The Oxford Book of Italian Madrigals

340 Pages·1983·59.853 MB·English

by  Alec Harman (editor)

The Oxford Book of
Madrigals
Italian
BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
The Oxford Book
of Italian Madrigals
Edited by Alec Harman
Oxford University Press
Music Department
37 Dover Street
London wix AH
4
Contents
page
1ndexofcomposers iv
Foreword vii
1. Verdelot Dormend’ ungiorno(c.l535) ATBBB 2
2. Willaert Amormi famorire(1536) SAAT 7
3. Verdelot Italiamia(1538) SATBB 12
4. Willaert Quantopiùm’arde(c.1538) STTTB 19
5. Festa Cosìsoav’è’I foco(1539) SAAT 28
6. Arcadelt 11 biancoedolcecigno(1539) SATB 31
7. Noia Chilagagliarda,donna,vo imparare(Mascherata)(1541) ' SAT 34
8. Arcadelt Dormendoungiorno(1542) SAT 36
9. D. Ferrabosco Iomisongiovinetta(1542) SATB 39
10 Rore Stranerupi(1542) SATTB 43
.
11.di Maio Tuttelevecchieson maleciose(Villanella) (1546) SAT 54
12.Corteccia Quest’iotessevaequelle(1547) SAAT 56
13. Rore Ancorchecolpartire(1547) SATB 59
14. Festa IngiustissimoAmor(1551) SAT 62
15. Lassus Miabenignafortuna(1555) SAATB 65
16. Lassus Cantai,orpiango(1555) SATTB 73
17. Rore Omorte,eternofin(1557) SATTB 81
18. Rore Osonno(1557) SATB 86
19. Rore L’altosignor(1557) SSATTB 92
20 Rore Miabenignafortuna(1557) SATB 104
.
21. Wert Chisaliràperme(1558) SATB 110
22 Willaert Cantai,orpiango(1559) SAATTB 115
.
23. Palestrina Ioson ferito,ahi lasso(1561) SSAAT 127
24. Rore Quest’affannatomiodogliosocore(1565) SATTB 133
25. Palestrina Vestivaicolli(1566) SATTB 141
26. A. Gabrieli Duerosefresche(1566) SATTB 149
27. Rore Nel'ariainquestidì(1568) SATB 156
28. Palestrina Laverl’Aurora(1568) SAAT 161
29. Monte LeggiadreNinfe(1569) SSATTB 164
30. Monte Ahi,chi mi rompeilsonno(1570) SAATB 175
31. Bell’haver Quandosarà maiquelzonorno(Giustiniana)(1570) TTB 182
32. Lassus S’ioescavivo(1579) SSATTB 185
33. Marenzio Chefaoggi il miosole(1580) SSATB 193
34. Marenzio Giàtornaarallegrarl’aria(1581) SSATB 196
35. Monte Fach’ioriveggia(1581 SSAT 202
)
36. Marenzio Fuggiròtant’, Amore(Villanella)(1584) SAB 206
37. Caimo Mentreilcuculoilsuocucucantava(Canzonetta)(1584) SSAT 208
38. Wert Vezzosiaugelli (1586) SSATB 210
39. Wert Forsennatagridava(1586) SAATB 217
40. A.Gabrieli rvopiangendo(1587) SATTB 220
41. A.Gabrieli Tirsi morirvolea(1587) sst/attb 228
42. Wert Mia benignafortuna(1588) SATTB 239
43. Monteverdi EccomormorarFonde(1590) SSATB 248
44.Gastoldi /Ipremiato-Owenevaisì infretta(Balletto)(1591) SSATT 255
45. Gastoldi Ilheirumore-Viverlietovoglio(Balletto(1591) SSATB 260
46. Marenzio CrudaAmarilli(1595) SATTB 264
47. Gesualdo Languiscoemoro(1595) SAATB 271
48.Gesualdo Lucisereneechiare(1596) SAATB 274
49. Vecchi S’udia un Pastorl’altr’ hieri(Canzonetta) (1597) SST 279
50. Marenzio Soloepensoso(1599) SATTB 282
51. Monteverdi Sich’iovorrei morire(1603) SAATB 291
52. Monteverdi Ahdolentepartita(1603) SSATB 296
53. Monteverdi Quelaugellinchecanta(1603) SSATB 301
54.Gesualdo Restadidarmi noia(1611) SAATB 306
55. Luzzaschi Itenemiequerele(1613) SSATB 309
Sources 313
Translations 315
Index of composers
No. Page
Arcadelt Dormendoungiorno 8 36
Il biancoedolcecigno 6 31
BelPhaver Quandosaràmaiquelzonorno 31 182
Caimo Mentreilcuculoilsuocucucantava 37 208
Corteccia Quest’iotessevaequelle 12 56
di Maio Tuttelevecchiesonmaleciose 11 54
Ferrabosco, D. lomisongiovinetta 9 39
Festa Cosìsoav’è'I foco 5 28
IngiustissimoAmor 14 62
Gabrieli,A. Duerosefresche 26 149
rvopiangendo 40 220
Tirsimorirvolea 41 228
Gastoldi //beirumore-Viverlietovoglio 45 260
Ilpremiato-Ovenevaisì infretta 44 255
Gesualdo Languiscoemoro 47 271
Luci sereneechiare 48 274
Restadidarminoia 54 306
Lassus Cantai,orpiango 16 73
Miabenignafortuna 15 65
S’ioescavivo 32 185
Luzzaschi Itenemiequerele 55 309
Marenzio Chefaoggiilmiosole 33 193
CrudaAmarilli - 46 264
Fuggiròtant’.Amore 36 206
Giàtornaarallegrarl’aria 34 196
Soloepensoso 50 282
Monte Ahi,chimi rompeilsonno 30 175
Fach’ioriveggia 35 202
LeggiadreNinfe 29 164
Monteverdi Ahdolentepartita 52 296
EccomormorarTonde 43 248
Quelaugellinchecanta 53 301
Sich’iovorreimorire 51 291
Nola Chilagagliarda,donna,vo imparare 7 34
Palestrina Iosonferito,ahilasso 23 127
Laverl’Aurora 28 161
Vestivaicolli 25 141
Rore Ancorchecolpartire 13 59
L’altosignor 19 92
Miabenignafortuna 20 104
Nel’ariainquestidì 27 156
O morte,eternofin 17 81
Osonno 18 86
Quest’affannatomiodogliosocore 24 133
Stranerupi 10 43
Vecchi S’udiaunPastorTaltr’hieri 49 279
Verdelot Dormend’ ungiorno 1 2
. Italiamia 3 12
Wert Chisaliràperme 21 110
Forsennatagridava 39 217
Miabenignafortuna 42 239
Vezzosiaugelli 38 210
Willaert Amormifamorire 2 7
Cantai,orpiango 22 115
Quantopiùm’arde 4 19
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012
in
http://archive.org/details/oxfordbookofitalOOalec
Foreword
Oneoftheprincipaldifferences betweenlateRenaissancesecularpart-music^in
Italyand inEnglandliesinthefargreateramountproduced intheformer
country.Thiswaspartlyduetothefactthat inItalycomparedtoEnglandthe
period inquestionwasroughlytwiceaslong,andthenumberofcomposers(many
ofthem foreignersfrom northoftheAlps),evenallowingforthelongerperiod,
wasfargreater,aswasthegeneralproductivityofeachcomposer.Thus,while
therewere23 Englishcomposerswhoproducedatleastonebookcontaining
secularpart-music(onlyeightpublished morethanonebook),andwhoproduced
atotalofnearly800pieces^, in Italytherewerecloseto600suchcomposers,the
great majorityofwhomwroteat leasttwo books(somecomposerswereespecially
productive,e.g. Montewith 36books, Marenziowith23,Wertwith 16).Thetotal
canonly beguessedatfromthefactthatthenumberofmadrigalsaloneproduced
bytheleadingcomposersofthegenre-Festa, Verdelot,Arcadelt,Willaert, Rore,
Palestrina, Lassus, A. Gabrieli, Monte, Wert, Marenzio,Gesualdo,and
Monteverdi-isalmostexactly2,900. Ofthesealmost 300consistofsettingsofthe
sametextsbytwoormoreoftheabovecomposers(e.g. Nos. 15,20,and42in this
anthology),anotherstrikingdifferencebetweenthemadrigal in Italyand
England,forthelatterproducedonly27suchcomparativesettings.
Tomakearepresentativeselection ofthebestpiecesfromsucha numberis
clearlyextremelydifficultandsubjective,and it isequallyclearthatanothereditor
could makeaselectionthatwasverydifferentyetjustasrepresentative. But it is
hopedthatwhatisherepresentedwillgiveafairreflectionnotonlyofthequality
ofthemusic, butalsoofthemost importantcomposers,thevarioustypesof
secularpart-music,thenumberandkindsofvoicesused,therangein mood,and
thedevelopmentofthemadrigal-byfarthemost importantseculartype.
Generallyspeaking,themadrigal beganasasentimental,amorouspiecefor
usuallyfourvoices,displayingarathercasualconcernformatchingthemusic
eithertotheaccentsofapoemorto itsmoreevocativewordsorphrases.Thelack
ofcarefulaccentuation mayhavebeen becausethegreatmajorityoftheearly
madrigalistswereforeigners, but itwasaforeigner,Willaert,whofirststressedthe
importanceofaccuratetext-setting. Attemptstoportrayinthemusicthemeaning
ofcertainwordsorphrases(word-ormood-painting) becameasignificant feature
ofthemadrigalaround 1550,anddeveloped thereafter; it includedsuchdevicesas
‘wavy’vocallinestodenote‘sea’or‘flight’,whiteand black semibrevestothe
words‘day’and‘night’respectively,triplemetrewhendancingwasmentioned,
andsemitonalrisesandfallsorchromaticchordstoexpressanguish. Moreover,
m1a.dIrnitghailsFitoserlef,wobrutdiandtihsetitnitcltei,oansiisnmtahdeecobmeptwaeneinonsevcuollaurmpeaortf-Emnugsliics,hwmhaidcrhigcaolvse,rsthaelltteyrpmes,andthe
‘madrigal’includesothertypes,suchasballetti,canzonette,etc.,butnotthe‘spiritualmadrigal’.
2. Hereandthroughoutthisanthologyanypiecethatisdividedintotwoormoresectionsor‘Parts’
iscountedasasinglecomposition.
vii
t'rom 1550onnotonlyweretheaccentsofthetext increasinglymatched inthe
music,butalsotheemotionalrangeofthepoetrychosenformadrigalsettings
begantowiden. Asaresultofthelatter,compositionaltechniquesexpanded,in
particulartheuseoffiveand,toalesserextent,sixvoicesinsteadoffour,andthe
deliberatechoiceas‘time’signature,forexpressive*reasons,ofeither‘(p’or‘C’ in
;
theformerthepulsewasasemibreve,andtheshortestnotesettoasyllable,the
shortest harmonicmovement,andthelongestdissonancewasusuallyaminim,
whileinthelattersignaturethesenote-valueswerehalved. Mostcomposers
increasinglyusedthesignature‘C’,reserving‘Cp’forthemostseriousmadrigals,
andtherewasalsoatendencytocombinetheabovefeaturesinasinglemadrigal,
withasignatureofeither‘(p’(e.g. No.42)or‘C’(e.g. No.46),thusproviding
greatervarietyinthespeedofsyllabicunderlayandharmonicmovementandin
thelengthofdissonance.
Inordertomaketheoriginal notation look moreconventional,thenote-values
havebeenhalvedthroughoutthisanthology,sokeepingthedistinction between
‘(p’and ‘C’.Thustheoriginal notationin ‘(p’(withtwosemibrevesperbar)
becomesourmodern ‘(p’or2/2,andwhiletheoriginal‘C’(sometimestranscribed
withtwominimstothebar)shouldstrictlybecome2/4,thebarlength has been
doubledinordertoreducethenumberofbar-lines,andso becomes4/4orour
modern‘C’.Thespeedoftheoriginalsemibreveand minim pulsesin ‘(p’and ‘C’
respectivelyseemtohavebeenthesame, i.e.accordingtocontemporaryevidence,
therateofanormal heart-beat(M.M.70),butit isunlikelythatthiswasinflexible.
Henceinthisbook,with note-valueshalved,thetemposhown insquarebrackets
atthe beginningofeachpieceisusuallywithintherangeofminim(half-note)or
crotchet(quarter-note)equalling M.M.60-80, mostoftheexceptionsbeingsome
lighterpieces,inwhichthepulseisfaster,andsomeofthemadrigalswhich
combinethefeaturesof‘Cp’and‘C’,inwhich it isslower.
Thegrowingimportanceofthetextwasfundamentaltothedevelopmentofthe
Italian madrigal,foritwasincreasinglythetextthatcausedcomposerstodecide
onwhat mode,metre,andvoices theywould useforaparticularmadrigal,and,
foraparticularwordorphrase,thekindofvocal line, note-values,rhythms,
textual underlay, harmonies,dissonances,textures,andvocalcolour. It is,
therefore,essential,when performinganItalian madrigal,to understandthepoem
asawhole,aswellascertain wordsand phrasesthatreceivespecialmusical
treatment. It isequallyessentialtoaccentuatethetextcorrectly,andthisbrings us
tooneofthemoststrikingand basicdifferences between themusicofthe
Renaissanceperiodandearlierandthatofthe Baroqueperiodand later,namely,
therhythmicflexibilityand irregularityoftheformer.Thusin Renaissance
part-musiceachvoicewas,withveryfewexceptions,printed inseparate
part-books,as,forexample, instringquartet musictoday; butunlikethelatter
therewerenoindicationsoftempoordynamics,noexpression marks,and no
regularlyspaced bar-lineswiththeirimpliedregularaccents, becauseaccentswere
derivedfromthetextor,ina melisma(i.e.several notestoasyllable),from the
lengthofa notein itscontext,a longernotethan thoseflankingit beingmore
accented. Thus,whileit is imperativefortoday'ssingersthatthemusicbe
arranged inscoreandregularlybarred, it isalso imperativethatsingersrecognize
thatsuch barringhasnoautomaticaccentualsignificance; inotherwords, ina
2/2or4/4 barthefirst minimorthefirstand thirdcrotchetsrespectivelywillnot
invariablybeaccented.
Inordertoassistsingerstoaccentuatecorrectly,thefollowingpoints,some
beingmodificationsofaccepted practice,should bestudied
:
viii