The Rossi Project

BY ELIZABETH SCHAUER

bout the composer Salamone Rossi. It is likely that he was born in Mantua around 1570, and that he was connected through much of his life with the Gonzaga court. Two of his publications were dedicated to Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga and a third to the Marquis of Pallazuolo, also associated with the court. In one of the dedications, Rossi refers to being in “the happy shade of your [Vincenzo’s] service.” Rossi seems to have been favored by Vincenzo since on several occasions he was given dispensation from wearing the yellow or orange badge that other members of the Jewish community had to wear at the time. Rossi also worked as an instrumentalist playing in and composing for Mantuan Jewish theatrical troupes that performed not only in the Jewish ghetto, but also for Christian audiences, including at court. Many consider his greatest and most unique achievement to be his collection of 33 motets in Hebrew published in Venice in 1622. A prolific composer of madrigals, Salamone Rossi released five separate books…Il Primo Libro de Madrigali a Quattro Voce (The First Book of Madrigals for Four Voices) contains 17 madrigals and is his ninth collection, published around 1600. Rossi’s last published work bore a date of 1628 and nothing more is known of his life after this. It is possible he died, along with many others, during the Austrian invasion, the destruction of the ghetto and the onset of the plague, around 1630.”

~Dane Carten

In Spring 2022, the resident graduate choral conductors at the University of Arizona embarked on a studio project to create free, practical and scholarly editions of the four-voice madrigals of Salamone Rossi, works that previously were not available other than in the collection of his complete works, edited by Don Harrán, and found in Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae, published by the American Institute of Musicology. This volume typically is only available to those who have access to a university library and even then only if the library has these volumes in its collection. The project grew out of a complete redesign of the graduate choral literature curriculum at the University of Arizona, for the purpose of including historically excluded populations of composers, both of the past and today.

Despite the fact that this outstanding Jewish composer was active in the same court and at the same time as Claudio Monteverdi, and although he apparently was held in high regard by Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga, his works largely fell into oblivion following his death. This remarkable Jewish composer, who succeeded in spite of hostile circumstances, and his well-crafted madrigals are worthy of a place in our music history and choral literature curricula, as well as in our concert halls. The madrigals are largely accessible and appropriate for college, community and advanced high school mixed ensembles.

To begin this project, the cohort of students listened to the entire book of madrigals, and divided them up, with each student and myself choosing two (or more) madrigals for which to create editions, in order to cover all seventeen pieces. The Harrán edition mentioned above was used as the main source for the editions (although I had access to microfilm reproductions of some of the original part books as well, which proved very helpful in a number of ways). Issues of editorial policy were considered and discussed, and decisions were made based on practicality and accessibility to encourage performance of the works. Editorial decisions included using modern rhythmic notation and clefs, including a brief biography and translations, transposing some of the works to better accommodate modern choral ranges, and including piano reductions as well as continuo realizations. We commissioned word-forword and idiomatic translations from musicologist Dr. Cory Gavito, currently of Tucson, and his outstanding work is included in each edition. Nicky Manlove (instructor of music at University of Arizona) was commissioned to create continuo realizations, and these are included for each madrigal as well.

Finally, we were incredibly fortunate to have the expertise of renowned Jewish choral music expert Dr. Joshua Jacobson, who lent a keen eye to each edition, catching errors and offering suggestions, especially related to piano reductions, continuo realizations, the biography and musica ficta. Joshua also shared the aforementioned microfilm reproductions of the partbooks, which were invaluable in decisions about accidentals and basso continuo issues.

Throughout the spring semester, the students collaborated in numerous ways: they examined each others’ work, comparing the editions to the Harrán source to find errors and make suggestions. DMA student Fabián Rodríguez Castro provided a great deal of guidance with notation and engraving, MM student Dane Carten crafted a biography for use in each edition, DMA student James Higgs offered suggestions regarding the playability of the piano reductions, and also worked to upload each edition to CPDL as it was completed and approved. In addition to those listed above, the following students contributed editions: Xuxiang Zou, Mengda Jiang, Deltrina Grimes, and Inho Eom, all of whom are DMA students.

In the process of this collaborative research, we determined that the basso continuo parts included by Rossi are not truly continuo lines even though he indicates them as such (even occasionally including a figure), but basso seguente parts, with the “bass” note often quite high in register. The madrigals can be performed with a single instrument playing the basso seguente line, with instruments doubling voices, with continuo, or with no instruments at all. In the CPDL editions, each madrigal first appears in its entirety with a piano reduction for ease of rehearsal, and then a second time in its entirety with a realized continuo part.

Through this process, the students and I learned a great deal, not only about this outstanding composer and these lovely works, but also about notational systems and editorial policy. Each of the students now has two published editions to include as scholarly activity on their résumés as well. The editions that are the result of this project are currently being added to the composer’s page at the Choral Public Domain also worked to upload each edition to CPDL as it was c Library (please see the link below in resources), so that they are freely accessible to all. At the time of publication of this article, eight of the madrigals are available, with the rest to follow shortly.

Graduate conductors and choristers at the University of Arizona already have begun to program these delightful works on conducting recitals, and we hope this will be just the beginning of a rebirth of interest in Salamone Rossi and his music.

Resources

Bozolo, Stefano and Ut Musica Poesis Ensemble, Salomone Rossi: Il primo libro de madrigali a 4 voci. Tactus, 2012, CD.

Choral Public Domain Library: Salamone Rossi Page: www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Salamone_Rossi

Fenlon, Iain. “Rossi, Salamone.” Grove Music Online. Edited by Deane Rott. Accessed January 6, 2023.

Harrán, Don. Salamone Rossi: Jewish Musician in Late Renaissance Mantua. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Harrán, Don, ed. Salamone Rossi: Complete Works. Rome: The American Institute of Musicology, 1995.

Dr. Joshua Jacobson

Before retiring in 2018, Dr. Jacobson served 45 years as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University, including nine years as Music Department Chairman and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He is also Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant in the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College, as well as the founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a world-renowned ensemble specializing in Hebrew music.

ElizabethSchauer(she/hers) serves as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Arizona, where she is recognized for her innovative and inclusive curricular approach. An award-winning educator, Dr. Schauer conducts Symphonic Choir and teaches graduate courses in conducting, literature and methods with a studentcenteredfocustoaninternational population of learners. She is in demand as an adjudicator, clinician, presenter and conductor throughout the United States, including for performances at Carnegie Hall and with numerous allstateandhonorchoirs.

Choirs under her direction have been selected by audition and invited to perform on local, state and regional conferences of American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), College Music Society (CMS) and American Guild of Organists. In addition, her choirs have been featured on the ACDA National YouTube Channel and the Community Concerts Series of KUAT-FM Classical Radio, and are regularly invited to collaborate, notably with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Arizona Symphony Orchestra and the UA Philharmonic Orchestra. Dr. Schauer has presented sessions at the national, regional and state conferences. Former students are active as music educators at public and private schools, churches, colleges and universities throughout the world, and have been accepted into respected graduate schoolsandprogramsforcontinuedstudy.