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L'armonia sonora: Continuo Orchestration in Monteverdi's orfeo Author(s): Stephen Stubbs Source: Early Music, Vol. 22, No. 1, Monteverdi II (Feb., 1994), pp. 86-89+91-93+95-98 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3128484 . Accessed: 17/11/2014 09:47
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matters Performing
StephenStubbs

L'armonia in

sonora:

continuo

orchestration

Monteverdi's Orfeo

n performing Italian music of the early 17th century, the modern interpretermust often answer the question, 'Which instrument or combination of instruments should realizethe bass?'Severalpublications from the first decade of the 17thcentury shed light on the norms and expectations of execution and instrumentation of the basso continuo in various kinds of music, but only the score of Monteverdi's Orfeo gives us a series of indications for the changing orchestration of the bass in a specific musical context. To understand fully the meaning of these indications we should first review the most important information from other sources. Lodovico Viadana, in his Centoconcertiecclesiastici(Venice, 1602), claims to be responding to the practicalneeds of church musicians in composing music for one to four voices with a bass line for the organ ('con il Basso continuo per sonar nel Organo Nova Inventione'). His important rules for the execution of the bass mention no medium other than the organ. Giulio Caccini, in his foreword to Le nuove musiche (Florence, 1602), explains the aims of 'the new music' for solo voice and basso continuo. To achieve the desired effect of musical speech (in armonia favellare),these compositions must be performedwith a certain noble This humanist term, borrowed from Castiglione'sII cortesprezzatura. giano (1528),is difficult to translate,but Caccini'sfurtherinstructions StephenStubbsis professor of make it clear that he means a stylisticallyinformed freedom to adapt lute and historical performance tempo, dynamics, rhythm and ornamentation in orderbetter to serve practicesat theAkademie fir the meaning of the text.' In keeping with this flexibility of perforAlte Musikand the Hochschule der Kunstein Bremen.He is mance, Caccini saysthat the singer may sing to the accompanimentof also the directorof the ensemble a single chitarroneor other string instrument (contemporarymanuwhich has recently Tragicomedia, issuedtwo Monteverdirecordings. scripts containing Caccini'smonodies with tablaturefor lute make it clear that this was a common alternative)2without being forced to He has directedstagedperformaccommodate himself to others. Caccini may have self-accompaniancesof all threeofMonteverdi's extant operas. ment in mind here, although not exclusively,as he goes on to praise
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the particular skill in accompaniment of Antonio Naldi, an earlychitarroneplayer.In the entire foreword, only the chitarroneis specificallymentioned for the realization of the bass, and in one phrase Caccini calls the continuo 'il Basso per lo Chitarone',just as Viadana had called his 'il Basso continuo per sonar nel Organo'.Caccini says that the chitarrone is the instrument best suited to accompany the voice (in particularthe tenor voice). Combinations of instruments simultaneously realizing the bass (if this was indeed the form of notation used) are recorded as early as the intermedi to Bargagli'sLa pellegrina at the Florentine wedding celebrations of 1589.3 Vittoria Archilei sang once to a large lute and two chitarroni,and at another point to a lute, a chitarrone and a lirone. On the same occasion Peri sang to a single chitarrone and Caccini played the harp; both composed music for the celebrations, as did Cavalieri.These three were to engage in earnest competition for the glory of having invented the new style of recitar cantandoand theatricalproductions in stile rappresentativothat would result in three virtually simultaneous publications in 1600/1601-Peri's and Caccini's rival settings of Rinuccini's L'Euridiceand di Emilio de' Cavalieri's Rappresentatione Anima, et di Corpo(Rome, 1600).4 None of these publicationscontains continuo instrumentation in the scores; however, Cavalieri (who had won the race to the press) included a highly informative foreword which makes several pertinent observations. One would assume that this foreword is by the publisher, Alessandro Guidotti, who also composed the dedication to Cardinal Aldobrandino. He speaks throughout in the third person of the instructions, wishes and judgements of Signor Emilio de' Cavaliericoncerning the performance of this and similar works. However, Cavalieri'sletters reveal that he considered himself the author of this foreword. It is a document of the first importance for understanding the aesthetics and practice of the rappresentatione per recitar cantando, the genre to which Monteverdi's Orfeo belongs. The first emphasis is
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on moving the listener to experience the most diverse affetti-pity and joy, tears and laughter.The means to achieve this end are a constant variety of musical, poetic, dramaticand visual effects. In particular,as regardsour subject, 'SignorEmilio would praise the changing of instrumentationto conform to the affetto of the singer.'These instruments, in order not to be seen, should play behind the scenes and must be played well (or sonorously) and should vary in number depending on whether one plays in a theatre or chamber. He also warns that such recitationalmusic should not be played to an audience of more than 1,ooo people, as this would make it impossible to understand all of the words and might cause the singers to force their voices and lessen the affetto. To illustrate some continuo combinations, the author says that the lirone,harpsichord and chitarronemake an excellent effect toas gether,5 do the soft organ with a chitarrone.6No mention is made of where in the music one might best deploy these groupings. The only specific assignment of continuo instruments is given almost as a stage direction: 'Piacereand his two companions would do well to have instruments in their hands to play while they sing. One should have a chitarrone,another a Spanishguitarand the third a little Spanish tambourine.' The music for Piacere and his companions is in the light dance-song style which is deoften called 'canzonetta'or 'villanella', villanesca.7The copy of rived from the Neapolitan now housed at the Biblioteca the Rappresentatione Universitariain Urbino contains a few chords jotted in tablature by a (presumably) contemporary chitarroneplayer.If this was used by him as a performing score, we can deduce that the chitarrone played with both Anima and Corpo as they speak with each other in their first dialogue. What other instrumentalistsmay have played with him cannot be ascertained. We have examined the bassoper l'organoof Viadana, the practical church musician; the humanist Caccini'snew art of song to a single plucked instrument; and the touch of exoticism and worldliness in Cavalieri'sassociation of the guitar and percus-

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sion with the dance-song of Pleasure. (These three observed in Kapsberger'stablature realizations of examples also neatly representthe three main mu- the bass line printed in his Libro primo di arie sical currents which gave rise to the basso con- passeggiate (Rome, 1612). Here the texture varies tinuo.) We are now readyto proceed to that source from one to six parts; Kapsbergertakes advantage which strivesto encompass the contemporaryarray of the chitarrone'sspecial sonority by often adding of instruments for continuo and defines an aesthet- bass notes an octave below the bass line. A more difficult question is: What is the meaning ic system for their use-Agostino Agazzari'sDel of Agazzari's'instruments of ornament'? Does he sonaresopra'lbasso(Siena, 1607). Agazzari'sbook is extremelycompact; it consists really mean that players of all these instruments of just 12pages. He begins with a classificationof all (including violins) should be capable of playing the instruments which play 'overthe bass' ('sopra il their own spontaneous part or realizationabove the basso') into two groups-those of the fundament bass? and those of the ornament: Agazzari describes this function in detail with referenceto the lute: Asfoundation, there thosewhichguideandsustain are the whoeverplaysthe lute, whichis the noblest entire of bodyof thevoicesandinstruments the saidcon- Therefore, in amongthemall,mustplaynobly,withmuch whichareorgan,cembalo andsimilarly the instrument certo; etc., and and caseof fewor single voices,lute,tiorba, etc.As orna- invention variety, not, as somedo who,because arpa and ment therearethosewhichdisportthemselves play they have a facilehand, do nothingbut play runs and in the moreagree- diminutionsfrom beginningto end, especially the and counterpoints, thusrender harmony whichdo the same,when of such as the lute, tiorba, company otherinstruments ableand sonorous; arpa,lirone, and is but displeasing and nothing heard chaosandconfusion, cetera, chitarrina, violino, pandora thelike.' spinetto, offensive thelistener. to Chords are sometimesto be struck, with gentle It is quite clear what the instruments of foundasometimes slow or quickare to repercussions; passages tion are supposed to do. We have Agazzari'sown at be played,as well as imitations different pitchesand demonstration of the texture of a full keyboard at various such trilli points,alsoornaments asgruppi, and realizationin a consistently compact four-part tex- accenti, each at its appropriate entwining time with the ture. That the art of playingfully and fundamental- voiceandbringing to delight the auditors. And thatwhichI havesaidof the luteas the principal ly on the chitarronewas somewhat differentcan be
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I of instrument,wishto be understood theothersaccord- abundant use of two new signs-the arpeggio sign and the slur, which he calls strascino.The second ingto theirnature. toccata is made up entirely of arpeggios and is Agazzarigoes on to mention much more briefly entitled arpeggiata,while the firsttoccata'snotation the chief qualities of some of the other instruments is blackened by slurs, which are virtually continuand how best to bring them out. The lironemust be ous. Another prominent feature of this style is a playedwith 'long, clearand sonorous bow-strokes'; remarkably complex and subtle use of rhythm, the tiorba 'with its full and sweet consonance including semiquaver triplets. This rhythmic should have its bass strings elegantlytouched which subtlety is often used to achieve effects of acceleris the particularexcellence of this instrument';and ando and rallentando which again relate to the the arpa doppiacan play the entire compass 'as well senza battuta effects of speech-song. Another possible meaning of 'ornament', in the soprano as in the bass ... with sweet plucking and responsesbetween the two hands'. although Agazzaridoes not describethis practice,is This is all helpful in gaining a general picture of ornamentation not 'abovethe bass' but 'of the bass' the capacitiesof the instruments;it is also inspiring itself. In Stefano Landi'sopera Sant'Alessio(Rome, to realizewhat freedoms were given and what qual- 1632) the opening sinfonia is scoredfor three violins ities expected of these musicians. But what will help and a double bass-line. The lower bass in slower us to approach in detail the way in which leading values is for the harpsichord,the upper one, which musicians of the early 17th century might have is a kind of division of the bass part, is for the 'lutes, exercisedthe function of an ornamental realization harps, theorboes and violins [cellos]'.This seems to of the bass? correspond to Agazzari's fundament and ornaI believe that what we need is to be sought main- ment, but with a clear indication of ornamentation ly in the solo instrumentalliteratureof the time. In applied to the bass itself. Severalfurthersources for prefacesto collections of music for lute, chitarrone, the chitarrone confirm that this instrument was organ and harpsichord, player-composerssuch as often used as a kind of plucked division bass, as opposed to a chordal'realizer'of the bass, although Kapsberger (1604 and 1640), Alessandro Piccinini and Girolamo Frescobaldi (1637)9 described this function was also clearly filled in other situa(1623) a vocabulary of performing techniques for the tions.10 toccata which suggest a kinship to the speech-song What Agazzari does not do is differentiate one of Caccini and Monteverdi: Caccini's dichotomy musical context from another.He alwaysrefersto 'il between the through-composed madrigal and the conserto'but makes no distinction between church strophic aria with dance rhythms is reflected in and chamber;nor does he say whether his dictums these collections, with their distinction between are equally applicableto large concerted music and toccata and dance. The seeming irony that a new recitative. We learn only that the harpsichord and emphasis on serving the text should give rise to an organ should form the fundament for larger abstract instrumental style which sought to 'speak groups, whereas with few or solo voices the lute, in tones' may be explained by the fact that such theorbo or harp will serve. In one paragraph he players as Kapsberger-accompanists in the new does, however,neatly sum up the responsibilitiesof style of song playing from a basso continuoplaying the bass with a single instrument and the quickly departed from the older polyphonic mode etiquette of simultaneous realization: of thought. These performers began to think harBut everything must be done with prudence: if the for monically, and to replace the decorative division instruments accompaniment] alonein theconsort, are [of with the affective arpeggio. In his first book for theymustdo everything season consort; theyare and the if chitarrone of 1604 we are struck by Kapsberger's in company, mustregard another, one eachhis they giving
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timeandplaceandnot interfering; therearemanythey if musteachwaittheirturn:andnot actlikesparrows a in all cage,sounding at onceandseeingwhichone criesthe loudest. We might hope to find an illustration of how to employ continuo combinations in Agazzari'sown Eumelio (Venice, 16o6), a short drammapastorale, but this score is as lackingin such information as all those previouslymentioned. So, for all of Agazzari's wit and inspiration, the modern musician is left with far too many unansweredquestions about the deployment of the 'continuo orchestra'in a specific musical context. The score of Monteverdi'sOrfeo,first printed in 16o9, records the event of its first performance at the Mantuan court in 1607. No foreword such as Cavalieri's given to convey Monteverdi'sthoughts is on the execution of this or similar works, so we have nothing of a prescriptive nature, but in the orchestrallist and the many indications in the score we are given an abundanceof descriptiveinformation. Unfortunately, the description is far from complete, and neither do the list and indications agreewith one another about the exact numbers of instruments involved. But, these quibbles aside, we have much to learn from what is in the score. If we can understand the principles upon which the selection of continuo instruments was made in the places indicated, we will be able to make sound choices for the rest of the piece and for other works of the period. Let us propose a series of hypotheses about how Monteverdi and his contemporaries might have made such choices and then test them against the evidence. Role A precise continuo group might be associated with one character for the duration of his role. We have the evidence of Cavalieri'sPiacere continuo that this was sometimes done. Also a letter from Monteverdi to Annibale Iberti gives important instructions for the performance (in 1615) of his ballo Tirsie Clori: in I would have it performed a half-moon,at whose and shouldbe placeda chitarrone a harpsichord, corners

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the one playing bassforCloriandthe otherforTirsi,and in theseshouldeachhavea chitarrone theirhandsto play as theysing;if therecouldbe a harpfor Cloriin placeof that the chitarrone wouldbe evenbetter. It is perhaps important that Piacere and his companions sharewith Tirsi and Clori the element of self-accompaniment in which an unchanging accompaniment is reinforced by verisimilitude. In Monteverdi's Orfeo there are several roles which may have had a single unchanging continuo throughout. Caronte, for example, is assigned the regal in his first speech and there are no further indications to contradict this. Affetto The possibility that Monteverdi also observed Cavalieri's dictum about 'changing the instrumentation to conform with the affetto of the singer'is best demonstratedin the role of Orfeo itself. Of the 22 continuo indications in the score, nine are devoted to the accompaniment of Orfeo (table 1). The first indication for Orfeo's accompaniment does not occur until midway through Act 2, afterhe

has receivedthe news of Euridice'sdeath. Up to this point all of the continuo instrumentation for Arcadia in a mood of jubilation for the wedding of Orfeo and Euridicehas consisted of combinations of chitarroni and harpsichordsas well as violone and harp in the choruses. When the nymphs and shepherds sing 'Lasciatei monti' they are accompanied by five instruments of the violin family, three chitarroni (only two are listed in the orchestral list), two harpsichords, a harp, a violone and a small flute. The first incursion of the organo di legno comes with the dramatic entrance of Messaggiera. She is given the combination of organ and chitarrone which is also assignedto two shepherdsas they lament-'Chi ne consola, ahi lassi'. The fact that Orfeo shares this instrumentation, which Cavalieri had already mentioned as having a good effect, with other Arcadian figures in close proximity means that there is no attempt here at character differentiation through instrumentation. Perhaps we can conclude that this is a good instrumentation for Arcadians in a serious or grieving affect. If

Table1 Continuo indications Orfeo's for part
Text Continuo Act 2

1 Tu se' morta 2 Possentespirto 3 Sol tu nobileDio 4 Ei dorme 5 Mentreversan 6 Ma che odo? 7 0 dolcissimilumi 8 Ma qualeclissi
9 Questii campidi Traccia

Un organodi legnoe un Chitarone
Act3

Orfeoal suono dell'Organo legnoe un Chitarrone di Furnosonatele altripartida treViole da braccio,e un contrabasso Orfeocantaal suono del Organodi legnosolamente al Qui entranellabarcae passacantando suono del Organodi legno
Act 4

nel Qui fa strepitodietrola tela.SegueOrfeocantando Clavicembano Violada braccio,&Chittarone Qui si voltaOrfeo,& cantaal suono del Organodi legno. Violada bracciobasso,& un chitar. Qui cantaOrfeoal suono del Clavic.
Act5

Duoi Organidi legno,& duoi Chitaroni concertorno questocanto. sonandol'uno nel angolosinistrode la Sena,I'altro destro. nel

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harpsichords and chitarroni (and, on at least one occasion, the harp) accompany the nymphs and shepherds in their celebrations, there is good reason to suppose that Orfeo and Euridice have similar accompanimentsuntil the change of atmos'Ahicaso acerbo'. phere at Messaggiera's of the work is 'Possente spirto', The centrepiece in which Orfeo employs the full range of his art to mollify Caronte and gain entrance to the underworld. He is again given the basic accompaniment of organ and chitarrone, but a series of obbligato instruments (two violins, two cornetts, harp, then three-, then four-part strings in turn) underscore the particularaffect of each passage. This could be viewed as a composed illustration of Agazzari's complementary elements-the instruments of foundation and the instruments of ornament. The passage 'Sol tu nobile Dio' is particularlyinteresting, as the four-part strings holding long chords produce what is perhapsthe earliestnotated recitativo accompagnato. There is evidence that playersof violin and viola da gamba family instruments were often capable of spontaneous realizations of this nature: see, for example, Schtitz's Historia der ...
Aufferstehung ... Jesu Christ (Dresden, 1623),

Domenico Mazzocchi's Musiche sacre e morali (Rome, 1640) and, closest to our subject, the Lamento d'Arianna in the original production of
Monteverdi's lost opera in 1608.11

With all his art, Orfeo succeeds not in awakening the pity of Caronte, but at least in putting him to sleep. Here, as he sings 'Ei dorme' and again as he slips into the boat and crosses to the underworld, he is accompanied by the organ alone. This is perhaps no more than an aid to quiet stealth, and, in any case, provides the most extreme contrast with the kaleidoscopic displayof the previous passage. In Act 4 we are given the clearest idea of how quickly and dramatically the scoring can change when the emotions of the protagonist are in a mercurial state. Orfeo stops in the middle of his hymn of praise to his own 'omnipotent lyre',which has allowed him to overcome the hard hearts of Hades and win back his Euridice. He suddenly doubts

whether she is reallyfollowing him or whether he is being tricked by the gods of the underworld. He hears a noise behind him and imagines that Furies may be attackingor removing Euridice.In his fearful agitation he is accompanied here by a trio of harpsichord,viola da bracciobassoand chitarrone. As he turns and sings longingly to the fading image of Euridice he is accompanied by a single organ. The trio of instruments returns as he sings 'Ma qual eclissi ohime v'oscura?'. three changes The are packed into eight bars of music. We encounter the formula of harpsichord, viola da braccio and chitarrone for the first time in Act 2, when a shepherd reacts in surprise and bewilderment to the mournful entrance of Messaggierainto the scene of celebration. On the evidence of these three speeches it is easy to imagine that Monteverdi found the crunch, rattle and zing potential of these three instruments an excellent vehicle to convey agitated and fearful speech. Again, the intervention of the organ alone produces an effect of stasis and quiet which throws the 'agitationtrio' into greaterrelief. The final indication for Orfeo raises new questions. Two teams of organ and chitarrone are deployed on the right and left sides of the scene. Why?And what did each team play?The inclusion of echo effects in this, the longest of all Orfeo's monologues, might mean that one team was reserved for the echoes. This seems to be the least likely solution: such effects would surely be better achievedby a stage-areaensemblewith echoes from a backstageteam ratherthan the left-right distribution. Severalother sources do specify instruments that should be heardfrom behind the scene, so such a solution would havebeen available.Periand Cavalieri had specified that all the instruments were to be hidden behind the scene, but Monteverdiseems to have been interestedin the effect of some instruments on-stage and some off. The right-left distribution more likely called up the dichotomies of good and evil, heaven and hell, joy and despairthat would have been recognized by the Renaissance mind in general and which was part of Renaissance stagecraft in particular. As Orfeo arrives back in
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the Thracian fields he is indeed torn between the despairof his loss and the joys of his memory. He rhapsodizes the perfections of Euridice and bitterly condemns all other women as unworthy. This double affective content may provide us with general guidelines as to where the right- or lefthand groups are to play,but it still does not give a precise and logical way to divide the accompaniment. I am grateful to Andrew Lawrence-Kingfor the suggestion, in our many discussions of this and other Orfeo questions, that Monteverdi may have given us the clue in his shifting key signatures(with or without Bb) and tonal orientation throughout the passage. Place and atmosphere By means of general character of place and atmosphere Monteverdi creates a large-scale ABA structure for the entire work--Arcadia (Prologue, Acts 1 and 2), Hades (Acts 3 and 4), Arcadia(Act 5). The instructions for the sinfonia before Act 3 read:'Hereenter the trombones, cornetts, regals, and the violins, organs and harpsichordsare silent and the scene changes.'This can be literallyapplied only to the sinfonia at hand, as violins, organ and harpsichord are all called upon to accompany Orfeo in the following two acts. Nevertheless, this change of instrumentation (and back again before Act 5) serves as a general guideline for the sounds of the underworld. Sonority Association of sonority might be another criterion for continuo distribution. As Monteverdi expressed the desire for a harp to accompany the soprano Clori, and Caccini preferred the chitarrone for the tenor voice, it is also possible that Monteverdi found the regal a good support for Caronte's bass. Even more likely, he found both basses and regalsto be a good illustration of the underworld.On the evidence of Monteverdi's instructions here, sonority alone would seem to be a secondary concern, but one that we can use in filling in the blanks. Musical style and context Cavalieri and others associated the guitar with the lighter dance-song styles, Caccini associated the chitarrone with
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'noble' monody, and Viadana associated the organ with church music. Monteverdi'sindications allow no such stylistic division, as the chitarroneis virtually ubiquitous,the guitaris missing altogether,and the organ seems to be associated with stillness ratherthan piety. Symbolism A final, tempting criterion, that of symbolism, must be regardedwith caution. While Caronte'sregalmay be symbolic of the underworld, we should resist the temptation of seeing the harp as symbolic of heaven or the chitarroneas symbolic of Orfeo'slyre. The only obbligatopassagefor the harp is the strophe of 'Possentespirto'which reads: 'To her [Euridice],I turn my path through the dark air, not yet a hell, for wherever there is so much beauty a paradise is also there.'One might assume that the harp is there to convey the idea of heavenin hell. But the association is at least equally with the idea of Euridiceand Orfeo'slove for her. The harp is also present in the celebrationsat the beginning, where it is simply part of the pastoral (i.e. idealized earthly) pleasures of Arcadia. If the chitarrone is Orfeo's lyre, then all the nymphs and shepherds have theirs as well. Severalof the new instruments of this period are conscious evocations of the Greek lyre and kithara (prominently the lyra or lirone as well as the chitarrone), but Orfeo's lyre is more probablysymbolizedby the obbligato string groups that accompanyhim both in Arcadiaand hell. Orfeo's connection in the Renaissance mind to the bowed 'lyra'can be observed in many pictures (see illus.2); in a musical context, Domenico Belli's Orfeodolente(Venice,1616)lends furtherweight to this interpretation.Throughout this work Orfeo's speeches are framedwith four-partritornelloswith the comment: 'Orfeo sonando con la lira il seguente ritornello.'12 Conversely,one might argue that all of the string instruments in Orfeo (violins, viole da gamba, chitarroni, ceteroni'3 and harp) together and separately,representthe 'Armoniasonora de la lira del ciel' with which 'La Musica'promises from the beginning to enchant mortals' ears and arouse their souls.

1994

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Faculty
Special guests: KENNETH GILBERT, harpsichord STANLEY RITCHIE, baroque violin, and: lute SYLVAIN BERGERON, ALLAN FAST,voice flute CLAIRE GUIMOND, baroque HANKKNOX, continuo viola BETSY MACMILLAN, da gamba recorder NATALIE MICHAUD, recorder NOISEUX, JEAN-PIERRE MARIE-FRANCE RICHARD, baroqueoboe

The seer Orpheus entrances the animals with his playing; woodcut by Hans Wechtlin (c.146o0-1526)
2

Tuition
Basictuition:$285 On-campusaccommodation 29 available May through6 June a.m. (at RoyalVictoriaCollege, next to Facultyof Music) $135 (single, perweek) Meal plan; information available request. on Forinformation contact Hank Knox Facultyof Music McGill University 555 Sherbrooke StreetWest Montreal,Quebec Canada H3A 1E3 Telephone: (514) 398-4548 ext. 5683

1 For further discussion of sprezzatura see Giulio Caccini:Le nuove musiche,ed.

and lin, one harp,basstrombones wooden organs all playing inside ...

RecentResearches H. WileyHitchcock, in theMusicof theBaroque ix Era,
(Madison, 1970);N. Pirrotta,Music and theatrefrom Poliziano to Monteverdi (Cambridge, 1982);S. Stubbs, pro-

notesto theTragicomedia gramme (EMI recording Sprezzatura Classics
CDC 543122). 7
2

SeeJ.W.Hill,'Realized continuoacfromFlorence c.16oo', companiments

Earlymusic, xi (1983),pp.194-20o8.

Caccini's 3 Inthefourthintermedio wifesingingthepartof a sorceress 'took a luteshehadtherewithher,andto its of sound,andto theharmony large of lyres,of basses, viols,lutes,onevio-

this to begansweetly sing.'Whether was scoredin partsor not, a copy originally in has of thissongby Caccini survived as manuscript a monodywithcontinuo.Ifthissortof notationwasin use this forthe firstperformance, song,'Io the wouldconstitute chedalcielcader', continuomonody.At earliest surviving as theveryleast,thiswasperformed withpseudo-conpseudo-monody 'The tinuo.SeeN. Pirrotta, wondrous Musicand show,alas,of theintermedi!', theatrefrom Poliziano to Monteverdi. 4 Jacopo Peri, Le musichedi ]acopo Peri nobil Fiorentinosopra l'Euridicedel Sig. Ott. Rinuccini (Florence, 1600); Giulio

EARLY

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FEBRUARY

1994

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This content downloaded from 159.242.187.205 on Mon, 17 Nov 2014 09:47:06 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

in Caccini, L'Euridice composta musica in stilerappresentativo Giulio da Caccini detto Romano Emilio (Florence, 16oo00); de'Cavalieri, di Rappresentatione Animae di Corpo (Rome,1600). in 5 Thesinglecontinuoreference the foreword Peri's to L'Euridice statesthat musicwasplayed behindthe sceneon a a a harpsichord, chitarrone, largelyra anda largelute. 6 'Eperdarqualche lumedi quelli,che in luogosimileperprovahannoservito, unaLira un doppia,un Clavicembalo, che o Chitarone, Tiorba si dica,insieme fannobuonissimo effetto: comeancora un Organo suavecon un Chitarone.' I Cavalieri,haveusedthe Following termstiorba and (theorbo) chitarrone and interchangeably throughout have the reproduced inconsistent original of The spellings thelatter. standard modernspelling 'chitarrone'. is 7 Twopublications an impression give of howthe guitar chitarrone and might in functiontogether thisstyleas they for bothincludetablature the chitarfor roneaswellasalfabeto the guitar: Libro Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger,

primo di villanellea 1.2.&3. voci (Rome, 1610);Flamminio Corradi,Le stravaganze d'amore (Venice, 1616). 8 Many of the translations from Agazzari here are based on those in F.T. Arnold, The art ofaccompanimentfrom a thorough-bass practisedin the xviith as and xviiith centuries(London, 1931). Arnold's imposing life's work is by far the most complete and important publication on all the most important sources. In two volumes it runs to a total of 918pages. This is an essential research tool to anyone studying any aspect of the history of the basso continuo and it is much to be regrettedthat the excellent and inexpensive Dover reprint (New York, 1965)has been out of print for many years. 9 Girolamo Kapsberger,Libroprimo d'intavolaturadi chitarone(Venice, 1604); Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger, Libroquartod'intavolaturadi chitarone (Rome, 1640);Alessandro Piccinini, Intavolaturadi liuto, et di chitarrone,libro primo (Bologna, 1623);Girolamo Frescobaldi, Toccated'intavolaturadi cimbalo et organo (Rome, 1637).

sourcefor interesting 10 A particularly the questionof the texture chitarrone of is (or theorbo)accompaniment the Modena,Biblioteca manuscript Mus.G.239.Animportant Estense, articleon the sourceby MirkoCaffagni in appeared theJournal theLute of xii Society ofAmerica, (1979). del 11 A.Solerti,Glialbori i (Milan,1904)P-99. melodramma, 12 Thatthesingerportraying Orfeo realized fourthe mighthaveliterally on is partpolyphony a lirone virtually because thestrictly of impossible chordal nature thatinstrument. of He in maywellhavehadaninstrument his handsandmayevenhaveplayed as a it continuoto thestring but parts, it seemsclearthatthestrings werethere to conveytheimpression a magical of in lyre.Seen.3aboveforantecedents the intermedi. whichbearsthesame 13 Theceterone, to cittern relationship theRenaissance as the chitarrone to thelute, does here appears forthe firsttimein Orfeo It in andin theplural! doesnot appear thelistof 'Stromenti' thebeginning. at

NicholasKeen, BACantab,BPhil,ARCM

ANDREW WOODERSON
EarlyKeyboard Instruments

Anne

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Ian

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98

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1994

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oque

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