humility or supplication---as the best philosophers affirm, and , indeed, considered that the very nature of our voice falls into a high, low and medium range and musical theory describes this clearly with the three term of agitated [concitato], languid [molle] and temperate [temperato]; and never having been 26 27

Paolo Fabbri, Monteverdi, 47.

Claudio Monteverdi, Book 5 Madrigals, (New York: Dover Publications, 1991), x.

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able to find in all the compositions of past composers an example of the agitated style…I set myself the task to discover it.”28 Monteverdi wanted to depict the agitated state, which he likened to the state of a man “going bravely into battle,” or “wrath,” and “vexation.”29 How this was represented musically was by having rapidly repeated notes. Monteverdi depicted warring feelings first in his Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda) (also included in Book 8). He was so pleased with the effect that he then used stile concitato as an iconic gesture in the madrigals of Book 8 that have a war theme, or convey the emotion. He expanded on the rapidly repeated notes by including melismas and fanfare-like melodies with repetitive harmony.30 Monteverdi’s Tonal Language Monteverdi is also recognized for his contribution to the emergence of harmonic tonality. Chafe states: “And in his compositions Monteverdi laid the groundwork for tonal structures and figurative procedures with such purposiveness that we can speak of his role in the creation of the modern worldview as comparable to those of his contemporaries Galileo and Descartes in their respective fields.”31 While Monteverdi fashioned the concept of the three primary affections of concitato, molle, and temperato for which music had no representation for concitato, Chafe contends that Monteverdi inferred these states were associated to tonal qualities.

The Chart below (see fig. 2) shows how his affective states have counterparts in tonal

28

Claudio Monteverdi, Book 8 Madrigals (New York: Dover Publications, 1991), xiv.

Claudio Monteverdi, Book 8 Madrigals (New York: Dover Publications, 1991), xiv.

30 Gary Tomlinson, Monteverdi and the end of the Renaissance, 209.

31 Eric Chafe, Monteverdi’s Tonal Language (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 1.

29

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areas. Monteverdi based his affections on Boethius’ “human affections” (row 2); he also aligned these with the music genera system of durus, mollis, and naturali, and finally with the three hexachord system.

Figure 2 Comparison of the affective states and musica genera Monteverdi’s concitato, affective states (incitato in Combattimento) anger, temper

molle, temperance

temperato.

Humility (supplication)

Boethius Human affection Music genera 3 Hexachord system (d,r,m,f,s,l)

harsh

restrained

Lascivious and effeminate

Durus (hard) sharp G (hard) durus

Mollis (soft) flat F (soft) mollis

Naturale C naturale

The durus hexachord of G requiring one sharp represented concitato: Using sharps and thus introducing the tonality of G and D was introduced in Book 7 and “stile concitato now thrusts the sharp major keys into center stage as emblems of a new affective state.”32 The combat scenes in Combattimento are entirely in G in stile concitato. The madrigals that employ stile concitato are also in G, confirming this tonal center as Monteverdi’s representation of war and war-like affections.

Another technique Monteverdi implemented that was considered novel was juxtaposing minor and major tonal centers as used frequently in Book 8.33 Chafe

32 33

Eric Chafe, Monteverdi’s Tonal Language (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 235.

Eric Chafe, Monteverdi’s Tonal Language (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 238.

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contends that this minor versus major brought a clearer sense of the positive/negative dualism in durus regions.34 In the nine madrigals included in this discussion, the tonal centers used are C major and a minor (naturale), and the sharp keys of G major, D major, and A major (durus/hard). Notably absent are the soft or flat keys. As the two affective states of love and war are the subject for Book 8, it makes sense that the two musica genera used are durus and naturale.

The terms tonal center, hexachord system, mode, final, are all words to describe the harmony of the Renaissance. Key signature or key is terminology that came later.

Monteverdi sometimes constructs his madrigals in ways that highlight the relationship between mode and system. Some sections of his music project a strong sense of key, while others are not specific with regard to any tonal center. This is because the system of tonality and key was still evolving. By Book 8 Monteverdi was using many techniques that would become Baroque methods of establishing tonal centers: dominant relationships in modulations (e.g., G major to D major), ground basses, circle of fifths, and cadential figures. His primary purpose was to find musical gestures that would represent the affections and depict text.

Book 8 Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi Book 8 published in 1638 as Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi is dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand III. There were nineteen years between the publications of Book 7 and Book 8. The preface to the volume gives Book 8 special distinction as it outlines his passions, anger, temperance, and humility or supplication. Anger is the passion that

34

Eric Chafe, Monteverdi’s Tonal Language (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 238.

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Monteverdi invents a new musical representation for which he categorizes as stile concitato (agitated style). Stile concitato imitates the war-like passions of a man going into battle. He also contends that it is “contrasts that deeply affect our mind, the goal of the effect that good music ought to have.”35 His exploration into contrasts is the basis for the two categories of madrigals war and love.

Figure 3 Structure of Book 8 Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi MADRIGALI GUERRIERI (Sinfonia) Altri canti d’Amor (Anon.)

Tu cui tessuta Hor che’l ciel (Petrarch) Così sol d’una chiara fonte viva Gira il nemico (Strozzi) canzonetta Se vittorie si belle (Testi) Armatto il cor (Rinuccini) Ogni amante (Rinuccini)

Performing Forces a 6; str.

MADRIGALI AMOROSI Altri canti di Marte (Marini) Due Belli occhi Vago augelletto (Petrarch)

a 6; str.

Small group/2 tenors 2 tenors

Ardo avvampo (anon sonnet)

2 tenors & bass/ tenor solo a 8; str –a 5

Combattimento (Tasso)

theatrical

Ballo: Movete (Rinuccini)

theatrical

Mentre vaga Angioletta (Guarini) Ardo, e scoprir (anon) O sia tranquillo il mar (anon) sonnet Ninfa che scalza il piede (anon) Dolcissimo (Guarini) Chi vuol haver (Guarini) Lamento della Ninfa (Rinuccini) Perchè; Non partir; Su su su Ballo delle Ingrate (Rinuccini)

The book is divided into two sections; the first contains madrigals on the theme of war, and the second on the theme of love. Each section opens with a large-scale madrigal and closes with a ballet. The scheme of each section is equivalent as can be seen in Figure 3. The madrigals discussed in Chapter 3 are in bold above. Both sections open with large-scale madrigals with the first madrigal preceded by a sinfonia. The overall structure of the book is balanced. Arnold states: “Monteverdi’s collection displays, in its

35

Claudio Monteverdi, Book 8 Madrigals, (New York: Dover Publications, 1991), xiv

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neat symmetry, two carefully contrived categories whose individual items often share more than one feature or attribute with a corresponding number in the other category.”36

36

Denis Stevens, “Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi,” The Monteverdi Companion edited by Denis Arnold & Nigel Fortune (London: Faber & Faber, 1968), 238.

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CHAPTER 2: GENERAL PERFORMANCE ISSUES Singing and Vocal Ensemble Size of Vocal Ensemble Modern day professional ensembles performing Monteverdi typically use one voice per part. Collegium ensembles, dedicated to performing music of the Renaissance and Baroque can range from eight to twenty members. However, there is evidence that Monteverdi worked with larger vocal ensembles.37 Experienced choral directors know that three or more voices on a part yields a more homogenous sound: “multiple singers on a part may well change the sound—the blend is smoother and the fullness of texture is richer.�38 In the nine madrigals, there are five to seven voice parts, and the optimum requirements are a minimum of three voices per part. A choir of twenty-five to thirty singers would sufficiently provide the forces to perform these madrigals.

Secondly, the madrigals have a variety of textures. The madrigals contain numerous homophonic sections where the conductor is encouraged to utilize full choral forces. These homophonic sections require attention to blend and ensemble singing.

Other textures are contrapuntal where individual voice parts must be unified, and the conductor must ensure that the individual voice parts contribute to the overall clarity and effect. As well, the madrigals contain sections where single voice parts or duets or trios are showcased. The conductor may choose soloists for these sections or ensure that the choristers performing in these textures are balanced and blended.

37

Denis Stevens, Monteverdi in Venice (Cranbury; New Jersey: Associated University Press, 2001), 77.

Steven Plank, Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice (Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004), 34.

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Vocal Ranges The voice ranges for each of the nine madrigals is included in the Appendix.

Soprano vocal lines all lie within the soprano tessitura, with Cosi sol d’una chiara fonte requiring a lower tessitura. The conductor should ensure there are sopranos who have the ability to float the high G’s and A’s without strain or excessive volume and be able to sing comfortably in the lower register as well. The ranges for the second soprano parts are well within the range for standard sopranos, however, in Altri canti di Marte, the second soprano exceeds the range of the first soprano.

The alto and tenor parts require more flexibility in voicing. In Monteverdi’s time it is likely the alto part was sung by high male tenors singing in their natural voice, countertenors, or males singing in falsetto.39 In order to accommodate the ranges required for the alto and tenor parts female altos, countertenors, and tenors can be combined.40 Conductors must ensure there are adequate numbers of tenors to cover the parts, as all of the madrigals require tenor divisi. The bass lines call for singers with a wide range, who must be able to manage low F’s and E’s, and have flexibility in the higher range. Baritones will add strength to the bass in higher passages as well as in the second tenor range.

Vocal Tone The various guides to historical performance practice in the Renaissance and Baroque period discuss voice quality, particularly the use of, or absence of, vibrato.

39

Steven Plank, Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice (Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004), 41.

40 Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide (Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 2001), 211-18.

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There has been in the past, a tendency towards using “straight tone” or a tone quality without vibrato. Plank notes that the question of how much vibrato to be used “is the thorniest issue to confront the singer of early music…and while opinions in both historical sources and modern commentary will vary, all will agree that the use and the degree of use of vibrato can radically affect our sense of a work.”41 While it is up to the taste of the conductor, there are some considerations that will help the conductor to determine how much vibrato is ideal for singing madrigals.

Vocalizing with a minimum amount of vibrato will help the tuning of the intervals. The more vibrato, the more blur on the clarity of the individual pitches. This is important to consider in the homophonic sections where harmonic stasis conveys the spirit of the music. The contrapuntal sections require clarity of line, and minimizing the vibrato would bring clarity to individual lines as well as the over all texture. “Straight-tone singing that is well supported and the product of a relaxed vocal mechanism need not sound forced, flat, or characterless; when combined with careful note shaping, a strong sense of linear contour, dynamic gesture, and the interplay of strikingly demarcated vowels, the resulting sound can be fully alive, animated, and expressive.”42 Another element that is related to vibrato is vowel color. Italian language requires pure vowels. If the conductor places prominent attention to developing uniform vowel coloring of the Italian vowels, interplayed with articulate consonants, the natural vocal timbre will have a positive effect on the tone quality.

41

Steven Plank, Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice (Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004), 19.

42 Steven Plank, Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice (Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004), 21-2.

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There are many sections within the madrigals that are suitable for soloists. By assigning individual soloists to the appropriate portions, there can be an opportunity to judiciously employ more vibrato.

The most important aspect a conductor can give his choir is encouragement of healthy singing. A voice that is well supported, vibrant, flexible and energized being the product of a relaxed vocal mechanism should be the goal of all the singers in the ensemble.

Delivering the Text Monteverdi states: “The word, the text, with all its values and qualities, should be the master and not the servant of the musical harmony.”43 The texts of the madrigals are the foundation of the madrigals. Conlon advises “Read the poems aloud, carefully read the translations, and then savor Monteverdi’s musical responses to the intricacies of each poem. Know the text, the context, and the subtext of each work.44 The conductor must have a good understanding of Italian diction. Having a native-speaking Italian who understands the elocution of Italian would also be beneficial to assist the choir with pronunciation. An important aspect of the Italian language is the syllable stress. The IPA pronunciations for each madrigal (including vowel stress and length) are in the Appendix.

Depending on the level and experience of the ensemble, the conductor would be well-advised to invest time in insuring the correct locution of the text. Once the ensemble is fluent in all the levels of pronunciation, the conductor can add the layer of 43

Claudio Monteverdi, Madrigals Books IV & V ed. Gian Francesco Malipiero (New York: Dover Publication, 2010), xi.

44 Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide (Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 2001), 26.

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delivery, so that the intent of the poetry can be communicated. Harnoncourt addresses this relationship between text and musical articulation: In music, articulation signifies the linking and separation of tones, the legato and staccato and their mixture, sometimes misleadingly called ‘phrasing’. Problems of articulation are especially apparent in Baroque music, or more generally in music from about 1600 to 1800 since, as a rule, this music is basically related to speech. The parallels to speech were strongly emphasized by all theorists of the period. Music was often described as “speech in tones.” I like to say that music prior to 1800 speaks, while subsequent music paints.45 Singers must know what they are singing about and should be encouraged to understand the individual words, literal and poetic. Providing translations to the texts at the outset will ensure the singers understand, and are committed to communicating the appropriate poetic meanings. English translations of the madrigals are found in Chapter 3.

Musical Considerations Tempo, Meter, Tempo Relationships Musicologist and performance practice authorities agree that in Renaissance music the basic tempo or tactus was derived from the pace of walking or from the heartbeat. The tactus is approximately one beat per second (sixty beats per minute) and this should be the starting point for governing the tempo of the madrigal.46 In addition, the conductor should look for the fastest moving and slowest moving note values, and then find a reasonable tempo, considering the clarity of text. Characteristic to the period, tempo was expressed in the note values. Music that was faster was written in shorter rhythms as in the stile concitato sections, conversely, slower tempi and ritardando were 45

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Baroque Music Today: Music as Speech (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1988), 39.

46 Steven Plank, Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice (Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004), 65.

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notated in longer rhythms. Regarding stile concitato, Monteverdi instructed in Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (included in Book 8) that the tempo should resemble trotto del cavallo (the galloping of the horse),47 ergo his instructions should be used as an indication of tempo in similar sections in the madrigals. The strictness of the chosen tempo is left up to the taste of the conductor. Musicologists agree that “tempo transitions, accelerandi and ritards were, of course, originally improvised.”48 Conlon counsels “the dramatic impact of some of Monteverdi’s secular music can be lost irretrievably through dogged adherence to a single tempo through out a single work.

Expressive performance may require the conductor occasionally to abandon the concept of a unified tempo throughout in favor of a rubato that enhances the emotional presentation of the work.”49 Monteverdi specifically asks for a flexible tempo in Lamento della Ninfa (Book 8) instructing “this music in genere rappresentativo should follow not the beat of the director’s hand, but rather the spirit and meaning of the music, as we experience it in our souls.”50 Finally, the conductor should bear in mind the overall acoustic of the performance venue.

Having established the tactus, the conductor must ascertain the placement of accent. Although the meter indicates an overall sense of duple or triple time, the accents are not bound by the meter. The indicators for accent should be determined through text, and other harmonic cues such as non-harmonic tones, placement of suspensions, and cadences. Text stress has been addressed earlier in the chapter. Cadences are frequently 47

Claudio Monteverdi, Madrigali Guerrieri, et Amorosi Libro Ottavo, ed. Anna Maria Vacchelli (Cremona: Foundazion Claudio Monteverdi, 2004) 350.

48 Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide (Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 2001), 54.

49 Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide (Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 2001), 273.

50 Claudio Monteverdi, Madrigali Guerrieri, et Amorosi Libro Ottavo, ed. Anna Maria Vacchelli (Cremona: Foundazion Claudio Monteverdi, 2004) 524.

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characterized by suspensions with dissonances that give way to resolution. Harnoncourt states “the music of earlier centuries was governed by written and unwritten rules, knowledge was taken for granted among contemporary musicians, knowledge which we today must arduously reacquire. One of these rules dictates that a dissonance must be stressed while its resolution should fade away.”51 The occurrence of dissonanceresolution is frequent in the nine madrigals. “Even the normally unaccented fourth beat is occasionally stressed, then resolving into silence as it reaches the otherwise stressed downbeat.”52 In addition the conductor should look for situations where Monteverdi places rests. Rests often prepare for a change in mood or emphasize a previous dramatic moment.

Changing from duple to triple meter and vice versa is another device used in the Renaissance. Generally there are two tempo relationships or proportions that are observed: the proportia tripla which is three beats in the time of one, and proportia sesquialtera, or three in the time of two.53 Stevens observes proportia tripla to be the predominant relationship in Monteverdi’s time.54 This pertains to the meter changes within Ardo avvampo and Altri Canti di Marte (one triple measure equaling one tactus from previous measure). However, in Altri Canti d’amor the proportion is sesquialtera.

Establishing the standard tactus (at sixty beats per minute) means giving the opening triple meter one beat per measure. When the meter changes at Di Marte di Marte (I sing of Mars) to common time (4/4) the tactus is the half note. The change to 6/4 at le 51

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Baroque Music Today: Music as Speech (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1988), 35.

52 Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Baroque Music Today: Music as Speech (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1988), 34.

53 Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide (Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 2001), 281.

54 Denis Stevens, “Claudio Monteverdi: Acoustics, Tempo” in A Performer’s Guide to SeventeenthCentury Music, ed. Steward Carter (New York: Schirmer Books, 1997), 54.

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battalglie (the battle), the dotted whole note becomes the tactus. The tempo for the triple meters in these three madrigals would seem at first glance to be too fast. However, musicologists agree that “The increase of speed is, in fact, likely to be very much greater than a modern performer might expect. In the period of Monteverdi and Schütz, this rough rule will prevent many gross misjudgements of triple-time tempo (i.e., taking them far slower than they ought to be).”55 The conductor is cautioned to not take the triple meter sections too slowly.

Dynamics Composers in Monteverdi’s time were not in the habit of writing in the score their recommended dynamics. Limitations of instruments were restricted to piano and forte, to create an echo effect, preceding the baroque practice of terraced dynamics. Again, musicologists agree that gradations in dynamics were likely common practice.56 “Dynamics is not restricted to the alternating Piano and Forte used in both sacred and monodic secular music, often joined to the Echo effect. There can often be found much better detailed specifications with the aim of intentionally defining all the nuances of the whole dynamical range, both for voices and for instruments.”57 It would be difficult to imagine that Monteverdi’s quest for text depiction would not include dynamics. In fact in Altri canti d’amor he asks for viole sole tocche tutte ad arcate semplici et dolci (solo viols, all played with simple and sweet bowing), then for lunghe e soavi (long and gentle

55

Raffaello Monterosso, Performing Practice in Monteverdi’s Music. (Cremona: Fondazione Claudio Monteverdi, 1995), 54.

56 Robert Donington, Baroque Music: Style and Performance (London: Faber and Faber, 1982), 126.

57 Raffaello Monterosso, Performing Practice in Monteverdi’s Music. (Cremona: Fondazione Claudio Monteverdi, 1995), 30.

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bowing).58 In order to seek out the nuances of the varying moods, the conductor is advised to use a wide spectrum of dynamics and dynamic change.

Instruments Basso Continuo Basso continuo is a manner of accompaniment used in the seventeenth century and has two musical components, a bass line that is notated by the composer and a part that specifies a set of harmonies. All nine madrigals require a basso continuo. The minimum instruments required are two, at least one to play the bass line and one to play the realization. Depending on the size of the choir and considerations for balance and color, more instruments can be used. “Continuo accompaniment requires one or more chordal instruments, the choice and number depending on the size of the performance space, how many people are being accompanied, and what they are doing.”59 Instruments traditionally used for playing the bass melodic line are the gamba, cello, viol (bass), trombone, or bassoon. The advantage to these instruments is their ability to sustain pitch.

Plucked instruments such as archlutes, lute, harpsichord guitars and theorbos may also be incorporated in the bass line. “This is important to keep in mind, since most of the discussion about bass-line doubling over the past ten or fifteen years has centered on the question of doubling by sustaining instruments, such as bass viol, cello, or bassoon. For much of the seventeenth century, doubling by a plucked instrument was preferred since it provided clarity without muddying the texture.”60 Monteverdi preferred plucked

58

Claudio Monteverdi, Madrigali Guerrieri, et Amorosi Libro Ottavo, ed. Anna Maria Vacchelli (Cremona: Foundazion Claudio Monteverdi, 2004) 228.

59 Jack Ashworth and Paul O’Dette, “Basso Continuo” in A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music, ed. Stewart Carter (New York: Schirmer Books, 1997), 271.

60 Jack Ashworth and Paul O’Dette, “Basso Continuo” in A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music, ed. Stewart Carter (New York: Schirmer Books, 1997), 272.

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instruments: “we have more than ample proofs of his fondness for plucked keyboard instruments.”61 Borgir recommends eliminating the bass melodic player and using only the continuo for solo sections in the Book 8 madrigals.62 An example of this is in the opening solo of Altri Canti d’Amor. Finally, the bass line melodic accompaniment must have the same articulations as the vocal lines, reflecting the text.

Instruments that provide harmony are the plucked instruments such as archlutes, lute, theorbos, guitar,harpsichord, chitarrone, lirone, or harp. Choosing the continuo accompaniment will be a matter of availability, personal taste, ensemble balance and combination of bass and continuo. Accompaniment textures were not limited to just a few instruments: “We know from the recorded practice of the Florentine intermeddii, the Ferrarese concerto grande, and from the writing of Agostino Agazzari (1578-1640) that it was popular to accompany large ensembles with a variety of instruments, each contributing its most interesting characteristics (e.g., the chitarrones’s sonorous low bass strings, long drawn-out chords on the lirone, scales and ornaments gently plucked over the whole range of the harp, etc.).63 If more than one instrument is used, then those instruments should be different yet complimentary, such as a keyboard and guitar.

The use of period instruments, if available, would greatly enhance the performance and experience of the ensemble and the audience. However, a conductor should not be held back from performing the madrigals if only modern day strings are available. When Harnoncourt was questioned on the use of only period instruments for Renaissance and Baroque music, he answered “yes or no: after all, the musician should

61

Denis Stevens, Monteverdi in Venice (Cranbury New Jersey: Associated Presses, Inc. 2001), 109-10.

Tharald Borgir, “The Performance of the Basso Continuo in Italian Baroque Music” in Studies in Musicology, No. 90 ed.G.J. Beulow (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1987),59.

63 Jack Ashworth and Paul O’Dette, “Basso Continuo” in A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music, ed. Stewart Carter (New York: Schirmer Books, 1997), 271.

62

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have the right to play any work on the instrument he believes is best suited to it, or to select the combination of sounds that seems ideal to him.64

Realizing the Continuo Part The purpose of the continuo part is to accompany the voices and to provide harmony and rhythms. The chords must be realized in such a way as to match or complement the vocal lines. The texture of the chords is normally in four parts, but the instrumentalist should not always simply play four-part chords all of the time. Cyr says “Whenever possible, root position chords were played, unless the solo part or a figure implied otherwise.”65 As well, the range of the realization should not exceed the range of the vocal parts. The conductor, with the advice of the continuo instrumentalist should experiment with different types of articulations. The textures of the continuo part can be varied, especially when played at the harpsichord, whose dynamics could be adjusted to an extent by the number of notes played and the speed of arpeggiation. Lutes, harps, and guitars can be strummed as well as plucked, “each instrument providing its own rich vocabulary of plucking strumming, and arpeggio techniques as well as the amazingly effective block chord is essential to the continuo character.”66 At no time should the texture of the continuo blur the vocal lines. As Cyr states “As the core of virtually all vocal and instrumental performances, the basso continuo had an extremely important role in Baroque music. The sensitive harpsichordist who adjusts the texture and range of the

64

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Baroque Music Today: Music as Speech (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1988), 82.

65 Mary Cyr, Performing Baroque Music (Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1992), 81.

66 Ashworth and Paul O’Dette, “Proto-Continuo” in A Performer’s Guide to Renaissance Music, ed.

Jeffery Kite-Powell (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007), 233.

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continuo part, and provides discreet rhythmic and harmonic support without interfering with the soloists, lends a security and firmness to the ensemble that is felt by all.”67 The conductor will encounter in the Dover Edition a written-out realization provided by the editor. The conductor should examine the realization carefully, following the principles of range, motion, and texture of the madrigal as well as the performance conditions and determine appropriate accompaniment figures.

Obbligato Violins “Monteverdi was one of the first composers to use obbligato instruments in a number of genres of vocal music…and in his latter music he continually astonishes the listener with the varied and inventive ways he combines violins and voices.”68 Seven of the nine madrigals include obbligato violins, adding to the overall drama. When the violins double voice parts, they must follow the articulations of the text. When they have their own melodic lines, let them soar particularly in the stile concitato sections. The two violins are often in imitation and contrast with vocal lines, adding to the dramatic interest and overall texture. In Altri canti d’amor Monteverdi asks for viole sole tocche tutte ad arcate semplici et dolci (solo viols, all played with simple and sweet bowing), then for lunghe e soavi (long and gentle bowing).69 The violins should play with no vibrato, providing a lean and focused tone, complimenting the vocal tone of the singers.

67

Mary Cyr, Performing Baroque Music (Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1992), 81.

Peter Holman “’Col nobilissimo esercitio della vivuaola’: Monteverdi’s String Writing” Early Music 21/4 (November 1993), 577.

69 Claudio Monteverdi, Madrigali Guerrieri, et Amorosi Libro Ottavo, ed. Anna Maria Vacchelli (Cremona: Foundazion Claudio Monteverdi, 2004), 228.

68

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CHAPTER 3: THE NINE MADRIGALS Introduction The first four madrigals are from the first half of the collection, Canti Guerrieri (Songs of War) and the last five madrigals are from the second half--Canti Amorosi (Songs of Love). For each madrigal the poem and translation are given. For clarity, each line of the poem is numbered. As the discussion of the musical features is wedded to the text, references will be made to the text line number. Musical examples will indicate measure number. Appearing after the poem is a table indicating the corresponding measures from the score to text line numbers. The table also gives the major structural divisions of the madrigal, with a summary of textures and voicings, compositional techniques and tonal centers. In the Appendix there is a table of the voice ranges for each madrigal as well as a table of all the madrigals summarizing the basic details for comparison.

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Canti Guerrieri (Songs of War) 1. Altri canti d’Amor (one of 2) Anonymous Sonnet: 8 lines of 11 syllables* (6 lines not included in this document) abba abba 6 voices: SSATTB, 2 Violins, Basso Continuo 1 2 3 4

Altri canti d’Amor, tenero arciero, i dolci vezzi e i sospirati baci, narri gli sdegni e le bramate paci quand’unise due alme un sol pensiero.

Let others sing of Love (Cupid), the tender archer, (let them sing of) the sweet charms and yearned-for kisses, let them narrate the resentments and the longed-for reconciliations, when one thought unites two souls.

5 6 7 8

Di Marte io canto furibondo e fiero i duri incontri e le battaglie audaci. strider le spade e bombeggiar le faci fo, nel mio canto bellicose e fiero.

I sing of Mars furious and fierce, (I sing of) the harsh encounters and bold battles. in my bellicose and fierce singing (song), I make the swords clash and the torches explode.

Table 1 Altri canti d’Amor

Part 2 (mm. 90-152)

Part 1 (mm. 1-89)

MM 1-36 1-8 9-14 15-23 23-28 29-30 31-36 36-59

Text/ Line 1 1 Interlude 1 1 Interlude 2

58-78

3

78-89 90-99

4 5

100-23

6

124-52

7&8

Texture Tenor Solo S1,S2 canon S,A,T canon tenero Imitation Upper 3 voices Imitation Upper 3 voices Homophonic All voices Homophonic -polyphonic -imitative -polyphonic -independents

Compositional Devices Triple time Repetition of text: tenero-descending 3 note melody arciero-lightness of 3 higher voices 4 note descending Ground Bass Word-painting “sigh”

Tonal Center d

d d

Meter change: to duple-triple-duple “Battle Charge” each line commences with a declamatory Bass solo -faster rhythms, stagnant declamatory vocal lines Bass Declamation -scalic 16th rhythms ascending & descending -triadic -Metric Shift at 120 to 6/4 -return to 4/4 -hocket -stile concitato in voices -scalic passages

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d D G C G D C G

The text of Altri canti d’Amor is the first eight lines of a fourteen-line sonnet by an anonymous poet contemporary with Monteverdi. The content and rhyme scheme (abba abba) indicate a simple division of two equal parts. In each half the poet refers to a mythical figure, in the first half Cupid (understood as the tender archer) represents the sentiment of love and contrasts with the second half in wherein the poet prefers to sing about Mars the god of war. The text is a typical Monteverdian choice, as he claims in the preface “that it is contrasts which move men’s minds.” Notice the contrasts of the speech sounds in the poem. In lines 1-4 the vowels of the words flow from [a/e] to[i] in almost every word. The consonants are also gentle and soft [n, m, s, ch, v]. In lines 5-8 the majority of words are multi-syllabic. Explosive consonants [b, d, c, sp] predominate and lend themselves to the angry emotion of war. The onomatopoeic sounds of battaglie, bombeggia, and bellicose make these consonants burst to aid in delivery of the war-like character.

The madrigal is clearly delineated into two equal sections paralleling the text.

The first section sets the first four lines of the poem and is the love theme. The entire first half is in D minor. The D minor tonal center is harmonically supported by a fourpitch descending ground bass. The triple meter gives it a dance-like feel. The texture of the first section is light and is scored for the upper three voices. It begins with a single tenor solo on Altri canti d’Amor (let others sing of love). The melodic line is lyrical and distinctive (see fig. 1).

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Figure 1. Altri canti d’Amor mm. 1-8.

The text of line 1, Altri canti d’Amor, tenero arciero (Let others sing about the tender archer Love), is repeated four times, first by the solo tenor, violins in canon, soprano 1 and soprano 2 in canon, and the fourth repeat adds tenor in canon. The repetition and canonic device results in a lingering on the sentiment of Altri canti d’Amor (Let others sing of love). This is an example of the love and war paradox, while the poet states his preference to sing of war the opposing sentiment, is given emphasis through repetition.

Again using repetition, a short descending, three-pitch, stepwise pattern distinguishes the melodic motive in the setting of the text in lines 2 and 3 (see fig. 2).

I dolci vezzi e i sospirati baci, Narri gli segni e le bramate paci (let them sing of) the sweet charms and yearned-for kisses, let them narrate the resentments and the longed-for reconciliations, Figure 2. Altri canti d’Amor mm. 31-36.

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The short motive lines up in various ways, causing dissonances, parallel thirds and cascading effects. The motive should be sung legato conveying the tenderness the text suggests. Monteverdi uses word painting to emulate the word sospirati (sigh). The syllables are separated by rests to give the effect of the singer sighing, or catching her breath (see fig. 3).

Figure 3. Altri canti d’Amor mm. 48-51.

The text of line 4, quand’unisce due alme un sol pensiero (when one thought unites two souls), introduces a change in meter and signals that section one is coming to an end. It is recommended that a duple measure equal a full triple measure, or proportio sesquialtera. Therefore the back and forth change from triple to duple draws attention to the prevailing unison D that coincides with the “when one thought unites two souls” (mm. 79-86).

The second half of the madrigal, like the text, brings an abrupt change. The bass declaims Di Marte io canto (Of war I sing) sounding like a military battle call, a call that will be heard again. The meter is now duple, and the harmony shifts from d minor to a static D major with text declaimed over active rhythms. The text of line 5 is again repeated on a G major chord. While the first half of the madrigal employed the top three voices (soprano, alto, tenor), now the lower voices are added, changing to a heavier, more war-like sound. More obvious is the rhythmic contrast from long held pitches in the first

38

half to the appearance of eighth and sixteenth note rhythms. The repeated sixteenth notes, employed in both voices and instruments are an example of stile concitato, and in this instance they depict the lover as warrior. The homophony signals a unified battle front and the phrases are clearly delineated with strong cadences and bass calls (see fig.

4).

Figure 4. Altri canti d’Amor mm. 95-97.

It is important for the conductor to make these measures rhythmically precise in a quick but controlled tempo, with clearly spoken text that will convey the correct character. For words that are repeated on a single pitch, the conductor should highlight words by accenting strong syllables which achieve the military, march-like spirit of this section.

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For line 6, I duri incontri e le battaglie audaci (I sing of the harsh encounters and bold battles), Monteverdi adds four motives (two are inversions) that need precise rendering. They appear independently in the vocal lines and are rhythmically active (see fig. 5).

Figure 5. Altri canti d’Amor mm. 107-8; mm. 111-12.

Joan Catoni Conlon speaks of the warring scenes: “In Altri canti d’amor scalar passages trace the trajectories of bombs hurled at the enemy; interrupted voice exchange simulates combative lunges; and rapid unison in triads send forth military trumpet calls.”70 This battling of voices is juxtaposed with stile concitato in the strings. The energy is maintained until a meter change to 6/4 that drives the repeated D major chord to a cadence on G major. Monteverdi uses a different triple sign to indicate a change to a

70

Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide (Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 2001), 208.

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much faster triple tempo to heighten the concluding description of the text in line 6, i duri incontri e le battaglie audaci (harsh encounters and bold battles).

After another battle call by the bass, the text of line 7 states Strider le spade e bombeggiar le faci (I make the swords clash and the torches explode). A compositional technique from the early Renaissance called hocket (alternation of notes between voices, so that one voice sounds while another voice rests) is used to depict the “striking of swords” and is carried on subsequently by the strings (see fig. 6).

Figure 6. Altri canti d’Amor mm. 126-27.

The text in line 8, fo nel mio canto bellicose e fiero (in my bellicose and fierce singing), continues with the same warring motives in closer overlap, and the vocal lines now negotiate octave leaps. All these heighten the concluding message of the poet’s warring emotions. The tonal structure for the second half of the madrigal is a classic example of Monteverdi’s use of sharp keys to depict the warrior state.

The recommended tempo for section one is slow and lyrical to draw out the undulating melodic lines. For section two a faster tempo is required, but use the sixteenth note as the basis for determining the tempo, as the text must be delivered clearly.

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2. Hor che’l ciel e la terra (1of 2) Petrarch Sonnet: first 8 lines of 11 syllables abba abba 6 voices: SSATTB, 2 Violins, Basso Continuo 1 2 3 4

Hor che’l ciel e la terra e ’l vento tace e le fere e gli augelli il sonno affrena Notte il carro stellato in giro mena e nel suo letto il mar senz’onda giace

Now that sky, earth and wind are silent And sleep immobilizes beasts and birds, While night circles in her starry chariot And the sea lies waveless in its bed,

5 6 7 8

Veglio, penso, ardo, piango e chi mi sface Sempre me’è innanzi per mia dolce pena.

Guerra è il mio stato, d’ira e di duol piena, e sol di lei pensando ho qualche pace.

I am awake, I think, I burn, I weep, and she that undoes me is always before me to my sweet sorrow.

War is my condition(is my state), full of anger and grief, And only when thinking of her do I find some peace.

Table 2 Hor che’l ciel e la terra (1of 2)

Part 2 mm.59-96

Part 1 mm. 1- 58

MM

Texture

Compositional Devices

Tonal Center

1-11 12-17 17-23

Text/ Line 1&2 3 4

Homophonic All voices

Stagnant to reflect calm no wind -no chord change

a E cadence to a D cadence to A

24-29

5

S2-T2 (4 voice) Homophonic

Phrygian cadence to A

30-44

5 &6

Tenor 1 & 2 duet -in 3rds, descending melodic line

Text separated by rests for emphasis Chord progression: circle of 5ths D-G-C-F-Bb Remaining voices punctuate with texts line 5 veglio, penso, ardo (cadential feelings) -diminished 4th in Bass line Reiteration of 5 & 6 War rhetoric: -dotted rhythm -rhythmically faster -triadic melodic lines Violins: stile concitato in imitation Contrast:Stasis:=Peace

G

War rhetoric: -all voices dotted rhythm & scalic melodic lines Contrast: Stasis:=Peace

Entirely on G chord

45-58

5&6

Homophonic (4 + 6voices) Bass Solo (declamatory

59-67

7

68-76

8

76-87

7

Homophonic (S,S2,A,T1) Imitative

88-96

8

Homophonic

42

A cadence to B G cadence to A

B

G Cad on E

The text of Hor che’l ciel e la terra comes from a collection of love poems called Il Canzoniere. All 366 sonnets were written for a woman known as Laura, who Petrarch saw at a distance and never actually met. Petrarch was the first poet to write about his emotions. Important characteristics of Petrarch’s poetic style are contained in this eightline poem. The theme of the poem is the speaker’s inner turmoil and the anguish caused by the woman who “undoes” him. To intensify the turmoil, he uses the technique of contrast. The opening four lines begin with the description of the silence and stillness of the world. Other contrasts include: inner feelings versus outside world, calm versus war, war versus peace, and sleep versus awake. Even though he is conflicted with the burning passion for his lover when he thinks of her, it is only when he does think of her does he find peace. In the second half of the poem, each line has its own emotive character (ardor, sorrow, anger, grief), and the emotional instability of the speaker is the basis for the musical contrasts that occur in the madrigal.

As in the previous madrigal, the poem falls into two equal halves. The first half is calm and still. The calm is depicted through homophonic harmonic stasis. The text in lines 1 and 2 remains on an a minor triad in low tessituras for all voices. The conductor should give attention to making this as legato as possible with appropriate word stress to convey the stillness of the text. The stillness is punctuated with rests and suspension to the cadence preceding the text in line 5.

In the text in line 5 Veglio, penso, ardo, piango e chi mi sface (I am awake, I think, I burn, I weep and she that undoes me), the speaker turns to his own feelings and the music reflects his emmerging emotional state, which is captured in all musical elements. The first four words of line 5 are declamatory, rhythmically short, rising

43

melodically and harmonized by a rising circle of fifths to conclude with emotive suspensions and cadence (see fig. 7). This depicts the surging of emotions of the speaker and the choir should change its intensity to reflect that now the speaker is focused on himself. The intensity of each declamation would be emphasized with an increase in dynamic.

Figure 7. Hor che’l ciel e la terra mm. 24-29.

Homophony gives way to a tenor duet for the second half of the text in line 5, e che mi sface (and she that undoes me). The conductor could give this section to soloists as some rubato would emphasize the growing anxiety of the speaker. During the duet the chorus punctuates with the verbs veglio, penso, ardo, piango (I am awake, I think, I burn, I weep). All voices repeat twice in homophony the text in lines 5b and 6, e che mi sface sempre m’è innanzi per mia dolce pena (and she that undoes me is always before me to my sweet sorrow) twice. The bass line melody is important as a tritone leads into an

44

unprepared dissonance to call attention to the word sface (undone) which is the climax of the phrase. Decisions regarding phrase direction, and speed of the cadence for this musical line should convey that the object of his love is the cause of his pain.

The final two lines of text signals another mood change as the speaker declares that his mind is in a state of war. The declamation is given by the bass and this provides another opportunity for a soloist. There is harmonic disjunction as G major replaces A major and, as noted in Chapter 1, G major represents a warlike state. The next portion requires serious and menacingly dramatic singing as the voices depict a battle. The numerous repetitions of the word guerra (war) are onomatopoeic; therefore the singers need a solid hard [g] over a militaristic precisely dotted eighth. The battle scene is comprised of four contrasting motives (see figs.8-11).

Figure 8. Hor che’l ciel e la terra mm.61-63.

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Figure 9. Hor che’l ciel e la terra mm. 62-64.

Figure 10. Hor che’l ciel e la terra mm. 65-67.

Figure11. Hor che’l ciel e la terra mm. 65-66.

The music in Figure 8 is the most prominent and is in stile concitato. Massimo Ossi calls the rising and falling effect of these measures the “galloping horses.”71 The conductor should make sure that the dotted eighth is precise and does not turn into a triplet. Figures 9 and 10 require clear diction with a crisp articulation. Figure 11 is more effective when notes are detached. All the motives are interspersed throughout all the voices in imitation, creating a mesmerizing effect. The conductor should give each

71

Massimo Ossi, Divining the Oracle—Monteverdi’s Seconda Prattica (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003), 172.

46

motive a distinctive articulation and character to make the war scene sound fierce without sounding chaotic.

The text in line 7 comes to an abrupt stop, and here Monteverdi uses silence to great effect as the final text in line 8, e sol di lei pensando ho qualche pace (and only when I think of her do I find some peace) changes from a warring state of mind to a peaceful one. Line 8 is treated with homophony and slower rhythms and longer, expressive cadences. The peaceful contrast would be enhanced with piano dynamics and a legato line. The war and peace section is repeated once more for dramatic emphasis.

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3. Così sol d’un chiara fonte viva (2 of 2) Petrarch Sonnet: last 6 lines of 11 syllables Rhyme scheme: abcabc 6 Voices: SSATTB, 2 Violins, Basso Continuo 1 2 3 4 5 6

Così sol d’una chiara fonte viva move il dolce e l’amaro ond’io mi pasco.

Una man sola mi risana e punge.

E, perche il mio martir non giunga a riva, mille volte il di moro e mille nasco, tanto dalla salute mia son lunge.

Thus from a single, clear living spring (fountain) comes sweet and bitter from which I feed.

One hand alone heals me and pierces me.

And so that my suffering may not reach shore (not end) a thousand times a day I die, and a thousand I am born, so far am I from my salvation.

Table 3 Così sol d’un chiara fonte viva (2 of 2)

Part 2 (mm.34-83)

Part 1 (mm. 1-33)

MM

Texture

Compositional Devices

1-7 6-10

Text/ Line 1&2 1& 2

Tenor Solo Imitative

11-13

1

Homophonic

Descending vocal line Descending melody paired With rising chromatic bass line Melody from tenor solo

13-28 28-30

2&3 3

31-33 34-61

4 5

Imitative (all rising chromatic) Homophonic All Voices Homophonic (SSA) -Series of vocal duets of varied combinations of voices, -interrupted by declamations of moro all voices Tenor 2 Solo Homophonic: full chorus

62-72 73-83

6 6

Tonal Center G Cadence to C

Chromatic rising bass line: (a-a)

Word painting: repetition of mille -quicker rhythms, contrasted by moro.

Word painting: melisma on lunge Word painting: lunge Horizontal: melisma Vertical: wide ranges

Cadence to A C C G e A

Così sol d’ua chiara fonte viva is the second part of the madrigal Hor ch’el ciel e la terra and the text is the final six lines from the sonnet. Così continues to pit contrasting emotions against each other: sweet versus bitter, healing versus piercing, and dying versus being born. Petrarch uses the metaphor of a stream to representing the

48

source of his love, a love that flows, a love that is simultaneously bitter and sweet. His also depicts his unrequited love with images of distance and separation by lamenting his suffering will never reach the shore, and he is far from his salvation. Finally, an essential Petrarchism is hyperbole. The quantity of his turmoil occurs thousands of times each day. These poetic devices all help to evoke the agony of his love.

The overall character of Cosi sol d’una chiara fonte is one of extremes and is depicted in the extremely high and low ranges for sopranos, tenors, and basses. As a result of the expanded ranges of the individual voices, the overall range of the madrigal between the outermost voices (soprano and bass) extends to three and one half octaves.

This expansive range occurs at the end of the madrigal, with the climax and text-painting on the word lunge (distant) as an eight measure melisma. Conlon notes “Singing this madrigal is like singing the 17th century equivalent of grand opera.”72 As in Hor ch’el ciel, Monteverdi has organized the second part of the sonnet Così sol d’ua chiara fonte into two sections, delineating them by tonal centre. The first half is in E minor, and the second half moves to A major. The preceding madrigal Hor che ‘l ciel, begins in A minor and moves to E major, showing an overall unification and symmetry with key areas and major-minor contrasts.

The first two lines of poetry are set to simple, yet distinctive, melodic lines. Così sol d’una chiara fonte viva (thus from a single, clear living fountain) is a simple descending line. Rhythmically it matches the stress of the spoken word. An imbedded dotted rhythm makes it readily identifiable. A tenor soloist would be suitable for the opening line (see fig. 12).

72

Conlon, Performing Monteverdi, 219.

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Figure 12. Così sol d’un chiara fonte viva mm.1-3.

This melody appears contrapuntally in the string obbligato, it is reiterated in subsequent voice parts, and finally declaimed homophonically in its final rendition.

That melody is paired with the setting of the second line move il dolce e l’amaro ond’io mi pasco (moves sweet and bitter from which I feed). This subtly contrasting melodic line is an ascending chromatic line that depicts the water arising out of a natural fountain as well as the increasing emotional anguish of the poet (see fig. 13).

Figure13. Cosi sol d’un chiara fonte viva mm. 7-10.

The rising chromatic line provides the harmonic foundation in the next fourteen measures. Besides appearing as a structural harmonic anchor in the continuo, it is passed around through various voices in imitation. Simultaneously, the text in line 3, una man sola mi risana e punge (one hand alone heals me and pierces me), is introduced, its melodic line passed around through various voices in counterpoint. Monteverdi has crafted a restrained yet persistent wash of color from the vocal lines and a sense of rising up through chromatic harmonies ending in E major.

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Figure 14. Cosi sol d’un chiara fonte viva mm. 20-25.

The text of line three is reiterated, this time in a homophonic declamation. However, the homophonic passage begins on a C major chord, a juxtaposition following from the

51

previous E major cadence. This abrupt change heightens the climactic impression as the phrase cadences on A major (mm. 28-30).

The second half of the madrigal begins with the text in line 5, mille volte il di moro e mille nasco (a thousand times a day I die and a thousand I am born). A new musical character is evident, featuring a fine example of text painting. The hyperbole of mille volte il di moro e mille nasco is realized in the constant repetition of mille (thousand) to represent the numerical metaphor. Again, Monteverdi maintains textural interest by scattering these repetitions throughout the various voices as well as various voice combinations. The violins add to the hyperbole by simultaneously having their own dialogue. The rhythmic energy is developed through a constant eighth note melodic line. Each vocal line should have the same articulation for the delivery, and varied dynamics will add further interest. After seven measures the rhythmic tempo is abruptly stopped on the word moro (death), and the voices sing in their lowest ranges, on a suspension and cadence. The stopping of the line on the word moro occurs twice (mm.

41-42 and 54-56) and would be enhanced by a subito piano dynamic.

The conclusion of the madrigal is the most beautiful of all. The tenors introduce the text in line 6, tanto dalla salute mia son lunge (So far am I from my salvation).

Immediately noticeable is the character of the melodic line. It begins on a single, static pitch, gives way to a leap of a tenth, and the lunge (long) is painted with the descending melisma. This final gesture completes an e minor scale encompassing a vocal range of a twelfth (see fig. 15).

Figure 15. Cosi sol d’un chiara fonte viva mm. 63-73.

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The voices complete the madrigal by continuing to portray this metaphor of a great distance and endless longing. Monteverdi has extended the ranges of the individual voices, stretching the outermost range of the aggregate voices to three and one half octaves, a compositional technique that according to Conlon was not used until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.73 The long phrase builds in intensity through a flow of suspensions to peak on the final cadence. The conductor should begin the phrase tanto dalla salute mia (so far am I from my salvation) on a piano dynamic, and with a sense of calmness. Then, on son lunge (literally: long) the dynamic can crescendo evenly along the remainder of the phrase. There is little doubt this ending is one of the most dramatic conclusions to a madrigal in this period.

73

Conlon, Performing Monteverdi, 209.

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4. Ardo, avvampo Anonymous Sonnet 14 lines of 11 syllables; abba abba ababab 8 Voices: SSAATTBB, 2 Violins, Basso Continuo 1 2 3 4

Ardo, avvampo, mi struggo, ardo: accorrete, vicini, amici, all’infiammato loco; al ladro, al ladro, al tradimento, al foco!

Scale, accette, martelli, acqua prendete,

I burn, I blaze, I am consumed, I burn: come running, Neighbors and friends, to the site of the blaze— Stop, thief! Stop, thief! Treachery! Fire!

Take ladders, hatchets, hammers, water—

5 6 7 8

e voi, torri sacrate, anco tacete?

Su bronzi, su, ch’io dal gridar son roco, dite il periglio altrui non lieve o poco, e degl’incendi miei pieta chiedete

And you, church towers, are you still silent?

Come, bells, come for I am hoarse with shouting, Proclaim this peril, not slight or small, to others, And request pity for my fires.

9 10 11 12 13 14

Son due belli occhi il ladro, e seco Amore L’incendiario che l’inique faci dentro la rocca m’avventò del core.

Ecco i rimedi omai vani e fallaci.

Mi dice ogn’un, “Per sì beato ardore lascia che ‘l cor s’incinerisca e taci.”

Two beautiful eyes are the thief and, with them, Love is the arsonist who hurled the evil torches inside the citadel of my heart.

By now all cure is in vain and deceptive.

Everyone tells me, “Such burning is so blissful, leave your heart to burn to ashes, and be silent.”

Stanza 3 mm. 91145

Stanza 2 mm. 54-90

Stanza 1 mm. 1-53

Table 4 Ardo, avvampo MM

Text

Texture

Compositional

1-28

1 &2

27-38

3

Double canon: T1 & T2 S1 & S2 SATB + SATB thick

¾ (in one) No harmonic change: melody triadic 2 part canon at 3 mm.

38-48

4

SATB + SATB thick

48-53

acqua

54-61

5

2 part canon All over a G major chord Repetition stile concitato all on one pitch 2 part canon

61-75

6

74-84

7

85-90

8

91-100

9-11

S1 & S2 begin followed by other voice pairings

101-09 110-13 114-45

12 13 13-14

imitation Homophonic all voices Independent parts, imitation Text overlay Tenor 1 & 2 duet last phrase

SATB + SATB thick SATB + SATB thick Voice pairings thick Recit-like

G-D Cadence to G G G C

2 part canon

A

4 part canon at

D

Meter change to 4/4 – slower tempo g minor on pieta Vocal lines more melodic Greater variance in Harmony, Active bass line (quasi walking bass) vani (vain) motive

G

30+ measures of final 2 lines giving counsel to poet

54

Tonal Center G

C C C G

In the opening two stanzas of the sonnet Ardo avvampo the speaker is sounding an alarm to put out the fire in his heart. The mood of the text is urgency bordering on panic.

The poet calls for items necessary for putting out a real Renaissance fire: ladders, hatchets, hammers and water. He also elicits the help of the church bells to announce the peril and for pity. The final stanza proclaims the cause of the fire, Love, which the poet has succumbed through looking at the two beautiful eyes. The poetic imagery is vivid, and the performing of this madrigal needs to be emphatic and energized.

The urgency of the opening stanza is an excellent example of Monteverdi’s genius at musically portraying mood. In triple meter and in imitation of one measure the tenors repeat the text ardo, avvampo (I burn, I blaze). The sopranos add to the building of urgency in measure 11 to form a double canon. While there is text, meter, and rhythmic energy, it is all over a single G major chord.

The conductor should ensure that the choir

executes accurate word stress that Monteverdi has already constructed in the music.

Full voices enter on the text in line 3 al ladro al tradimento, al foco (thief, traitor, fire, stop!) continuing in imitation in double choir formation (SATB/SATB). Now there is a harmonic rhythm of G major to D major returning to a static G major on the text in line 4 Scale, accette, martelli, (take ladders, hatchets, hammers), with a constant quarter note rhythm in triple meter. The final tool for putting out fire acqua (water), “contains four measures of rare vocal stile concitato where singers sing acqua which is difficult to sing clearly and quickly (see fig. 16). This stile concitato does not imitate tragic anger, but instead depicts the lover as warrior and his intense loving passions.�74

74

Conlon, Performing Monteverdi, 214.

55

Figure 16. Ardo avvampo mm. 48-51.

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Stanza 2 (lines 5-7) continues in the same imitative fashion as the text in lines 3 and 4, with the text in line 5, e voi, torri sacrate, anco tacete? (And you, church towers, are you still silent?) in C major, the text in line 6, Su bronzi, su, ch’io dal gridar son roco (Come, bells, come for I am hoarse with shouting) in A major, and the text in line 7, dite il periglio altrui non lieve o poco ( Proclaim this peril, not slight or small, to others) in D major. The conductor should be aware that each line of text is represented by a new tonal center, moving from C to A to D, this is an important shift, using sharp keys to represent agitation.75 The tempo for the triple meter in Ardo Avvampo should be quick and felt in one beat to a measure. The fastest tempo should be used but determined by how quickly the choir can distinctly articulate the stile concitato word repetitions of acqua. It should not sound frantic.

The text in line 8, e degl’incendi miei pieta chiedete (and request pity for my fires) is now in duple meter. The quarter note should equal the dotted whole note from the previous triple meter. The effect is a slower, more thoughtful mood that reflects the text. While the phrase is in G major, note that a G minor chord is given to the the word pieta (sorrow), another example of word painting.

The final stanza brings another immediate contrast as the poet reveals the arsonist.

The vocal lines are more melodic and independent. In the text in line 9, Son due belli occhi il ladro, (Two beautiful eyes are the thief), the culprit’s eyes have lured the victim.

Monteverdi now represents these two eyes by pairing of vocal lines, beginning with the text in line 9 (see fig. 17).

75

Eric Chafe, Monteverdi’s Tonal Language (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 260.

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Figure 17. Ardo avvampo mm. 91-93.

The arsonist, is also given a beautifully embellished line, with a melisma on l’incendiario (see fig. 18).

The text in line 12 Ecco i rimedi omai vani e fallaci (By now all cure is in vain and deceptive), reveals that the situation for the victim is hopeless. Monteverdi chooses to emphasize the word vani (vain). It is given attention through repetition and melisma (see fig. 19).

Figure 18. Ardo avvampo mm. 94-98.

Figure 19. Ardo avvampo mm. 101-5.

After several repetitions of the phrase in imitation (mm.101-7), the melodic fragment on the word vani (vain) repeated for three measures, further reiterating the doomed fate of the victim. The conductor should determine how these beautifully crafted utterances 58

would best be articulated. As well, as a complimentary dynamic plan will enhance the emotional import of the musical depiction.

Finally, there is a moral given to the forlorn lover. The text beginning in line 13, Mi dice ogn’un (Everyone tells me), begins with a unified statement of homophony for all voices (mm.110-11), then follows the advice “Per sì beato ardore lascia che ‘l cor s’incinerisca e taci” (“Such burning is so blissful, leave your heart to burn to ashes and be silent”). For almost thirty measures, this text is woven through a variety of very simple melodic lines. The independence and overlapping of melodic phrases create a constant wave of dissonance and consonance. All these vocal lines are set over a quasi walking bass that gives harmonic impetus to the entire section. The energy builds up to the penultimate homophonic voicing of the word lascia (imperatively “leave”) repeated four times (mm.138-39). Then the final line, “lascia che ‘l cor s’incinerisca e taci” (“leave your heart to burn to ashes, and be silent”), is given to the tenors in canon (see fig. 20).

Figure 20. Ardo avvampo mm. 140-145.

If measures 138-39 (lascia) are given a crescendo to forte and the tenors sing subito piano, a powerful effect will bring this madrigal to a dramatic close.

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Canti Amorosi (Songs of Love) 5. Altri canti di Marte (1 of 2) Gian Battista Marino Sonnet, 8 lines of 11 syllables; rhyme scheme: abba abba 6 Voices: SSATTB, 2 Violins, Basso Continuo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Altri canti di Marte e di sua schiera, gli arditi assalti e l’honorate imprese le sanguigne vittorie e le contese, i trionfi di morte horrida e fera.

Io canto, Amor, di questa tua guerriera, quant’hebbi a sostener mortali offese, com’un guardo mi vinse, un crin mi prese. historia miserabile ma vera!

Let others sing of the daring assaults and honorable undertakings of Mars and his troops, (their) bloody victories and contests, the triumphs of horrible and fierce death.

I sing, Love, of this warrior maiden of yours, How many mortal injuries I had to sustain, how a glance conquered me, one lock of hair captured me.

A sad story, but true!

Table 5 Altri canti di Marte

Part 2 (mm 72-132)

Part 1 (mm 1-71)

MM

28-59

Text/ Texture Line 1 homophonic 2 Imitative, 6 voice 3 homophonic

60-71

4

homophonic

72-93

5

Imitative

84100

6

10023 124132

1-6 6-27

Compositional Devices Static harmony chant-like Text repeated 3 times, melodic lines triadic

Tonal Center G D-A-D D

Overlapping of themes of 5 & 6

Meter change to ¾, text is divided, repeated 3 times with short instrumental interludes -static lines Return to 4/4 harmonic rhythm pattern of DG Low tessitura Walking bass supports word painting of text Identifiable melodic theme Harmonically more active than Part 1 Rhythmically more interesting in contrast with part 1 Walking bass line

7

Imitation 6 voices

Word painting, independent vocal lines Walking bass of interlocking 3rds

8

Homophony

Slower rhythms

G-C cadence on A a cadence on C

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G G

G cadence on A

Just as Altri canti d’amor (Let others sing of love) began the Canti Guerrieri (Songs of War), the parallel madrigal Altri Canti di Marte e di sua schiara (Let others sing of Mars) begins the second section of Book 8 as Canti Amorosi (Songs of Love).

This madrigal is paired with Due belli occhi (Two beautiful eyes). The poet for these two paired madrigals is Giani Battista Marino, a contemporary of Monteverdi. Conlon remarks “Monteverdi’s admiration for Marino, whose verse provided the opposite of thoughtful meditation or depth of passion doubtless sprang from a genuine respect for the poet’s technical ability to startle and to create a verbal sensation.”76 The first eight lines of the sonnet serve as the material for Altri Canti d’Marte.

Like its partnered madrigal, the text material divides in half and the madrigal falls into two distinctive sections. The first four lines of text have the speaker state that others may sing of all the various aspects of war. The last four lines speak about the poet’s suffering from the warrior maiden and all the injuries from being captured and conquered at the simple glance of the young woman.

The text line 1, Altri canti di Marte e di sua schiera (Let other sing of the daring assaults), opens in a strong duple meter creating a rhythmic energy and the appropriate rhetoric of marching to battle in G major. Other rhetorical gestures that represent battle are triadic melodic lines. Particularly noticeable from the outset of Altri Canti d’Marte is the harmonic stasis. The opening thirteen measures remain on a G major triad with a cadence to D major. This static pattern continues in D major, and then to A major.

These are the only three chords that are rendered for the first half of the madrigal, and there is no dissonance. Only a change to triple meter provides some contrast to the harmonic saturation occurring on the text in line 3, le sanguine vittorie e le contese (their 76

Joan Conlon, Performing Monteverdi, 45.

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bloody victories and contests). Line 3 is repeated several times for emphasis, separated with short interludes from the obbligato violins. Contrasting dynamics would provide interest to the text and give a sense of phrasal direction over the static harmony. The stasis provides anticipation for the contrast that follows.

The second half begins with the text in line 5 where the poet proclaims Io canto d’amor (I sing of love). In contrast to the first half, the vocal parts are more independent and imitative and vary in length. Harmonically, the second half is more active as well.

The walking bass line gives great support to the voice parts and keeps the direction of the vocal lines moving forward.

The voice-pairings of sopranos and basses are treated as a musical representation of the lovers. The word painting on the word canto (I sing) set to a lively melismatic melody (see fig. 21).

Figure 21. Altri Canti di Marte mm. 72-75.

The love/war paradox continues as the poet refers to his lover as a guerriera (warrior maiden). The poet has been injured by the warrior maiden’s “weapons” that are her glance and her hair (text line 7). The mortali offese (mortal injuries) is a descending triad (see fig. 22) and the io canto (I sing) is melismatic (see fig. 23).

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Figure 22. Altri Canti di Marte mm. 84-87.

Figure 23. Altri Canti di Marte mm. 84-86.

The descending minor triadic melody is sung in imitation by the treble voices beginning in short motivic sequences that merge into one long continuous pattern of suspensions.

Monteverdi simultaneously combines motives of the Io canto (I sing) and mortali offese (mortal injuries), the Io canto is in the lower voices and the mortali offese is in the higher voices, offering a contrast in vocal texture and suggesting male versus portraying man versus woman. The stratification of distinct melodic lines keeps the dramatic energy moving. The conductor should give careful attention to balancing these vocal lines so the two contrasting motives have equal dynamics.

The drama continues when the basses repeat the text in line 5 to a new melody lying in the outermost regions of the bass vocal range. The grandiloquence of this melodic line communicates a sense of pride at being the victim of the enemy, love (see fig. 24).

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Figure 24. Altri Canti di Marte mm. 90-96.

Another effective example of word-painting occurs in the text in line 7, com’un guardo mi vinse, un crin mi prese (a lock of hair). Monteverdi vividly depicts the warrior maiden’s most fetching weapon with an arsenal of techniques. The melody of un crin mi prese (lock of hair) is a cascading melisma. The melody is performed in imitation by four voices (alto, tenor one, tenor two, bass), forming descending triadic harmonies (see fig. 25). All this is supported by the continuo playing descending interlocking thirds.

Furthermore, the importance that Monteverdi applied to this line is significant, as he devotes twenty-three measures of music to this single line of poetry. Inserted within this section is another example of word-painting, on the word un crin (one lock). These can be treated like little sparks, using the explosive unvoiced consonant to contrast with the melismatic flowing hair (see fig. 26).

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Figure 25. Altri Canti di Marte mm. 103-7.

Figure 26. Altri Canti di Marte mm. 119-20.

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For the final text in line 8, all the voices unite in homophony for the conclusion announcing that this is a historia miserabile ma vera! (A sad story but true!) The delivery of this should be solemn and serious.

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6. Due belli occhi (2 of 2) Gian Battista Marino Sonnet 6 lines of 11 syllables rhyme scheme ababab 6 Voices: SSATTB, 2 Violins, Basso Continuo 1 2 3 4 5 6

Due belli occhi fur l’armi onde traffitta giacque, e di sangue invece amaro pianto sparse lunga stagion l’anima afflitta.

Tu per lo cui valor la palma e ‘l vanto hebbe di me la mia nemica invitta, se desti morte al cor, dà vita al canto.

Two eyes were the arms by which my afflicted soul lay pierced, and instead of blood it shed bitter tears for a long time.

You (Love), through whose valor my invincible enemy had the palm (victory) and the boast from me, If you awaken death in my heart, give life to my song.

Table 6 Due belli occhi MM

Part 2

Part 1

1-11

Text/ Texture Line 1 Voice pairing T1/B, S1/S2, A/T2

11-12

3b

T1/T2

13-22

2

Text overlapping, imitation

22-23 24-29

30-34

3B T1/T2 2B & 3 voice: T1/T2/B 3A homophonic 2 voice: S1/S2 1 voice: B 3b 6 voice: homophonic

35-53

4-6

Bass Solo

54-61 62-91

4-5 6

SSATTB Imitation, various voice pairings, Motive passed through voices

67

Compositional Devices Paired voices = 2 eyes All over 3.5 measure ground bass L’anima afflita (afflicted soul) Is interpolated into the music as a“sigh” Bass line descending scale on C “sigh”

Extended sigh: repetition and long cadence Operatic: melismas, musical line Homophonic Motive, imitation.

Canto--melisma

Tonal Center C A C A C

A C Cadence on A G D-d-D Cadence on G

Due belli occhi (two beautiful eyes) is the final six lines of the sonnet by Marino which follows the previous madrigal Altri canti di Marte. Therefore, the theme of lover as conqueror is continued. The metaphors used in the six lines are powerful tools to communicate the condition of the lover. The two beautiful eyes are the maiden warrior’s weapons, the victim’s soul is pierced, and instead of blood, bitter tears flow. The lover evokes compelling language as the conquered lover in the text in line 5, la mia nemica invitta (my invincible enemy), who wins the battle.

Structurally the madrigal is divided into two parts. In the middle, a virtuosic bass solo is featured and he sings of how the invincible enemy, love, has conquered his heart.

He pleads to his captor to da vita al canto (give life to my song).

The madrigal opens with paired voices, symbolizing the two eyes and the two lovers (see fig. 27). Violins play the same melodic lines in canon for the third time while the singers move to the next line of text. The opening melodic line requires rhythmic preciseness, and the conductor should determine consistent phrasing for each repetition .

Figure 27. Due belli occhi mm. 1-4.

The following lines are treated to shorter motives with various voices woven in counterpoint, thus creating a spatter of vocal sounds and a passing from voice to voice. A foundation to these motives is created by a descending bass line acting as a ground bass.

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This provides harmonic stability and coherence for the first three text lines of the madrigal.

Following the bass solo, the final half of the madrigal begins with a homophonic passage, in sharp contrast to the contrapuntal opening. The text in lines 4 and 5 is treated succinctly in declamatory homophony. This gives way to the final phrase of the text in line 6, dĂ vita al canto (give life to my song), and the motive introduced in the bass solo becomes the theme driving to the end of the madrigal (see fig 28). The motive appears multiple times: in canon, paired in thirds, and juxtaposed against other material. The mode is minor in D, but the final climax shifts to D major ending on a G major triad.

The effect portrayed is that life is indeed being given to the lover’s song. The result is that the text in line 6, se deste morte al cor, dà vita al canto (if you awaken death in my heart, give life to my song), is expanded musically over thirty measures of music, further emphasizing an importance to the concluding message of the madrigal. While it is important for the conductor to bring out the main motive, it is also important to give a character to the supporting motive (see fig. 29).

Figure 28. Due belli occhi mm. 64-65.

Figure 29. Due belli occhi m. 69-70.

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7. Vago augelletto Petrarch text:, 8 Lines of 11 syllables: rhyme scheme abba abba 6 and 7 Voices: SSATTTB, 2 Violins, Basso Continuo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Vago augelletto che cantando vai ovver piangendo il tuo tempo passato vedendoti la notte e ‘l verno a lato e ‘l dì dopo le spalle e i mesi gai, se come i tuoi gravosi affanni sai così sapessi il mio simile stato, verresti in grembo a questo sconsolato a partir seco i dolorosa guai.

Lovely little bird, you who go singing Rather weeping (about) your past life (time) Seeing that night and winter are beside you and the day and merry months are behind you, if, as you know your grievous troubles, you were thus to know my similar state, you would come to the heart of this disconsolate one, to share with him his sorrowful sufferings.

Table 7 Vago augelletto MM 1-14

Text/ Line 1

14-18

2

18-25

2&3

repeated as a melody with line 3 various voice groupings

Dotted rhythm

25-28

2

Homophonic, full chorus

Slower rhythm

29-32 33-37 37-39

2&3 4&3 1

Same melody as previous but homophonic Homophonic Bass solo

Dotted rhythm Slower rhythms

39-50

3&4

Homophonic all voices

Dotted rhythm Slower rhythm

a

50-64

1

Ritornello

C

64-74 75-78

5&6 1

Text repeated 3 times: 1. Soprano solo 2. Bass solo 3. Full chorus-homophonic Tenor 2 Tenor 2

Dotted rhythm

a-e C

78-81 82-86 86-94 94-91 101-110

5 6 7&8

Homophonic all voices Homophonic all voices Tenor Full Text repeated 3 times: 1. Soprano 1 & 2 2. Bass solo 3. Full chorus-homophonic

Slower rhythms Dotted rhythms

1

Texture

Compositional Devices

Text repeated 3 times: 1. Soprano solo 2. Bass solo 3. Full chorus-homophonic Homophonic full chorus

Ritornello

70

Slower rhythms

Ritornello

Ritornello

Ritornello

Tonal Center C

a cadence on E

D a-e C

a D-A A A C

Vago augelletto is a poem by Petrarch. In keeping with the Petrarchan theme of rejection and unattainable love, the speaker listens to the bird’s song and finds a kindred spirit. The bird’s song has given a musical voice to his sadness and gives him solace.

The music for this enchanting madrigal is set as a ritornello using the text in line 1, Vago augelletto che cantando vai (Lovely little bird, you who go singing), as the ritornello. The melody is in a style similar to a French chanson whereby the melodic line is mostly syllabic, comprised of a pattern of skips and steps, and within a range of a fifth (see fig. 30).

Figure 30. Vago augelletto mm. 1-4.

The ritornello appears five times within the madrigal and frames the madrigal in the opening and close. Three renditions of the ritornello follow the French air de cour wherein a soloist introduces the melody accompanied only by basso continuo, immediately followed by a sung harmonization by the choir. In Vago augelletto, the melody is introduced by the soprano, followed by a bass, followed by the choir.

The remaining texts are set to contrasting material. The rhythm slows before and after each ritornello. The first appearance of such a contrast is in the text in line 2, ovver piangendo (rather weeping), where the slower, homophonic sections appear with sadder sentiments in the text (see fig. 31).

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Figure 31. Vago augelletto mm.14-18.

Another distinctive contrast to the ritornello and slower moving sections is melodic material that is still simple but uses a dotted figure (see fig. 32). It is used throughout the madrigal and fits the natural rhythmic patterns of the text.

Figure 32. Vago augelletto mm. 23-25.

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Monteverdi anchors the ritornello form by always stating the ritornello theme in C major. The episodes are in A minor or A major. Eric Chafe notes that by book 8, Monteverdi us of C/a relationships “figure prominently.”77 He also says The a-minor episodes of the ABACA’ form deal respectively with the lover’s speculation that the bird’s song expresses its own torments (lines 2-4) and with the lover’s turning to his own sad condition, ending with a plea for the bird to fly to his breast as two souls in distress (lines 5-8). The episodes, as we might expect, are contrasted in character to the line that symbolizes the bird song. Yet even within each of these sections Monteverdi brings back the opening line, in C.78 Due to the repetition the charm of Vago augelletto may be lost if there are no variations in dynamics. The conductor should plan a dynamic structure that brings out the story and the communication between the poet and the bird.

77 78

Eric Chafe, Monteverdi’s Harmonic Language, 257.

Eric Chafe, Monteverdi’s Harmonic Language, 257.

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8. Dolcissimo uscignolo Giovanni Battista Guarini Madrigal 18 9 Lines of rhyming couplets (not including line 1) 5 Voice SSATB; Basso Continuo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Dolcissimo uscignolo, tu chiami la tua cara compagnia cantando: “Vieni, vieni, anima mia!”

A me canto non vale e non ho come tu da volar ale.

O felice augelletto, come nel tuo diletto ti ricompensa ben l’alma natura: se ti negò saper, ti diè ventura.

Sweetest nightingale, you call to your dear companion singing: “Come, come, my soul!”

To me song is of no avail Nor do I have wings to fly like you.

O happy bird, how for your delight kindly Nature compensates you well: if she denied you knowledge, she gave you good fortune.

Table 8 Dolcissimo uscignolo A (mm1-39) Tonal Center d cadence on F 1 2-3

S1 solo –full chorus harmonization Homophonic SSAT

B (mm 40-59) Tonal Center a cadence on C 6

S1/S2 duet –full chorus harmonization

7-9 Homophonic SSATB 4

6

B (mm 60-77) Tonal Center a cadence on C Codetta: g cadence on D S1/S2 duet –full chorus harmonization

7-9 Homophonic SSATB

Sop Solo –full chorus harmonization 9b

5-7

Homophonic SSATB

Codetta Homophonic SSATB

Dolcissimo uscignolo and the final madrigal Chi vol haver are unique among the other madrigals discussed. Monteverdi subtitles these “a 5 voci, cantato a voce piena, alla francese” (“for 5 voices, sung with full voice, in the French style”). Tomlinson, Carter and Conlon note that the term alla francese refers to the air de cour style where a solo voice introduces the melody, accompanied by a single instrument. Carter states: His 1607 publication of the Scherzi musicali a tre voci suggests in its introduction that he brought a musical style alla francese to Italy from the North in 1599.

Some historians have even tied Monteverdi's "French" style to Baïf's academic 74

and text-driven musique mensurée a l'antique. It seems more likely, however, that the composer merely intended to imitate French styles of singing: two pieces in his eighth book of madrigals instruct the performers to sing "with a full voice, in the French manner." Both of the madrigals, and the Confitebor tibi III, feature similar contrasts of vocal textures. 79 Monteverdi chose texts by his long-term colleague Guarini, and although Guarini was known for his wit and colorful imagery, Dolcissimo uscignolo has a winsome and simple tender charm. The poem itself speaks to the nightingale a songbird known as a symbol of love and longing.

The madrigal is set in ABB form, with the first seven lines of poetry forming the A section. The soprano has a lyrical melody with a melisma on the final two syllables of uscignolo (nightingale) (see fig 33).

Figure 33. Dolcissimo uscignolo mm. 1-5.

When the other voices enter, the texture is predominantly homophonic, with the soprano having a slightly more ornamented vocal line. The soprano line is meant to be supported by the other voices. In section A the phrases are shorter and cadences are clearly marked, and as such each phrase should be shaped with an understanding of the

79

Carter, Tim & Chew, Jeffrey, “Monteverdi, Claudio” In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/44352p2 (accessed June 28, 2011).

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text. There are lots of opportunities to use a varying dynamic palette to increase the expressivity.

In the B section the mode changes from d minor to a minor. The text O felice (O happy) is repeated four times and the voices layer (see fig. 34). A slight separation between the first three O felice (O happy), will add emphasis to the emotional happiness being conveyed. At the conclusion of the second B section, a short codetta, completes the madrigal.

The success of this madrigal is achieved by singing with a lightness and sweetness with the ensemble listening carefully to the nuance of the melody and taking care to be precise with articulations. In addition, the conductor should be aware of balance between the basso continuo and soloist. A light accompaniment is all that is required.

Figure 34. Dolcissimo uscignolo mm. 40-44.

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9. Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core Giovanni Battista Guarini Madrigal 99 10 lines of rhyming couplets 5 Voices: SSATB, Basso Continuo Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core non segua il crudo Amore, quel lusinghier ch’ancide quando più scherza e ride, ma tema di beltà, di leggiadria l’aura fallace e ria.

Al pregar non risponda, alla promessa non creda, e se s’appressa, fugga pur, che baleno è quel ch’alletta, nè mai balena Amor se non saetta

Whoever wishes to have a happy, joyful heart, let him not be a follower of cruel Love, that flatterer who kills when most he jokes and laughs; but let him fear the deluding, wicked aura of beauty, of comeliness.

Let him not reply to its entreaties, in its promises let him not believe, and if it comes near let him surely flee, for that allurement is a lightning flash, and Love never sends the lightning without the thunderbolt.

Table 9 Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core

Part 1

MM

Part 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Texture

Compositional Devices

Tonal Center

1-7 8-14

Text/ Line 1&2 1&2

Soprano solo SSAT

Duple Repeat solo melody with harmonization

C C

15-16 17-18

3 3

Soprano solo S2ATB

19-20 21-22

4 4

Soprano solo S2ATB

23-28 29-31

5 6

SSATB SSATB

32-35

7

SSATB

35-37 37-45 46-56

8 9-10 9-10

SSATB Soprano solo SSATB

Repeat solo melody with harmonization Repeat solo melody with harmonization Triple meter Duple

Repeat solo melody with harmonization

C cadence on E C cadence on E C C cadence on A C cadence on A C C C

Che vol haver is in the same style as Dolcissimo usignolo, and therefore many of the comments from Dolcissimo usignolo apply here. However, the text has a more serious message. Love is personified as a cruel person, who flatters, then kills, jokes, and 77

laughs, and uses beauty to trick his enemy. The poet asserts that to remain happy, one must flee from love.

In duple time, the sixteenth notes add a sense of melodic embellishment and are an important part of the air de cour quality (see fig. 35). A change in meter from duple to triple in the text in line 5, ma tema di beltĂ , di leggiadria (but let him fear the deluding, wicked (aura of), follows a held whole note on ma (but) depicting and emphasizing the admonition of the poet to beware of love.

Figure 35. Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core mm. 15-16.

The entire madrigal is in C major and there is little dissonance. The appeal of Che vol haver is its simple song-like character, text-driven eighth and quarter note rhythms and the alternation between solo voice and ensemble.

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CHAPTER 4: FINISHING TOUCHES

Performance Spatial Arrangements The dramatic content of the nine madrigals lend themselves to a visual element through simple staging and tasteful theatrical touches. A conductor may choose to enhance the expressivity of the madrigals in a performance by breaking out of the traditional choral formation of standing in rows and adding tasteful theatrics. Such additions are in keeping with Monteverdi’s stile rappresentativo (i.e., staged or with gesture) that he recommends in Book 8.

The first consideration is determining the attributes of the performance space. The continuo players must be seated together so that they may be comfortable as an ensemble with satisfactory space for themselves and sight lines to the conductor. Depending on the acoustics, the continuo will have to be placed in an ideal relationship to the chorus.

Begin with placing the continuo group in front of the chorus. Elevating the chorus either on risers or stairs will give satisfactory sight lines. Another option would be to have the continuo group to one side of the stage area.

Once the continuo group has a home, then the conductor can experiment with placement of the voices. The sound of the choir is most influenced acoustically by its composite of choral sound and individual singes and, particularly, the venue in which the choir sings.80 Determining factors for placement are size of stage area, acoustics of the venue, stairs, risers, size of ensemble and performing standard of the ensemble. James Daugherty claims that spacing and formation of the voices in the choir and mixing voices

80

James F. Daugherty, Choir Acoustics: An Empirical Approach to the Sound You Want, http://web.kuedu/~cmed/828/choiracoustics.pdf/2005/html (accessed September 10, 2011)

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can be beneficial.81 If the conductor is working with accomplished, secure singers, grouping singers in threes and fours in different voicings can be as effective visual change from standing in rows. These groups can be placed in a scattered formation placing groups in higher and lower proximities. The conductor is encouraged to experiment with groupings and determine optimum placement for visual and aural effect.

The conductor should also look at the individual madrigals and determine if other formations would enrich the performance. More suggestions follow.

In Altri Canti d’amor, the opening is sung by the three highest voices. Place these singers as a group visually separated by the remainder of the chorus. When the Bass announces “Di Marte” (m. 90), the remaining voices can step forward or join with the first group to depict the gathering of the soldiers preparing for battle. The singers can spread and face forward in strict formation. Any of the stile concitato sections in the madrigals would by highlighted with formations that mimic battle formations such as straight lines and diagonals.

In madrigals that have lengthier solo passages, the conductor might explore spatial arrangements that visually accentuate the soloists. In Hor che’l ciel el la terra, the two tenor soloists can immerge out of the static homophony and the remainder of the chorus can act as the “back-up” singers. In Così sol d’una chiara fonte viva the opening tenor solo as well as the tenor solo in the middle can have substantial distance from the chorus. The call and response character of Vago augelletto che cantando vai and Dolcissimo usignolo also would benefit from a separation of the soloist and the remainder of the ensemble.

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James Daugherty, Spacing, formation, and choral sound: Preferences and perceptions of auditors and choristers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 47 (3) (1999), 225.

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Altri canti di Marte and Due belli occhi are madrigals that emphasize how a man can be affected by a woman. Placing the singers in male/female pairings would underscore the theme of lovers. If the pairs of can be coached to flirt with each other while singing with tasteful glances and touches, the trials that love brings will be compliment the singing and text.

Simple staging and choreography of choirs is becoming a more frequent trend.

Professional ensembles such as Chanticleer add a dynamic element to their concerts with movement and arrangement. The word “choralography” is a term coined by choreographer Yvonne Farrow which she defines as “choreography specifically designed for choral groups, whereby the singers--who are not dancers--perform movement on or off the choral risers, in any genre while preserving the choral sound.”82 All the madrigals are suitable for such “choralography,” and conductors are encouraged to explore ways of enhancing the choral presentation.

Programming Whether a conductor chooses to program two or more of the nine madrigals in a concert, imaginative programming will ensure a captivated audience. Conlon gives some excellent suggestions in the realm of juxtaposing similar or dissimilar elements such as comparing the madrigals with various other composers of the Renaissance.83 Thematic programming is an ideal starting point for including combinations of the madrigals. An excellent choice would be to present a concert focusing on love-hate relationships. A concert program of songs on the love-hate theme throughout history and 82

Yvonne Farrow, Got Choralography? http://www.gotchoralography.com (accessed September 8, 2011).

Joan Catoni Conlon, Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide (Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 2001), 352.

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spanning various cultures would give variety and unity simultaneously. There is an endless supply of repertoire on this theme for a wide range of choral abilities.

Collaborating with other artistic genres is also a profitable endeavor when mounting concerts. The conductor could consider a shared concert with the local early music instrumental ensemble or sponsoring a professional early music ensemble to perform with the choir. Many communities hold “Renaissance Fairs” and performing a concert during the Fair would bring publicity and demonstrate community spirit. More sophisticated mixed media presentations can be mounted that could include local theatre, dance companies, as well as other vocal and instrumental ensembles.

In keeping with the theme of love and war, including narration also adds to the program. The narrations could be recitations of poetry by actors interpolated with the madrigals and other choral repertoire. Monteverdi’s personal correspondence is both informative and entertaining to read. A concert devoted to Monteverdi’s oeuvre would be enhanced by readings of a selection of Monteverdi’s correspondence in a voice that would depict the composer. Monteverdi’s letters translated with commentary by Denis Stevens, provides wonderful insights into his personality, reveal details of his professional career, as well as his personal life struggles. A concert sprinkled with Monteverdi’s own words would delight the audience.

Providing a pre-concert talk on the madrigals would also be beneficial to the audience. The style of the Renaissance is not necessarily standard knowledge to audiences. Introducing the audience to such things as text, word-painting, Monteverdi’s stile concitato are appreciated by concert-goers, and drawing attention to the musical features and educating the audience makes for a more appreciative audience. Along with educating the audience, providing interesting and informative program notes is another

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essential component of concert programming. Information on the individual madrigals is provided in the Appendix and can be incorporated into concert program notes.

Monteverdi’s madrigals were performed in the salons of the Venetian nobility, and in his own words his music was “listened to with great applause and praised.”84 Another account of a performance of his madrigals has been captured in a sonnet where the author, Muzio Manfredi, “was moved to tears by what he heard: and that the hostess of those parties, who was also a singer, leaned over and offered him her handkerchief.”85 The high standard of performance that Monteverdi himself established during his life must inspire the conductor to strive for the most aesthetically pleasing performance of his madrigals today.

84

Claudio Monteverdi, Book VIII (Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi) (New York: Dover Publication, 1991) xiv.

85 Denis Stevens, Monteverdi in Venice (New Jersey: Associated University Press, 2001), 114.

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APPENDIX Table 1 Overview of Madrigals Madrigal

Voices & Ranges

Accomp.

Poet

Poetic structure Rhyme Scheme

Measur es

1 Altri canti d’Amor (1 of 2)

6: SSATTB

2 violins, BC

Anonymous

133

2 Hor ch’el ciel e la terra (1of 2)

6: SSATTB

2 violins, BC

Petrarch (1304-74)

96

4

3 Così sol d’un chiara fonte viva (2 of 2) 4 Ardo, avvampo, mi struggo

SSATTB

2 violins, BC 2 violins, BC

Petrarch

83

5

145

5

5 Altri canti di Marte e di sua schiera (1 of 2)

SSATTB

2 violins, BC

132

4

6 Due belli occhi (2 of 2) 7 Vago augelletto

SSATTB

91

4

110

5

8 Dolcissimo uscignolo

5: SSATB

2 violins, BC 2 violins, BC BC

Gian Battista Marino (1569-1624) Marino

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4

9 Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core

SSATB

BC

Sonnet 14 lines of 11 syllables abba abba; ababab 8 lines of 11 Syllables abba ab ab 6 lines of 11 syllables Abcabc Sonnet 14 lines of 11 syllables abba, abba; ababab Sonnet 8 lines of 11 syllables abba abba 6 lines of 11 syllables ababab 8 lines of 11 syllables abba abba Madrigal alla francese 9 lines: 7,11,11,7,11,7,7,11,11 syllables abb cc dd ee Madrigal alla francese 10 lines: 11,7,7,7,11, 7,11,7,11,11 syllables aabbccddee

Approx. duration (minutes) 6

56

4

8:SSAATTBB

7:SSATTTB

Anonymous

Petrarch Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612) Guarini

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Table 2 Voice Ranges of Madrigals

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IPA Pronunciation Guide to Madrigals 1. Altri canti d’Amor

2. Hor che’l ciel e la terra e’l vento tace

Altri canti d’Amor, tenero arciero,

Hor che’l ciel e la terra e’l vento tace

[ˈaltri ˈkanti daˈmo:r ˈtɛ:nero arˈtʃɛ:ro ]

[ o:r kel tʃɛ:l e la ˈtɛrra el ˈvɛnto ˈta:tʃe ]

i dolci vezzi e i sospirati baci,

E le fere e gli augelli il sonno affrena

[i ˈdoltʃi ˈvettsi e i sospiˈra:ti ˈba:tʃi ]

[ e le ˈfere e ʎ auˈʤelli il ˈsonno afˈfre:na ]

narri gli sdegni e le bramate paci

Notte il carro stellato in giro mena

[ˈnarri ʎi ˈzdeɲɲi e le braˈma:te ˈpa:tʃi ]

[ ˈnɔtte il ˈkarro steˈlla:to in ˈʤi:ro ˈme:na ]

quand’unisce due alme un sol pensiero.

E nel suo letto il mar senz’onda giace

[kwand uˈniʃʃe ˈdu:e ˈalme un sol penˈsjɛ:ro ]

[e nel su:o ˈlɛtto il ma:r sɛntsˈonda ˈʤa:tʃe ]

Di Marte io canto furibondo e fiero

Veglio, penso, ardo, piango: e chi mi sface

[ di ˈmarte ˈio ˈkanto furiˈbondo e ˈfjɛ:ro ]

[ ˈveʎʎo ˈpɛnso ˈardo ˈpjaŋgo e ki mi ˈsfa:tʃe ]

i duri incontri e le battaglie audaci.

Sempre m’è innanzi per mia dolce pena:

[i ˈdu:ri iŋˈkontri e le batˈtaʎʎe auˈda:tʃi ]

[ ˈsɛmpre me innˈantsiper mi:a ˈdoltʃe ˈpe:na ]

strider le spade e bombeggiar le faci [ˈstrider le ˈspa:de e bombedˈʤa:r le ˈfa:tʃi ]

Guerra è’l mio stato, d’ira e di duol piena: [ ˈgwɛrra ɛl mi:o ˈsta:to ˈdi:ra e di dwɔl ˈpjɛ:na ]

fo, nel mio canto bellicose e fiero. [fo nel mi:o ˈkanto belliˈko:ze e ˈfjɛ:ro ]

E sol di lei pensando ho qualche pace. [ e sol di ˈlɛ:i penˈsando ɔ ˈkwalke ˈpa:tʃe ]

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3 Così sol d’una chiara fonte viva

Ardo, avvampo (continued)

Così sol d’una chiara fonte viva

Scale, accette, martelli, acqua prendete,

[ koˈzi so:l ˈduna ˈkja:ra ˈfonte ˈvi:va ]

[ ˈska:le aˈtʃʃette marˈtelli ˈakkwa prenˈde:te ]

e voi, torri sacrate, anco tacete?

Move il dolce e l’amaro ond’io mi pasco

[e vo:i ˈtorri saˈkra:te ˈaŋko taˈtʃe:te ]

[ ˈmɔ:ve il ˈdoltʃe⌣e laˈma:ro ondˈi:o mi ˈpasko ]

Su bronzi, su, ch’io dal gridar son roco,

Una man sola mi risana e punge,

[ su ˈbrondzi su ˈki:o dal griˈda:r so:n ˈrɔ:ko ]

[ ˈu:na man ˈso:la mi riˈsa:na e ˈpunʤe ]

dite il periglio altrui non lieve o poco,

E, perche il mio martir non giunga a riva,

[ ˈdi:te il peˈriʎʎo alˈtru:i non ljˈɛ:ve o ˈpɔ:ko ]

[ e perˈke il mi:o marˈti:r non ˈʤunga a ˈri:va ]

e degl’incendi miei pieta chiedete

Mille volte il di moro e mille nasco

[ e deʎʎinˈtʃɛndi mje:i pjeˈta kjeˈde:te ]

[ ˈmille ˈvɔlte il di ˈmɔ:ro e ˈmille ˈnasko ]

Son due belli occhi il ladro, e seco Amore

Tanto dalla salute mia son lunge.

[ so:n ˈdu:e ˈbɛlli ˈɔkki il ˈla:dro e ˈse:ko aˈmo:re ]

[ ˈtanto dalla saˈlu:te ˈmi:a so:n ˈlunʤe ]

L’incendiario che l’inique faci [ lintʃenˈdja:rio ke liˈni:kwe ˈfa:tʃi ]

4. Ardo, avvampo

dentro la rocca m’avventò del core.

Ardo, avvampo, mi struggo, ardo: accorrete,

[ ˈdentro la ˈrɔkka mavvenˈtɔ del ˈkɔ:re ]

[ ˈardo avˈvampo mi ˈstruggo ˈardo akkorˈre:te ]

Ecco i rimedi omai vani e fallaci.

vicini, amici, all’infiammato loco;

[ ˈekko i riˈmɛ:di oˈma:i ˈva:ni e falˈla:tʃi ]

[ viˈtʃi:ni aˈmi:tʃi allinfjamˈma:to ˈlɔ:ko ]

Mi dice ogn’un, “Per sì beato ardore

al ladro, al ladro, al tradimento, al foco!

[ mi ˈdi:tʃe oɲɲun per si beˈa:to arˈdo:re ]

[ al ˈla:dro al ˈla:dro al tradiˈmento al ˈfɔ:ko ]

lascia che ‘l cor s’incinerisca e taci.” [ ˈlaʃʃa kel kɔ:r sintʃineˈriska e ˈta:tʃi ]

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5. Altri canti di Marte

6 Due belli occhi

Altri canti di Marte e di sua schiera,

Due belli occhi fur l’armi onde traffitta

[ ˈaltri ˈkanti di ˈmarte e di su:a ˈskyɛra ]

[ du:e ˈbɛlli ˈɔkki fu:r ˈlarmi ˈonde trafˈfitta]

gli arditi assalti e l’honorate imprese

giacque, e di sangue invece amaro pianto

[ ʎarˈdi:ti asˈsalti e lonoˈra:te imˈpre:ze ]

[ ˈʤakkwe e di ˈsaŋgwe inˈve:tʃe aˈma:ro ˈpjanto ]

le sanguigne vittorie e le contese, [ le saŋˈgwiɲɲe vitˈtɔ:rie e le konˈte:ze ]

sparse lunga stagion l’anima afflitta. [ ˈsparse ˈluŋga staˈʤo:n ˈla:nima afˈflitta ]

i trionfi di morte horrida e fera. [ i triˈonfi di ˈmɔrte ˈorrida e ˈfe:ra ]

Tu per lo cui valor la palma e ‘l vanto [ tu per lo ku:i vaˈlor la ˈpalma el ˈvanto ]

Io canto, Amor, di questa tua guerriera, [ ˈio ˈkanto aˈmo:r di ˈkwesta ˈtua gwerˈrjɛ:ra ]

hebbe di me la mia nemica invitta, [ ˈɛbbe di me la ˈmi:a neˈmi:ka inˈvitta ]

quant’hebbi a sostener mortali offese, [ kwantˈɛbbi a sosteˈne:r morˈtali ofˈfe:ze ]

se desti morte al cor, dà vita al canto. [ se ˈdesti ˈmɔrte al kɔr da ˈvi:ta al ˈkanto ]

com’un guardo mi vinse, un crin mi prese. [komun ˈgwardo mi ˈvinse un kri:n mi ˈpre:ze ]

historia miserabile ma vera! [ isˈtɔ:rja mizeˈra:bile ma ˈve:ra ]

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7 Vago augelletto

8 Dolcissimo uscignolo

Vago augelletto che cantando vai

Dolcissimo uscignolo,

[ ˈvago auʤelˈletto ke kanˈtando ˈva:i ]

[ doltˈʃissimo uziˈɲɔ:lo ]

ovver piangendo il tuo tempo passato

tu chiami la tua cara compagna

[ ovˈver pjaŋˈʤɛndo il tuo ˈtɛmpo pasˈsa:to ]

[tu ˈkja:mi la ˈtu:a ˈka:ra komˈpaɲɲa ]

vedendoti la notte e ‘l verno a lato

cantando: “Vieni, vieni, anima mia!”

[ veˈdendoti la ˈnɔtte el ˈvɛrno a⌣ˈlato ]

[ kanˈtando ˈvjɛ:ni ˈvjɛ:ni ˈa:nima ˈmi:a ]

e ‘l dì dopo le spalle e i mesi gai,

A me canto non vale

[ el di ˈdopo le ˈspalle e i ˈme:zi ˈga:i ]

[ a me ˈkanto non ˈva:le ]

se come i tuoi gravosi affanni sai

e non ho come tu da volar ale.

[ se ˈko:me i ˈtwɔ:i graˈvo:zi afˈfanni ˈsa:i ]

[ e non ɔ ˈko:me tu da voˈlar ˈale ]

così sapessi il mio simile stato,

O felice augelletto,

[ koˈzi saˈpessi il ˈmi:o ˈsimile ˈsta:to ]

[ o feˈli:tʃe auʤelˈletto ]

verresti in grembo a questo sconsolato

come nel tuo diletto

[ verˈresti in ˈgrɛmbo a ˈkwesto skonsoˈla:to ]

[ ˈko:me nel ˈtu:o diˈlɛtto ]

a partir seco i dolorosi guai.

ti ricompensa ben l’alma natura:

[ a parˈti:r ˈse:ko i doloˈro:zi ˈgwa:i ]

[ ti rikomˈpensa bɛ:n ˈlalma naˈtu:ra ]

se ti negò saper, ti diè ventura. [ se ti neˈgɔ saˈpe:r ti djˈɛ venˈtu:ra ]

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9 Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core [ ki vɔl aˈve:r feˈli:tʃe e ˈljɛto il ˈkɔre ]

non segua il crudo Amore, [ non ˈse:gwa il ˈkru:do aˈmo:re ]

quel lusinghier ch’ancide [ kwel luzinˈgjɛ:r kanˈtʃi:de ]

quando più scherza e ride, [ kwando pju skerˈtsa e ˈri:de

]

ma tema di beltà, di leggiadria [ ma ˈte:ma di belˈta di ledʤaˈdri:a ]

l’aura fallace e ria. [ ˈla:ura falˈla:tʃe eˈri:a ]

Al pregar non risponda, alla promessa [ al preˈʤar non risˈponda ˈalla proˈmessa ]

non creda, e se s’appressa, [ non ˈkrɛ:da e se sapˈpressa ]

fugga pur, che baleno è quel ch’alletta, [ fudˈʤa pu:r ke baˈle:no ɛ kwel kalˈletta ]

nè mai balena Amor se non saetta [ nɛ ˈma:i baˈle:na aˈmo:r se non saˈetta ]

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PROGRAM NOTES Introductory General Comments Monteverdi’s Book 8 Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi published in 1638, is a collection of madrigals, solos, ballet and a theater piece entitled Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. All the madrigals are concerted, referring to the change from the traditional Renaissance unaccompanied madrigal to secular songs accompanied by instruments known as the basso continuo. Many of the madrigals in this collection contain a new compositional technique invented by Monteverdi which he called stile concitato. Stile concitato is a technique characterized by rapid, repetitive rhythms, which Monteverdi felt was a new musical device of depicting anger, agitation, and warring emotions. Book 8 is divided into two sections of contrasting themes of war and love.

Individual Madrigals Altri canti d’Amor is the first madrigal in Monteverdi’s Book 8 Madragali Guerrieri et Amorosi. The anonymous poet proclaims “Let others sing of love” but the yearning melodic lines suggest the poet is more convinced of the merits of love. Yet, abruptly, in the second half of the madrigal, the warring narrative is declaimed and a wonderful example of Monteverdi’s stile concitato is portrayed in voices and instruments.

Hor che’l ciel e la terra is a setting of a sonnet by the fourteenth century poet Petrarch whose unrequited love was the prevailing theme of his oeuvre. Using contrast to highlight the intense anguish of his feelings, he compares his inner conflict with the calmness of the world around him. This calm is depicted in the opening music, with the absence of melody. However, the stillness gives way to a declamation of his tumultuous feelings, and a battle ensues. The musical depiction of his warring state is captured in Monteverdi’s use of stile concitato and other warring “rhetoric”: faster rhythms, scales and triadic melodic lines.

Così sol d’u chiara fonte viva is a setting of the final six lines of a love sonnet by Petrarch. The poet juxtaposes opposing emotions to describe his turmoil. Healing is depicted with rising melodic lines, and dashed hopes with descending melodic lines. The image of a stream representing the source of his love is depicted with a rising chromatic line. The anguish builds throughout the madrigal climaxing to an intense finale of suspensions and extremely high ranges for basses and sopranos, making this one of Monteverdi’s most dramatic madrigals.

Ardo, avvampo sounds an alarm for all to come and put out the flames that are raging in the lover’s heart. His agitated state is depicted by Monteverdi’s stile concitato, where the voices repeatedly call out aqua (water) to douse the flames set by the arsonist, Love. The urgency is maintained continuously for the duration until the lover is counseled to let his heart be burnt ashes and thus silenced.

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Altri canti di Marte is the first madrigal in the second section “Madrigals of Love” in Book 8 and is the partner madrigal with Altri canti d’amor. Divided into two parts, the opening is a languorous homophonic invocation renouncing the need to sing about war.

Monteverdi saves the musical energy for the second half when awakened with dazzling word painting, melismas, and counterpoint to ensure that Love is the more exciting subject.

Due belli occhi abounds with virtuosic singing, convincing that the lover is truly a warrior. The Bass solo personifies the lover as the victim, has valiantly, but unsuccessfully been conquered by his opponent’s most fetching weapons, her two beautiful eyes.

Vago augelletto is poem by Petrarch, a popular choice for Monteverdi’s madrigals. In keeping with the Petrarchan theme of rejection and unattainable love, the speaker listens to the bird’s song and finds a kindred spirit. The bird’s song has given a musical voice to his sadness and gives him solace. The music for this enchanting madrigal is set as a ritornello where the opening melody is repeated throughout giving the madrigal an overall cohesiveness For Dolcissimo uscignolo, Monteverdi chose texts by his long-term colleague Guarini, and although Guarini was known for his wit and colorful imagery, Dolcissimo uscignolo has a winsome and simple tender charm. The poem itself speaks to the nightingale a songbird known as a symbol of love and longing. The madrigal is set in ABB form, with the first seven lines of poetry forming the A section. The soprano has a lyrical melody with the other voices supporting with simple, tuneful harmonies.

For Chi vol haver felice e lieto il core, Monteverdi chose texts by his long-term colleague Guarini. The soprano solo introduces the melody, and it is repeated supported by the other voices. The text gives the listener serious counsel: love is cruel and employs trickery to seduce his enemy, and in order to remain happy, one must flee from love.

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by Andrea Bornstein. Bologna, Italy: Urtext Orpheus Edizione, 2000.

Monteverdi, Claudio. Madrigali Guerrieri, et Amorosi Libro Ottavo. Edizione critica di Anna Maria Vacchelli. Cremona: Foundazion Claudio Monteverdi, 2004.

Ossi, Massimo Michele. Claudio Monteverdi and the Concertato Principle: A Study of his Concertato Madrigals. Ph.D. dissertation, Musicology, Harvard University, 1989.

Ossi, Massimo Michele. Divining the Oracle; Monteverdi’s Seconda Prattica. Chicago: the University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Plank, Steven E. Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice. Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004.

Poe, Frances R. Teaching and Performing Renaissance Choral Music: A Guide for Conductors and Performers. London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1994.

Saunders, Steven. “New Light on the Genesis of Monteverdi’s Eighth Book of Madrigals.” Music & Letters 77/2 (May1996): 183-93.

Stevens, Denis. The Letters of Claudio Monteverdi. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Stevens, Denis. Monteverdi: Sacred, Secular, and Occasional Music. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Press. 1978.

Stevens, Denis. Monteverdi in Venice. Cranbury; New Jersey: Associated University Press, 2001.

Tomlinson, Gary. Monteverdi and the End of the Renaissance. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1987.

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SOUND RECORDINGS

Monteverdi, Claudio. Teatro d’amore. Christina Pluhar, conductor. England: Virgin Classics, CD. 2009.

Monteverdi, Claudio. Lamento della ninfa: Altri canti di Marte. Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, director. Arles: Harmonia Mundi, CD. 2009.

Monteverdi, Claudio. Fire & Ashes. I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth, director. England: Chandos, CD. 2008.

Monteverdi, Claudio. Madrigals, Book 8 (Il Ottavo Libro de’ Madrigali, 1638). La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina, director. Italy: Glossa CD. 2005.

Monteverdi, Claudio. Madrigali guerrieri ed amorosi. Concerto Vocale, Rene Jacobs, conductor. Arles Harmonia Mundi France, CD. 2002.

Monteverdi, Claudio. Ottavo libro ei madrigali Volume II. Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini, director. Paris Franc, Opus 111, CD. 1998.

Monteverdi, Claudio. Ottavo libro de’ madrigali Volume 1. Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Allessandrini, director. Paris France: Opus 111, CD. 1997.

Monteverdi, Claudio. L’8o libro de madrigali 1638: madrigali amorosi. Consort of Musicke; Anthony Rooley, director. London: Virgin Classics, 1992.

Monteverdi, Claudio. L’8o libro de madrigali 1638: madrigali guerrieri. Consort of Musicke, Anthony Rooley, director. London: Virgin Classics, 1991.

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