Tonal Space in the Music of Antonio Vivaldi

380 Pages·2008·6.3 MB·English

by  Bella Brover-Lubovsky

Tonal Space
in the Music of
Antonio Vivaldi
Music and the Early Modern Imagination
Massimo Ossi, editor
Tonal Space
in the Music of
Antonio Vivaldi
Bella Brover-Lubovsky
Indiana
University
Press
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Library of Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brover-Lubovsky, Bella.
Tonal space in the music of Antonio Vivaldi / Bella
Brover-Lubovsky.
p. cm.—(Music and the early modern
imagination)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-253-35129-6 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Vivaldi, Antonio, 1678–1741.—Criticism and
interpretation. 2. Tonality. 3. Music—Italy—18th
century—History and criticism. 4. Music theory—
History—18th century. I. Title.
ML410.V82B76 2008
780.92—dc22
2007045378
1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 09 08
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments vii
Editorial Conventions and Abbreviations ix
Introduction xi
PART ONE | Estro armonico
1. Vivaldi’s “Harmony” and the Paradox
of Historical Recognition 3
2. Theory of Tonal Organization in
Eighteenth-Century Italy 22
PART TWO | Key and Mode
3. Tonality and Key Characteristics 37
4. Modal Implications in Tonal Organization 63
5. The Interaction of Major and Minor Modes 91
6. Functioning of Tonality in Large-Scale Composition 121
PART THREE | Harmony and Syntax
7. Lament Bass 151
8. Sequence 169
9. Pedal Point 190
10. Cadence 198
PART FOUR | Tonal Structure
11. General Premises 215
12. Functioning of Harmonic Degrees in Tonal Structure 231
13. Tonal Structure and Choice of Tonality 257
14. Tonal Structure in Cyclic Compositions 263
Conclusion 276
Notes 283
Bibliography 321
General Index 341
Index of Works 349

Preface and Acknowledgments
Antonio Vivaldi’s music has come under especially close critical
scrutiny in recent decades. The philological and historiographical
account of his works is fairly accomplished, being replenished by re-
cent thrilling discoveries of such monumental scores as the opera
Montezuma, late liturgical compositions, and previously unknown
instrumental pieces. Also, progressive methods of source studies in-
creasingly penetrate such traditionally perplexing branches of Vival-
dian scholarship as the chronological attribution of his instrumental
and sacred music and fill some of the gaps in his personal and artistic
life. Vivaldi’s contribution to the formation of the new and the de-
velopment of the existing genres and structural models is explored in
its immense quantity, variety, and artistic values. All of these studies,
confronting their subject from multifarious angles, contain frag-
mentary yet stimulating observations on Vivaldi’s individual har-
monic idiom. However, the treatment of tonality and harmonic
procedures remains the least explored side of Vivaldi’s style. In fact,
a study of the theoretical issues surrounding the crystallization of
common-practice harmonic tonality has never previously been com-
bined with in-depth analysis of a wide range of his music.
The present book’s concern is a particular study of the arrange-
ment of tonal space in the music of Vivaldi, taken against the vast
background of (mainly Italian) music and theoretical writings of his
period. My ultimate aim is to unite early Settecento musical prac-
tice and theory as much as possible, while applying contemporane-
ous theoretical premises for analyzing the works. My interest in
Vivaldi resulted in a doctoral thesis (Hebrew University, 2001) de-
voted to the harmonic procedures and tonality treatment in his
concerto first movements. Since then I have been researching this
fascinating repertory and revisiting some of my earlier conceptions
in various forms. This book stems to some extent from these earlier
studies, although my views have undergone significant develop-
ments.
This research has been aided by the Orzen Postdoctoral Fellow-
ship and the New Salter Fund for Music and Musicology, Hebrew
University; the Vigevani Prize for study in Italy, the Newberry Li-
brary Fellowship for Individual Research, and an Italian Academy
viii Preface and Acknowledgments
fellowship, Columbia University. These all provided wonderful
experiences for me.
This book would have been impossible in its present shape with-
out Alice McVeigh’s editorial assistance and unceasing encourage-
ment. Various foreign language translations benefited from the
expert eyes of Elena Abramov-van Rijk, Gilad Rabinovitch, and
Daniel Stratievsky. I am deeply grateful to Michael Talbot for his
support of my Vivaldi project over many years as well as for his kind
help and advice generally. A special debt of gratitude is owed to John
Walter Hill who not only turned my mind toward new inspirational
ideas but also granted me access to his unique databases and micro-
film materials. My senior colleagues—Jehoash Hirshberg, Don Har-
rán, and Simon McVeigh—have always provided their enduring
support. I also owe a special debt of thanks to Reinhard Strohm for
his generous exchange of information. Outstanding scholars read the
early drafts of individual chapters and offered important suggestions:
Ido Abravaya, Gregory Barnett, Michael Dodds, Ruth HaCohen,
Ruth Katz, Rudolf Rasch, Nicholas Temperley, and Steven Zohn.
I am grateful to the staff of the Bloomfield Library for the
Humanities and Social Sciences, Hebrew University; the Library of
the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance, Jerusalem; Biblioteca
Nazionale Universitaria, Turin; Music and General Library of the
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Newberry Library,
Chicago; and Columbia University Libraries.
My thanks go to the series editor Massimo Ossi and the edito-
rial staff of Indiana University Press—Jane Behnken, Bethany
Kissel, Elaine Otto, Suzanne Ryan, June Silay, and Donna Wil-
son—for their involvement, interest, and assistance during all
stages of writing and production.
Most of all, I wish to thank my family, a source of enduring en-
couragement, patience, and unwavering support: my parents, Mark
Brover and Mirra Kipnis, the ultimate exemplars of high academic
standards; my children, Elie, Dana, and Ilan, who came to accept
Vivaldi as a part of the family, and most of all my husband, Nachum
Lubovsky, always my first and most critical reader, who expertly and
meticulously prepared all my musical examples, tables, and figures.
To all of them this book is lovingly dedicated.
Editorial Conventions and Abbreviations
All citations maintain their original spellings. Every reference trans-
lated from theoretical sources is by the author unless otherwise
stated.
Each composition by Vivaldi mentioned in the text is specified
by its number according to Peter Ryom, Répertoire des Œuvres d’An-
tonio Vivaldi: Les Compositions Instrumentales, in addition to its name
and (in vocal works) Italian or Latin text incipit.
Musical examples have been taken from the collected editions Le
opere di Antonio Vivaldi,Nuova edizione critica delle opere di Antonio Vi-
valdi,and various unedited manuscripts.
Tables 5.1, 6.1–3, 8.1, and 12.1–5 delineate the tonal structure of
pieces in relation to other compositional parameters, such as the tex-
tural alternation of ripieno and solo episodes (R and S), thematic re-
currences of the head motive (m), and proportions of time. Major
keys and their harmonic function in the overall tonal plan are identi-
fied by uppercase roman numerals and minor keys by lowercase
roman numerals; arrows indicate functional modulation, pedal point
is abbreviated as PP, while a double slash (//) is used to indicate an
abrupt key change by hiatus.