Ornamentation and Style in Italian Late Renaissance and Baroque
Ornamentation and Style in Italian Late Renaissance and Baroque
Ornamentation and Style in Italian Late Renaissance and Baroque
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Italian singers of the late 16 c and early 1i c were celebrated for
their mastery of embellishment: Caccini (bRome- f1 in Florence)
Concerti delle donne (consorts of women) of the Ferrarese and
Gonzaga courts
This music is Rife with 32nd and 64th notes to be performed
without slowing down the tempo
• Conforto 1593 says that only a few singers possess this ability
Banchieri 1614 suggests practicing it alone with hpschd, lute,
chittarone, organ etc and
Bovicelli 1594 believes that it can be acquired, but only little by
little through practice.
Baird thinks it is a matter of how fast you think
Zacconi 1596. Practice lots ..."the more you do it the better it gets
Caccini in 1602 recommends open vowels '0" and' a' vowels and
'e' and condemns the "i" and 'u' vowel for practicing and singing
it.
Maffei favors 0 because the voice is rounder sounds less like
laughing and unites with the breath better .. U sounds like
howling and I sounds like neighing or like a little animal that has
wandered away from it mother
Ganassi confirms that the tempi of this coloratura was so fast that
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• In Monteverdi's Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, where the C0111pOSer has written the
following coloratura to the word rida (he laughts) with the further explanation that 'qui
cade in riso naturale' (here one falls into natural laughter; ex.I3).
ti
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• Caccini says "beat every note with the throat on the vowel 'a'
Maffei specifies that only the throat is involved and that the rest of
the body should remain stationary"
• Sprezzatura
~~~;.~:~IJEt~=~:·~:_~~~~ill~.~]:~0nE22=i_#:~;='-.;~1lt~·~.:
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Lament
(It. lamento).
Usually, a vocal piece based on a mournful text, often built over a descending tetrachord
ostinato and common in operas of the Baroque period.
Librettists and composers of early opera acknowledged the special dramatic position and •
affective responsibility of the lament, distinguishing it from the narrative flow of its
• context: librettists imposed greater formality through using more strongly metred and
rhymed texts in which particularly emotive lines often recurred as refrains; and
composers interpreted these texts with greater freedom, repeating or otherwise enhancing
specially expressive words or phrases with melodic sequence, dissonance or textural
conflicts, often imposing an overall tonal coherence to create structural self-sufficiency.
One of the most effective and clearly the 1110St influential of early 17th-century laments
was Monteverdi's Lamento d 'Arianna from his opera to a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini,
performed in Mantua in 1608. Its musical isolation from its context was recognized
immediately in contemporary descriptions of the opera's performance and confirmed by
the publication of monodic Ariadne laments by other composers, as well as Monteverdi's
own arrangement of it as a madrigal.
In the Venetian opera repertory of the 1640s an association between lament and
tetrachord became explicit. Pathetic lament arias, many of them associated with some
form of the tetrachord bass, continued to occur in operas of the late 17th and early 18th
centuries; indeed, with the development of other aria types, they tended to reaSSU111e their
former specific dramatic position. Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and The Fairy-Queen both
contain a lament based on a chromatically descending tetrachord just before the
resolution of the plot, and several Handel operas, such as Orlando (1733), have similarly
placed laments in which the tetrachord bass plays a significant role .
Caccini publishes his first volume of Le Nuove Musiche around 1600 having spent 20
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yrs or so writing in the style of the Florentine Camerata-which sought to rid Music of
the excesses of ornamentation. (Even madrigals at the time were ornamented
simultaneously in all parts
Caccini is one of the few writers from the time of Monteverdi to give us an essay on how
to sing this music-as he does in the Preface to 1601 but he is motivated by a number of
factors ....
He writes Le Nuove Musiche preface in order to advocate for these his published
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renditions/ornamentations of his own piece as the Uhrtext of his compositions. "I see
many of them circulating tattered and torn; moreover I see the improper use of those
eighth and 16th notes and runs, rather those redoubled and intertwined with each other
developed by ME to avoid that old style (sixteenth and eighth note runs) of the passaggi.
Baird interpretation: Caccini had tried hard as a composer to maintain the principles of
the camerata (giving the proper stresses to the words and avoiding word obliterating
constant ornamentation of the Renaissance style) GIVE EXAMPLE!-Nothing on Earth.
Furthermore he feels that the other essential aspects of GOO 0 singing style are being
used indiscriminately:
Caccini's use of the words raddoppiate (redoubled) -he feels that he has invented this
particular type of ornamentation. (WHAT Is IT?)
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Una certa nobile sprezzatura-a certain noble negligence-according to Castiglione
sprezzatura is that virue which "is opposite to affectation ... whence springs grace ...
Sprezzatura in this sense suggest the effortless resolution of all difficulties ...a kind of
well-bred negligence born of complete self possession. Sprezzatura endorses creating
and holding dissonances (in Baird's opinion)
negligence in composition which he prizes is that of NOT resolving a the vocal part's
dissonant note against the bass in the traditional way.
In his compositions he admits to text painting-to trying to find those notes of greater or
lesser passion---depending on the feelings of the text. He tries to make long
unornamented notes on the long syllables and to save his ornamentation for the short
syllables! He feels that constant (Renaissance style ornamentation) creates the
OPPOSITE of singing affectively -movingly.
Caccini makes the distinction that he DOES use passaggi (division) and otherwise on
dance like pieces or pieces where the passion is irrelevant or less important to him.
When these are used he recommends that the vowel "u" is better in the soprano voice
than the tenor and that the vowel 'I' is better in the tenor than 'u' Open vowels are more
sonorous that closed ones and help in achieveing control (Voice teacher talk). He prefers
chest to the falsettolhead voice 'from it no good can arise!" Don't run out of breath (he
gives clues for how to do that in his examples)
dispozione della voce-speed of execution, control or command of the ntoes and of the
voice. Luca conforto "Breve et facile maniera d'essercitarsi ...a far passaggi' says that
he can in two months teach a singing method which will allow the singer this flexibility
He of course stresses singing in tune BUT adores an ornament called 'intonazione della
voce' -what we might today call 'attack' or 'manner of 'attack'
and then on to a crescendo. Avoid harshness with your crescendos! See page
49-we will practice some esclamazioni! Crescendos may be uused on all half
notes and dotted quarter notes that descend and will be more effective if if the
following note is short. FIRST READ p 50 columns one and two(up to the
TRILLO)
5. Whole notes should get a hairpin dynamic 'crescere e scemare della voce' -aka
messa di voce
takes place in LESS time that the messa di voce on a whole note.
7. Dotted notes have more grace than undotted notes. see' languire' of mus ex p
49-Compare in EXAMPLE C both page 52-3) the (#2's) which have more grace
9. Trillo-Caccini gives directions for how to TEACH the trillo and the gruppo on p
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50 (not necessarily how to Perform it!
the best instrument to accompany the tenor voice is the the chitarrone--- archlute/theorbo
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Giulio Caccini
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L LE NUOVE
~ MUSICHE
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Edited by H. Wiley Hitchcock
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t i A-R EDITIONS, INC. • MADISON
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(0 1970, A-R Editions, Inc.
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To the Readers
made by me at various times, it is because I esteemed decrescendos, esclamazion i, tremolos and trills, and
them but little. It seemed to me that these pieces of other such embellishments of good singing style used
. mine bad been bonored enough-indeed, much more indiscriminately. Thus I have been forced (and also
than they merited-by being constantly performed by urged by friends) to have these pieces of mine published,
the most famous singers of Italy, male and female, and and in this first publication to explain to my readers
by other noble persons who are lovers of the profession. by means of the present discourse the reasons that led
But now I see many of them circulating tattered and me to such a type of song for solo voice. In this way,
[ tom; moreover I see ill-used those single and double since (so far as I know) music of that total grace' tha.t
I hear ringing in my mind is uncommon in our modern
vocal roulades-rather, those redoubled and inter
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lLoreazo (di Jacopo) Salviati, member of a distinguished below [Example C). distinguishes between a cascat« scempia
f1orentioe family, occasional ambassador of Ferdinando I de' (singlc fall) and a cascara doppia; perhaps the latter "doubly"
Medici "to various powers," and governor of Siena in 1607. Sec ornaments the fall from C to F-sharp by not only (I) speeding
Agostino Ademollo, Marietta tl~' Ricci, ovvero; Firenze til it up, after delaying its beginning, but also (2) going below the
tempo M'" Assedi« (Florence, 1845), IV, 1211. Salviati"s resi F-sharp goal before rising to achieve it. However, in the context
dence in Florence, to which Caccini refers later in his dedica of the present sentence (and also in Peri's) one is tempted to
tion, was at Borgo de" Pinti, 76, and came to be called (after interpret "single," "double," and "redoubled" roulades as ]HIS
a later owner) Palazzo Aldobrandini-Borghesi; it was not far sau; or su.ccessively quicker note-values (eighths. sixteenths,
from Caecini's house on the present Via Capponi. See Walther and thirty-seconds) and "intertwinings" as various combina- •
Limburger, D~ GelJiiuM von Florenz (Leipzig. 1910), 4. tions of these.
:lRegarding the repetition of "grace" here and the idea of Caccini's failure to define his terms is all the more frustrating
I I Krazia in general. see below, note 6.
acacciai·s house is now No. 42, Via Gino Capponi. The
since he apparently considered the r(JdJoppiat~, at least. as
rather special; he mentions them specifically in the preface to
disc:repaacy between the date he gives and those of the preced his setting of LJEllridic~ (dated December 20. 1600)-and.. like
! I ing imprimatur is partially explained by the printer; see below,
paF 57. The discrepancy in years arises from the Florentine
Peri a few months later cites Vittoria Archilei as an exponent
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times, perhaps I may give some idea of it in these lines,
that others may achieve perfection, as uA great flame
follows a tiny spark. "1
At the time when the admirable Camerata of the
rhythm and tone coming after; not vice versa) with the
aim that it enter into the minds of men and have those
wonderful effects admired by the great writers. But
this has not been possible because of the counterpoint
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most illustrious Signor Giovanni Bardi, Count of of modem music, and even more impossible in solos
Vernio, was flourishing in Florence, with not only many sung to one or another stringed instrument, wherein
of the nobility but also the foremost musicians, intel Dot a single word has been understood for the multitude
lectuals, poets, and philosophers of the city in atten of passaggi on both short and long syllables and in
dance, I too was present; and I can truly say that I every sort of piece-although precisely because of these
gained more from their learned discussions than from [passagg'l some have been extolled by hoi pol/oi and
my more than thirty years of counterpoint. For these proclaimed mighty singers.
most knowledgeable gentlemen kept encouraging me, Having thus seen, as I say, that such music and
and with the most lucid reasoning convinced me, not musicians offered no pleasure beyond that which
to esteem that sort of music which, preventing any pleasant sounds could give-solely to the sense of
clear understanding of the words, shatters both their hearing, since they could not move the mind without
form and content,' now lengthening and now shorten the words being understood-it occurred to me to
ing syllables to accommodate the counterpoint (a introduce a kind of music in which ODe could almost
laceration of the poetry!), but rather to conform to speak in tones, employing in it (as I have said elsewhere]
that manner so lauded by Plato' and other philosophers a certain noble negligence of song;" sometimes trans
(who declared that music is naught but speech, with gressing by [allowing] several drssonances while still
!' the spiritual and the metaphysical. As • natural gift, Dot grazitl mentioned above (note: 6), that of Jpr~zza'"'a in ar
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to be ~uired simply by study and labor, it related to-in andtbeha.vior goes back to Castiglione's CorlqiQ1lo. where i
fact, it coUld only spring from-an effortless, unforced manner is defined as Althat virtue opposite to affectation •.. whenc.
(sec Dote II below, on sprezzatura). In the usage of the late sprinp pacc·' (qu~sta y;r,g odunque contraria alia ajfetlaz;on~
sixtccoth and early seventeenth centuries (as exemplified in III fIUIl no; per ora c1liam;amo spr~zzaturG ... il vero font.
the dictionary of the Accadcmia della Crusea), graz;a stood do". .riN ItI ,razia). Sp,~zza'lIrd in this sense suggests, .,
for ··bellezza ..• chc rapisce altrui ad amorc,,-ubeauty Shearman bas put it. "the effortless resolution or all difficultie:
... which scducea DOC unto love." ••. [aJ kindor well-bred DcglilCDCC born of complete self
CacciDi's many uses of the term, and even his otherwise possession." See Baldassare Castipione, II Libro tkl cortegiano
slightly awkward repetition of it in the dedication of I.e Nuo~ cd. Carlo Cordi6-{ldilan: Ricc:anlo Ricciardi, [1960 ), I, 27-2'
MwiclJe· (where hard on the heels of the KrazUl attributed to (pp. 48-SO);cr~Jla> Shearman, Mannerism [Harmoadswortb
Lorenzo Salviati is mentioned Iraz. tli'Vina), places him within Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd, 1967), 21, 96.
the late Renaissance tradition of thought about grazUJ and 10Castiglione's tint discussion of spr~zzahlTa~ he has Signo
its importance in any work of art, iDcludinl musical perform Magnifico (i.e., Giuliano dc' Medici) analogize between th
ance. desirable ··ocpgen<:e" of rules or
comportment and those 0
See Anthony Blunt, Artistic TMory in Italy 1450-1600 music, explaining that composers uncgligcntly" introduce di!
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1940), 93-98; John Shearman, sonances DOwaud then, for "to go on using the perfect specie
H Maniera as an Aesthetic Ideal;' TM h"ais.sIJna and Man [i.e., perfect consonances) unrelievcdly is satiating and is to
nerism, StJuli~s ;11 Western Art. Acts of the Twentieth Inter affected hannonically" (qwl continuar« n~l1e ~rfet'~ gene'
national Congress of the History of Art (1961), D (Princeton: ,Jaz~,/j e dimostra una 'roppo aJfettala tUmOnitJ). Caccii
Princeton University Press, 1963), 2031'; Sydney Freedberg, probably has this discussion in mind when be introduces ttl
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1. UIIQ certa nobile sprezzatura di canto. Like the concept of 15-17), and his remarks about "not submitting to strict tin
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maintaining the bass note" (save when I wished to do The warm approval with which these madrigals and
r the air were heard in the Camerata, and the exhorta
it the ordinary way and play the inner parts on the
instrument to express some aft"ect11 - f o r which, how tions to continue in the same direction toward my
ever, they are of little value). Thus originated those chosen goal, led me to go to Rome for a trial of them
songs for a single voice (which seemed to me to have there also. The aforesaid madrigals and the air were
more power to delight and move [one] than several performed in Signor Nero Neri's house for many
voices together) which I composed at that time: the gentlemen assembled there (and notably Signor Liane
madrigals "Perfidissimo volto," "Vedro'I mio sol," Strozzi), IS and everyone can testify how I was urged
"Dovro dunque rnorire," and others like them, and to continue as I bad begun, and was told that never
particularly the air on the eclogue of Sannazaro, U before had anyone heard music for a solo voice, to a
[-. "Itene ~ l'ombra de gli ameni faggi," in that very simple stringed instrument, with such power to move
style I later employed for the fables performed in song the affect of the soul" as these madrigals. (This was
at Florence." both because of their new style and because, accustomed
but often halving the values of the notes" (page 5S, below). l'Caccini uses the word aJfetto often, and in two ways. Here
Caceini had earlier mentioned sprezzatura in print in the (and for example in the phrase given in note (6) the word
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preface to his L'Eur;dic~ (1600). He speaks there of "having approximates the German Affekt and refers to a state of mind
sometimes tied the bass notes so that upon the occurrence of cum-emotion. Elsewhere a more particularized meaning ap
the many dissonances therein the ear wiD Dot be offended by pears: thus the vocal embellishments he discusses below-thc
i re-sounding the (bass] note" and goes on to say that in his new tremolo. the trill. etc.-are termed offetti, The double meaning
t style of song he has "employed a certain sprezzatura which I arises from the Baroque theory -that music's aim is to "move
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consider to have something Doble about it,.. believing that by
means of it I approach that much closer to the essence of
speech" (... havendo legato alcune volte le corde del basso,
the affect" (first meaning) by embodying itself an affect (first
meaning). often in particular, even stereotyped idioms or
affects (second meaning). In its second meaning, affetto ap
affine che nel trapassare delle molte dissonanze, ch'entro vi sono, proaches 'he modern English "device" or even, in one of its
I non si ripercuota 10 corda, e l'udito ne venga offeso. Nella qual meanings, "effect." Caccini too occasionally uses effeno as a
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maniera .di canto ho ;0 usata IUUJ certa sprezzatura, ch« io ho synonym for afJella (second meaning). One is reminded of the
stimato; cbe habbia del nobile, parendomi con essa di essermi play on these words in the Tuscan proverb, "Dagli effetti si
appressato quel p;u alia natura al fa vella.) conoscono gli affetti."
Twelve years after Le Nuove Mwiclae. in the preface to tlJacopo Sannazaro (c. 1456-1530), humanist and court poet
another song collection (Nuo'l~ MlUicM ~ nuova maniera di to the Aragonese kings at Naples, much esteemed by Italian
scriverle, 1614), Caccini again discussed sprrzzatura. ..Sprez madrigalists. The ver~ mentioned by Caccini is from San
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in of"i offetto si possono tal'ora introdurre.] somewhat restricted aspect of soul (anima) or spirit {spirito
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II Trapassanda talora ~r alcune false. tenerrdo ~,b 10 cor.
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then to hearing as solos madrigals published (originally) displeasing anywhere in Italy: nowadays anyone who
for multiple voices, they did not think a soprano part wants to compose for a solo voice uses this style. And
sung by itself alone could have any affect whatsoever, particularly here in Florence, where I have already
without the artful interrelationships of [all) the parts.) spent thirty-seven years in the service of Their Most
Upon my return to Florence I reflected on the fact Serene Princes," thanks to their bounty anyone wishing
that also at that time certain canzonets were common to do so has been able to see and hear at his pleasure
among musicians, for the most part with despicable all that I have continued
., to do on the basis of such
words that appeared unseemly to me and were depre experiments.
cated by men of sensibility. And it occurred to me, as a In both madrigals and airs I have always sought to
way of occasionally relieving depression, to compose imitate the ideas behind the words, It trying to find those
I~ some canzonets in air style that could be used in con
cert with stringed instruments. Having communicated
notes of greater or lesser affect (depending on the feel
ings of the texts) and of particular grace. As much as
this thought of mine to many gentlemen of the city, possible I have hidden the art of counterpoint. ( have
I was courteously gratified by them with many can formed chords" on the long syllables, avoiding them on
zonets in verses of various meters, as also later by the short, and I have observed the same rule in making
Signor Gabriella Chiabrera," who favored me with a passaggi, although for a bit of decoration 1 have
great many, quite different from all the rest, offering sometimes used, mainly on short syllables, a few eighth
me a fine opportunity for variety. All of these, set by notes for as long as a quarter of one tact us or a half
me to divers airs from time to time, were found not at the most." These are permissible since they pass by
1 JChiabrcra (1552-1637) was a humanistic poet and dramatist ( • ) =- quarter-note; croma ( l ):= eighth-note; semicroma
especially apt at court poctry. At Florence ror many years, ( : ) a. sixteenth-note; biscroma ( j ) :a thirty-second-note,
he was favored by botb Ferdinanda and Cosimo II de' Medici. With the sentence quoted. Caccini raises more issues than
He was the author of II RDpimento di Cefalo and other work.s he clarifies. In his time, battuta signified tact us, " • measure
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set by Caccini, including some of the songs of Le NuoW!MusicJae. ment of time irrespective of musical tempo or sense of meter
As Caccini hints, he was an important force behind a reform that was often designated by a down-up motion of the hand.
of Tuscan poetry. on Greek models. regular or irregular. But the sum of note-values that rowe:
··Caccini is claiming to have served the Mcdici since 1565. equal one taetus (T) in the latcr sixteenth century varice:
Although it is unlikely he would exaggerate thus publicly, depending partly on the timc signature, partly on its inter
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quickly and are not ptWQggi but merely an additional employed, let it be done according to some rule ob-
bit of grace, and also because with good judgment served in my works and not either by chance or ac •
there are exceptions to every rule. cording to contrapuntal practice. This is what usually
I said above that "vocal roulades are iU used" as a comes to mind first, when one wants to sing works as
reminder that passagg; were not devised because they solos (and thus be stylish), in the conviction that
are essential to good singing style but rather, I believe, counterpoint will be sufficient. But to compose and
as a kind of tickling of the ears of those who hardly sing well in this style, understanding of the [poet's]
understand what affective singing reaUy is. If they did conception and sensitivity to the text (plus imitating
understand, pasSQggi would doubtless be loathed, there them through affective music and expressing them
being nothing more inimical to affective expression. through affective: singing) are much more useful than
Thus did I speak of those long vocal roulades as being counterpoint, The latter I usc only to adjust the two
f' : ill used, even though they are indeed adopted by me for
use in less affective pieces, and on long syllables-not
parts to each other, to avoid certain egregious errors,
and to link certain dissonances -and more to match
short! -and in final cadences. A propos such roulades, the affect than to be artful. Indeed, it is clear that an
there remains necessary only the observation tba as air or madrigal composed in this style, with a taste
for vowelS~l e vowe II as a better effect in the soprano for the ideas of the words, (and beard] from someone
voice than in the tenor, the vowel i bett~~ in the tt!~or with a good singing style, will make a better impression
tIlilDU: the o~are all in common usc. although of and win give greater delight than another full of con
. urse illc·op;n ones are much more sonorous than the trapuntal art; of this there is no better proof than ex-
closed, just as they are more suitable and easier for perience itself.
practicing control." And if these roulades must still be CUCh. then, were the reasons that led me to such a ~
manner of barrios his music suggests that he does not distin on key words like mora, ardori, S~1M, and the like (see (2J9
guish between ¢ and C. Most commonly, he bars his usual ¢ meas, n, 70; (4), meas. 11-19,61-68; [7], meas. JJ, 62; (9),-meas.
time in units of two semibrcves (¢ •• 1~ ~ ~ 1.1, for instance). 29-30; etc.), we find such figures almost exclusively of the •
Since barlines often are used to demark the taetus in music of value of a .snrl;min;mtl or a minimtl, or in other words one-
this period, such barriol sugests that 28 :=- T in ¢ time in quarter or one-half of a semibreve. This is as true of the songs
U Nuov« MUJicM. However, dotting the pages of Caccini's in C time as in ¢ time, which lends further weight to the sup-
collection ate "measures" of one semibreve's value (¢ ~ ~ I. position that Caccini did not really distinguish between the
for instance). appcariol almost invariably one at a time; or, two signatures and that for him S ~ T.
occasionally. or three semibreves' value. Putnam Aldric, to aper esercitare la dispos;z;onr. Caccini may mean "place
have been written in ImtpO IftIlgKiorr ;mperfelto, c. with S = Giovanni Luca Conforto's use of the term. In his Br~y~ et
tadus, and does, in fact appear under this sign on another facit« maniera d'essercitorsi . . . a far ptlssogg; (Rome, 1593),
paae of the same manuscript." Coaforto writes that he is aware that &&ooly in the great cit Res
That Caccini's pieces in ¢ time "sbould have" been written and at princely courts is practiced that manner of singing with
in C may also be sUllcsted by approaching the matter from beauty and disposiziont!" (solo nelle Citta ,rond;, & nell« corti
the opposite direction: by surveyinl the songs of U NIIO"~ M Princ;pi, si U.JQ il modo di cantor cD va,Itt!ZZG, t! dispositione}.
Musiclle to see how long. in fact, tire Caccini's Ubits of decora Later, he says that he aims to offer a singing method Uwith
tion ... on short syllables." Since he is at pains to aver that which all those who sing may, in less than Iwo months. ac
they are not JHUSDggi (as if some might claim them to be), we quire a good and attractive disposizioM, singing all the notes
<=an assume he is speakinl or those figures in short note-values, securely" (CO" la quale potranno tutti qwl/;, eM cantano, iff
generally proceeding by seale-degrees, often tumin. about a IMno 4; duoi m~siJfar Qcqui.sto di bona, &I Iru;oJra dispositione
single tone, that arc obvious elaborations or simple melodic cantand« sopra 'IItt~ te "O,~ ferme ). See Srr," tf facile maniem
motions. Excluding those "short" syllablcs-that is. unaccented ... (facs.; Berlin, 1922), fols, I r and •• of the "Dichiara
Ones--that carry elaborate ptlSSQKX; for "affectivc'· reasons zione" following the music.
47
kind of song for a solo voice, and where, and on what light in the present notes and comments, with the
syllables and vowels, one should employ roulades. intention of demonstrating how much is involved in
Now it remains to say whi- vocal crescendos-and~ making a profession of solo singing to the archlute"
decrescendos, esclamaiionT,tremolos and trills, anit- or another stringed instrument, even provided that
the other aforementioned eflects are hlndlscrlmlnately one is already acquainted with its technique and plays
used." In fact, they--may be said to be Indlscnmlnalely adequately. Not that in some respects it cannot also
used whenever they are employed, both in affective be acquired by long practical experience, as many,
music (where they are more necessary) and in dance men and women alike, are seen to have done, if only
songs. The source of this defect, if I am not mistaken, to a certain degree. And yet the theory [embodied]
lies in the musician S not really having mastered be
9 in these writings is essential up to that degree.
forehand the matter he wishes to sing; for if he had, In the singer's profession (above all), particular
unquestionably he would not fall into such errors. details are of no account; it is the whole that counts.
And the one who even more easily falls into them is To proceed in order, therefore, I will say that the first
he who, basing a wholly affective singing style (so to and most important foundation !s a vocal intonation>
speak) on a general rule that vocal crescendos-and on all the notes not only such as to avoid flatting a~d
decrescendos and esclamazioni are the basis of affect, sharping but to have a good style. Since two [kinds of
uses them in every sort of music, whether or not the attack] are generally in use, we shall view both and
. words require them. Whereas those who thoroughly show with the kind of commentary I mentioned which
understand the ideas and the feelings of the words of them seems to me the more appropriate, for the
recognize these failings; they know how to distinguish results it producesLThere are indeed some who in
more than the applause of the ignorant public. forth the voice with grace. As for the first, not only
This art will not suffer mediocrity, and the more can it not be a general rule since it is discordant with
exquisite details there exist for its perfection, the more many harmonies, but even where it can be used it has
labor and diligence must we who profess the art invest become such a commonplace (and also because some
in every work-and also love, which is what has moved stay too long on the third below, whereas it should be
me (seeing that in every science and every art we are scarcely suggested) that instead of having grace I
enlightened by writings) to leave this little glimmer of should say it were rather unpleasant to the ear and
aCJaitarrone, sometimes also called arciliuto. Along with one. The theorbo, with its squat and solid structure, couh
the tiorba (theorbo), the ckitarron« came into existence in the accommodate thicker strings, with greater tension, than th
latter half of the sixteenth century in response to the need for chitarrone; the latter's tone was thus slighter by comparisor
an orchestral or accompanimentallute with an extended bass Sec Natale and Franco Gallini, Comun~ di Milano: Mus~
range. Both instrumcnts differed from the normal lute in having d~gl; strumenti musical}: Catalog» (Milan, 1%3). 107.
extra bass strings off the fingerboard, thus of single pitches. uL·;ntonQzione tklla voce. In this sentence, Caccini uses tt
A Pisan arcblute of 1571 in the Milan museum has eight such term in two senses: first in the sense of accurate pitch-plac
bass strings off the fingerboard, six on it; a beautiful Venetian ment ("to avoid ftatting or sharping"), then in the sense of tl
archlute of 1593 built by Magno Dielfopruchar-on commis approach to • note, the attack Cato have a good style"). TI
sion, according to an old inventory, from the Duchy of Mantua discussion that follows is concerned with several modes
as a aift to Montevttdi-has six bass strings ofrthc fingerboard,
attack; the context makes it clear that Caccini is not in fc
five double courses and a single uppermost string on it. Where
speaking of "all tbe notes" <as he says in this sentence) ~
l
as the dlitarrone accommodated the extra bass strings by an
extension of the neck. to a second peg-box (the length of the mainly of ~hrasc-bcginnings. The ··first note" is mention.
whole instrument sometimes approaching two meters), the but that this docs not mean only the very beginning or a so
thcorbo had a second peg-box set laterally alongside fhe usual is made obvious by his discussion and examples.
•,
~J
)
48
[
ought to be used but seldom, especially by beginners." crescendo; for in the. first manner-the [attack with a]
,-'~ I should rather choose, as more unusual, the second: crescendo-to make an esclamazione one must after
that of the crescendo. And yet I have never been content relaxing the voice crescendo even more, and thus, I say,
within ordinary boundaries accepted by others; rather does it seem strained and coarse. But a wholly different
have 1 always proceeded to seek out all the novelty result is obtained by [an initial] decrescendo, since at the
I could, provided that the novelty be such as to facilitate point of relaxation giving it just a bit more spirit will
attaining the goal of music, namely to give delight and make it ever more affective. Aside from this, by using
to move the affect of the soul. Thus have I found to sometimes now one, now the Slther, variety may also
be a more affective manner an attack that is the opposite be achieved; and variety is most essential to this art,
of the other: that is, to begin singing with a decrescendo, provided it be directed to the aforesaid goal.
then on to an esclamazione, which is the most basic Now, if the major source of grace in singing so as to
means of moving the affect. Now, an esclamazione be able to move the affect of the soul be true under
is really nothing but a certain strengthening of the standing as to where 'one should employ the affects,
and if this be demonstrated with many vivid arguments,
~<:.
Esc,;;;aziofte Esc/Clmauonc fY1.uN-r~? "J-!::"
" languida pi", vatJCI
;;
,
Cor__ mio, non lan- gui reo
;;
[.)
•
I
sui- reo
['J
[Example A]
~ccini is harsh on the practitioners of an attack which monplace is suggested by Bovicclli's discussion of attacks,
approaches the main note from a third below. However, one written a few years before Caceini's, in which he counsels only
of the most common decorative figures in the songs of Le the approach from below. Unlike Caccini, he counsels explicitly
Nuove MUS;CM is precisely one in which a principal note is that the lower third be held as long as possible before the rise
approached from a lower third (with an intervening lower to the written note: "the longer you hold the first note, the
second): typical patterns are -..g,.l , --W- . ~ .
L
and the like, characteristically occurring at the bclin~gs of
phrases or on accented words and syllables. This figure may
shorter the second, the more grace wiII the voice gain (quanto
U
piu st t;e,,~ Itl primo nota, ~ 10 seconda ~ piu veloce, si dll anco
maglior ,ralia alia voce), Giovanni Battista Bovicelli, R~go/~.
derive. at least, from the lower-third attack-intono2;on~ d is paSSQrgi di musica . . . (Venice, 1594), II.
paraged by Caccini as a "commonplace." That it was a com au 'loci fint«. Sec note 47 below.
49
one carries them into practice (by which one becomes of song, as usually conveyed by the air itself; although
•
more perfect in all the arts, but particularly in the occasionally some esclamazione may occur, the same
profession of the tx:rfect singer, whether man or sprightliness should be maintained, with no affect
woman). smacking of lethargy introduced.
That we realize how necessary for the musician a
1 ( Now, then, one can experiment with the example
J
\~ 1
I above [Example Al t with the words "Cor mio, deh, certain judgment is, which sometimes must prevail
non languire?" below it, to see with what greater or over (rules of] art as over other things, may also be
lesser grace one can make attacks in the manner cited seen in the example above [Example A): on the second
I above. Thus one can begin "Cor rnio" by making a syllable of the word "Ianguire," bow much more
gradual decrescendo on the first dotted half-note and grace the first four eighth-notes have, with the second
swelling the voice with a little more spirit on the falling lengthened by a dot, than the last four equal ones
quarter-note; a quite affective esclamazione will result, (marked "Per esempio")! Indeed, there are many
even on a note that falls by step. Much more spirited things used in good singing style that arc written in
[an esclamazionet will arise, however, on the word one way but, to be more graceful, arc effected in quite
"deh," from the fact that its note does not fall by another (whence some are said to sing with more, some
step; it will also be very sweet by virtue of its continua : with less, grace). Hence I must now demonstrate first
tion with a major [sic] sixth which falls by leap. I wanted how the tremolo and the trill are described" by me,
to make this observation not only to show what an and how I teach them to those of my household who
esclamazione is, and whence it arises, but to show that arc concerned with such matters, and then in addition
it can be of two degrees, one more affective than the all the other 1110st essential effects, so that no exqui
i
other depending partly on ODe or another of the modes i siteness observed by me go without demonstration.
of intonation herein described, partly on imitation of L.
the word (but only when its meaning relates to the
Trillo
general concept [of the textj), I would add that in all
affective pieces e.s~.'~'!'i!:z;on; ~ay_ as a general rule be Pi---" ~i II
used <?D _al_~ __ ~a~f-notcs and dotted quarter-notes that
descend;" and they win be more affective if the follow
ing note is short. They arc not to be made on whole
notes, which offer more room for a crescendo-and
I1'This is the first line of a madrigal by Giovanni Battista nature of an ~sc/amQz;onr (if still by indirection). Here as
Guarini (1538-1612),· see his RiIM (Venice: Ciotti, 1621). 296. elsewhere in the preface, crescendo-and-decrescendo t il crescere
Luzzasco Luzzaschi published a setting of the poem for two ~ scemare /kilt! WJU) is spoken of as if it were a sing/~ thing,
sopranos and basso continuo; see Luzzasehi. M adrigali . . . one type of ornament; it also takes lime, e.g., the whole-note
(1601), eel. Adriano Cavicchi; Monumenti di Musica Italiana, mentioned here. It might then be represented as ~ ::::::=- .
Ser. 11. Vol. II (Brescia: L'Organo, 1965), 45-47. An t'scltmtllzioM, in addition to being an opposite sort of
SCaccini's phrase-tut't' It' ".iII~, t' ~miminirM col pilo ornamcnt- "a strengthening of the relaxed voice," which must
per d;.scld~,~is ambiguous. He may be referring only to the involve essentially a decresccndo-and-crescendo-rcq uires less
J. J pattern discussed in the example above <and appearing time. Perhaps it coukl be represented by :>, <:: sft . The
often in those below, as well as in the sonp); that is, col plUllo t'SCltmUU;OM also seems to involve matters of vocal relaxatio D
may modify min;~ only. My translation takes his word-order .s. intensity (having little to do with dynamics] which cannot
at face value. be represented graphically (and with some difficulty verbally').
-And yet twice in his model madrigal [Example F, measures ,. MIU;c~ oriose, b Ctl"zO"~I1~ II ballo.
2-3. 3S] Caccini indicates an t'sclamozioM on whale-notes. nCaa:ini's verb (.scr;Yer~) can mean ....to describe" or, in
Nevertheless, with this sentence he makes clearer the real the usage of his time, "to write." In the passage that follows,
•
so
r
The tremolof written by me on a single note is If it is true that experience is the best teacher, I can
•
r: demonstrated ill this way for no other reason than that, state with some assurance that no better way to teach
in teaching it to my first wife and now to the one who them can be found, nor a better way to describe them,
, daughters," I observed no other rule
is living with/my than is given here for both.
(
than that w~ich is written out {for both [the tremolo The tremolo and the trill arc necessary steps for
\
and the trj~i.e., to begin with the first quarter-note, many things here written out, effects with that grace
the~be~ch note with the throat on the vowel Q, most sought after in good singing. Yet, as noted above,
up to the final double-whole-note; and ~.e~lse'the trill. written in only one way or another, they give a result
How excellently the tremolo and the trill were learned opposite to what is usual. Thus I shall not only show
by my late wife with the above rule may be adjudged how they may be used but shall also illustrate all the
by those who heard her sing during her life, as also I said effects in two ways with the same note-values.
leave to the judgment of those who can [now] hear Thus, as repeated above several times, we may yet
my present wife how exquisitely they are done by her. realize that from these writings together with actual
L
I I
\l.~~' ,
ta '"
t,
:: 2
{Example C}
f.
Ui
he seems to be "describing" the way he teaches the tremolo nature of the device; it also was not unprecedented in Caccini's
and the trill (by "writing" them out that way), not the way he day: both Zacconi (Prall;CQ· tli musica, 1592) and Bovicelli
performs them. In ra~ the gradually accelerating tremolo he (R~go~, ,ossagg; di musica, 1594) use tremolo to denote the
both writes and describes in this passage is slightly less common repeated single-note embellishment, although Conforto lBrev«
in the music examples and songs than an even tremolo with ~, fDC;'~ maniera d'essercitarsi ... Qfar pQssaggi, 1593) antic
notes of equal value: compare (Example 0-31, (9). measure 54. ipates Caccini's use of trillo. Playford adds to his translation of
and [I i-b), measure 21-all accelerating tremolos-with (Exam the preface a lengthy notc on the tremolo; sec Strunk. Sourer
ple D-4J. (Example 0-71, [Example EJ. measure 8. and (14). R~odin'J in Music History, 391.
measure II4-all even-note tremolos. Of course. many more JSCaccini's first wife. Lucia, his daughters Franccsca and
1
tremolos. to be made on notes of various lengths. are indeter Settimia, and his second wife Margherita were all well-known
minate since they arc indicated only verballyI
singers (as was his son Pompeo); Francesca was a not-in
-As is well-known, Caccini's word is trilla (and his word for considerable composer as well.
trill, as found below. is gruppo). "Tremolo" better sugacsts the I&URe-striking with the throat."
51
•
'.f
1
-e - -
: :: ::
.15
'0
:: z Casctu« dop 3'
ia
I,
';
2 Casca'd sce,n~.tJ 'I I,
I
;:
~
practice all the beauties of this art may be learned. [more examples] are written out below [Examples
Since we see from the examples written above D, E, and F) with words and with a bass part for
in two ways [Example C] that those with the number archlute; by practicing them and the others, one may
"2" have more grace than those numbered 1t " to U train oneself in every most affective turn [of phrase]
enable us to gain greater experience of them some and thereby gain greater perfection.
I~_'~.
..
Cor _ mio
[Example D-/]
II • 10 .t 1.0
[Example D-l)
39
II '10.-6 ,
[Example D-3]
• 52
[' ,,;110
(
I
deb._- non
{Example D-4]
1.0- gui-
6 II liD 14
re
r eJclamazi.one a!!r"uostJ
non lI u i - re
r
L [Example D-5]
['J II '10 14
•
',illo
r (6]
{Example D-6]
, S II '10 , '10
{'rilloJ
Jruppi ,,;110 IgruppiJ
(
\
R
Pilr
.rlllo
•
IlruPPol
L to.
t] [Example D-7]
(casca,aJ
[6J ,
(Example D-8)
, .. '10
, U"'
0010
53
•
-
r expose the tones too much (since for the most part
they usuaUy offend the ear). Rather must one use
[the breath] to give more spirit to vocal crescendos
the
note
notes [of the harmony] indicated [and Dot the bs
again], this being (if I am not mistaken) me
fitting to the proper usage of the archlute (and t
·_ and-decrescendos, esclamazioni, and all the other effects easiest way to manage and play it), granted that tl
1
........
we have demonstrated: let one make sure not to faU instrument is more suitable for accompanying t
short in a pinch. From the falsetto voice no nobility voice, especially the tenor voice, than any other. F
of good singing can arise; that comes from a natural the rest, I leave to the decision of the more expert t
voice, comfortable through the whole range, able to repetition in the bass of those notes that may ha
be controlled at will, [and] with the breath used only to greater significance or that will be a better accompai
demonstrate mastery of all the best affects necessary ment for the solo voicc-not being able, so far as
for this most noble manner of singing. know, to write it out more clearly except in .tablatui
The love for this manner, and indeed for aU music, As for the aforementioned inner parts, special noti
that bums in me by natural inclination and by the should be given to Antonio Naldi, called "Il Bardella
studies of many years, will excuse me for having gone most gracious servant of Their Most Serene Hig
further than befits one who esteems the learning of nesses, as he has truly been their inventor.... Just as
something no less than he esteems the imparting of is considered by all to be the most excellent of the
that which he has learned, [and] further' than befits the who up to the present have ever played a like instr
respect I have for all those who profess this art. A ment, so by their emulation of him do testify the pi
thing of great beauty and delight. by nature, [the art fessionals and others who enjoy playing the archlu
of music] becomes something to be admired and gains Had only there not happened to him what has so oft
the love of others wholly when those who possess it, happened to others!-namely, that some seem asham
exercising it often both through teaching and delight to have learned from the discipline of another, as
ing others with it, reveal it as a sample, a veritable everyone could be or ought to be the inventor of ;
image, of those ceaseless heavenly harmonies from things, and as if man's genius were thus robbed of t
which come aU good things on earth, arousing the minds capacity to go on discovering new disciplines to t
of its listeners to the contemplation of the infinite own glory and the benefit of all.·
wandering here and there, give me news of their benign light, cited as an accompanist for the celebrated singer Vitto
for I die. Archilci.
-fA rt!spuaz;oM .1 jialD. -caccini apparently had second thoughts about this til
.7Le roc; finte. In context, Caccini seems to be arguing for paragraph, and it was omitted in the 1607 and 161S editic
use of the chest register (voc« P~1IIJJ r IIIJllUalr) as against the (the only other ones) of U N&IO~ Musi~. Playford (or
head register Ivoc« finlll,· literally, "feigned voice". anonymous translator) must have bad access to one of th.
tlNaldi was at the Medici court in Florence in the late six editions. Dot the first, for this paragraph is not included in 1
teenth and early seventeenth centuries as player of the ch;ttm'~ seventeenth-century English version, nor of course in
or tiorba romana, which he is said to have invented. He is often reprinting by Strunk in Source R~Qdings in Music Hi$IOTY.
56
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:iii
11111 ~
Christoph Bernhard Von der Singekunst oder Manier (c 1649) will be applicable
to Carissimi, Schuetz and especially to German religious music of the time...
the prevailing style of the time was called stylus gravis. This style uses only
four figures - in modern terminology the passing note, auxiliary note,
suspension and prepared appoggiatura. To these four Bernhard added 15
additional figures, including most of the dissonances associated with
17th-century style. He named Monteverdi as the founder of this style and added
several of his Italian successors, including Carissimi, Scacchi and his own
colleagues in Dresden, Albrici, Bontempi and Peranda. He named only three
Germans, Schlitz, Kerll and the younger Forster.
Stylus luxurians theatralis is used mostly in theatrical productions; the
leading exponents of it are contemporary Roman musicians, and no Germans are
listed. Here language is the absolute master of music, and Bernhard's
discussion includes suggestions for word-painting and other non-dissonant
rhetorical devices as well as the addition of seven more figures. In 1670
Schlitz requested him to compose a motet for his funeral to the text Cantabiles
mihi erant justificationes tuae, which, to Schutz's great approval, he set for
five voices in the stylus gravis. Bernhard's motet was performed at Schlitz's
funeral in 1672 but was subsequently lost. Bernhard's compositions consist
almost entirely of sacred vocal music.
Bernhard's other sacred vocal works are of equally high quality. Composed in a
variety of styles, they include masses and motets in the stylus gravis, many
'.
small and large sacred concertos and a few concerto-aria cantatas
Manier==ornaments
Cantar sode has the following ornaments:
1. Fermo-straight tone?
2. Forte
3. Piano
4. Trillo
5. Accento
6. Anticipatione della syllaba
7. anticipatione della nota
8. Cercar della nota
9. Ardire
fermo straight or steady tone required on all notes unless trillo or ardire is
applied. Tremulous singing is a defect -Elderly singers feature the tremulo
because they have not choice.
Piano e forte-dynamics are important. messa di voce is used on long notes.
Forte (alone) is used on notes of shorter value. If the messa di voce is not
done gradually it will sound abonimable. On short notes-more often thatn note
one begins with a piano and ends with piano.
Trillo-without one cannot be a good singer. Can be made in the throat /head or
in the chest/belly. should not sound like a bleat when in the throat. Should
• be sung when a 't' is found in the music. Should not be overuse. It is nice to
employ messa di voce on long trillos and to create echo effects ( see example 3)
Accento is used on descending notes, repeated notes and closing notes. Cannot
be used on two successive notes. only on Long syllables. Last syllabel fa a
song
Anticipatione della syllaba (like a tierce de coule) is used in stepwise motion
•
but more rarely when the notes rise or fall a third. -even more rarely when
they fall a 4th 5th or 6th and most rarely when they rise a 4th 5th or 6th.
see example 6 p. 17. and example 7 p. 18
Anticipatione della nota-is employed when notes rise or fall a second. See
example 9 page 18.
Cercar della nota-means searching out of notes and is marked by ICI .used
beginning or during the course of a phrase. The note immediately below the
written one is glided up to the written one. Pavarotti. Can be used between
two notes of the same pitch or between leaprs. Examples lOp. 18 and Eg 11 p.
19.
READ p. 19 in TOTALITY
•
t
READ p. 20 # 26 with the CLASS! !!
"
On
Von der Sing-Kunst oder Manier
\
The kind of ornamentation that d~parts from the notes is called
can tar passagiato ( "singing with melismatic paaaage s " ) •
..:. ....
4. In addition each kind of ornamentation is called after
the place where it is liked best. The first is called cantar
alla Romana, the second a11a Napolitana, and the third alla
LOmbarda. These kinds will be explained one after the other.
5. The style of ornamentation adherin~ to the notes called
cantar sodo , is called atraight or even singing because it
does not depart ~rom the notes in melismas, but divides each
note according to its particular grace.
6. .Th~ devicp~ to be used in this are the following :
1) fermi, 2) forte, 3) pi;}o, 4) trillo, S) accento, 6) anti-
ci~atione gella s~llab~, anticipatione della nota, 8) cer
car della not_, 9 ard1re. .
7. The fermo or holding firm" of the voice is required on
all notes except1ng where the trillo or ardire is used. The
orna~nt of the ferrno must particularly be thus understood be
cause the tremulo ( except on the organ, on which all the voices
can tremulo together , where for the sake of variety it sounds
pi 'ie . f P ~
12. The trilla 18 the hardest but also the most graceful
e .F
ornament, and no one can be c0nsidered a ~ood singer who does
not know how to use it. However it is imposRible to dpscribe
with words how it is learned; it must be learnerl through hear
in~ , so thar its prpcise method may h~ learned. It may be
noted howev~r that it sometimes ori~inates fro", the chest voice
and so~etimes comes from the throat or hearl. Further, not
all trillos can be sung from the chest, where they are best sung,
but must be sing in the throat ( com~only thp hi~hest). Above
all, strict attention must be paid that in making the trilla
it will not be unsteady so that it becoP'eS a bleating. There
is a1.so this to observe, that it is not good to make it so
short that the listener can not notic~ it, so that it is not
done at its best. When it is well started it should be per
mitt~d to be as lilJ8tas it is possible to make it, and it will
be the moremoving and wonderful. Moreover it ahou Ld not be
pe r-fo rme d too f a s t; , the voice a ho u Ld be permitted to f Loa t
also 1t . should not be too slow. If a choice had to be made' but
I woulrl rather hear it too fast than too slow, but the medi~n
C'- .
between them will be the baqt.
•
•• 13. The trillo is done ever~here 8 T is marked ( the sign
by which it is indicated). It may be perform:d in other ~laces
upon consideration. It is more through pract1ce a~d hear1ng
that its place is learned than thr~ugh.prece~ts WT1tten ~own,
which take a singer's freedom. This d1scret1on about Wh1Ch
notes upon which to perform trillos is an ability to choose.
It is well to remember that it should not be done too often,
for it is much the same as with sausages , when frugally made
with spices they are agreeable. Too many should not be done,
especially in the beginning. This is our first care, express
ed in this place, but applying to all the kinds of ornaments
to be explained. Their use can better be learned bV exercise.
A- A II -r
17. ,. Used once " means that between two notes following
each other, only one may be ornamented with an accento the
other remains without accento, but a third note following this
may have an accento.
18. Only those syllables that in speech are long permit an
accento , and those that are short in spepch must not have an
accento. However, the last syllable of a word, even though it
would not bear an emphasis in speech, may have an accento.
19. AntictJ;atione della syl1.aba is sip;nified by an Sand
(as the name s we) is an ornament which causes the sVllable of
the second note to be sung on a (rhythmic)subdivision of the
4
If
,
which may be sung,
approximately: ~
the end of the first not~, and may be seen in the example above.
note is sun~ on part of the time of the first note on the pitch
as .
.• - - - • ., - - . I
ded as follows:
The last kind , when the note rises a fourth, etc. is almost
•
21. Anticipatione della nota is, as the name shows also
and the last part of it takes the pitCh of the second; also
It
.,
23. Cercar della nota means a search for the note and
is signified by a C. '
("
<,
•
5
~ ~} rl:~ ~-iEE
In the middle of the phrase it can be used between conjunct
as well as disjunct notes. If the not~s are conjunct, proceed
from the first to the s~cond through e1ther the tone above or
the tone be low.
If the notes rise or fall a third, the cercar della nota is used
in the following way :
~ 0
~.
25. The ardire is a tremulo that is made on the last note
of a phraRe. This ardire is used by f~w except basses. It
is well to remember that on the La at note of a piece tha t is
called the final it ahou l.d not be u sed ,
These in short arp the Manier which are called Ro~ana,
•
(~
which each and every musician , instrumentalist as well as sin
g~r , should use.
6
•
26. Cantar al1a Napo1itana or d'affetto is a manier
proper only to singers ••••
21. It consists of the singer observing the text assi
duously and after instructions, modifying the VQ1Ce accordingly.
•
Nauwach, Johann
Nauwach's two collections of songs are an important link between Italian monodies and
the emerging German continuo lied of the 1630s. The Italian Arie (1623) are heavily
influenced by Caccini, d'India and other monodists; as in Le nuove musiche there are
through-composed madrigals (including an elaborately ornamented version of Caccini's
own Amarillii and strophic dance-songs in AABB form. The musically superior 1627
volume, the first German collection of continuo lieder, is an anthology of various
italianate and older German song types and some immediate precursors of the mid-17th
century lied. It includes a set of strophic variations for two voices and continuo based on
the rornanesca, a madrigal-like lied with embellishments and a three-part villanella or
strophic, syllabic dance-lied, all of them similar to Italian models. Wer von Amor ist
arrestirt, a solo SOIlg, is a setting of a traditional strophic poem and except for the
continuo part could belong to the solo lied tradition of the previous century. Nine poems,
• however, are reform verses by Opitz, and at least four look forward to those found in the
continuo lieder of Albert and his imitators.
WORKS
Edition:
Das deutsche Sololied und die Ballade, ed. H.J. Moser, Mw, xiv (1957~ Eng. trans., 1958)
BIBLIOGI{APHY
.I.H. Baron: Foreign Influences on the German Secular Solo Continuo Lied in the Mid
•
Seventeenth Century (diss., Brandeis U., 1967) AUTI-IOI{: JOHN H. BARON
© Oxford University Press 2007
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