104616198 developments of the florentine camerata in music and text
Post on 14-Apr-2018
224 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/30/2019 104616198 Developments of the Florentine Camerata in Music and Text
1/7
Developments of the Florentine Camerata in
Music and TextBy Robbie Blake
With the advent of the 16th Century, composition, performance and practice in the
contemporary music was changing. Many instruments, most of which would lead to
our modern day orchestra, were emerging; a move towards tonality had begun with
the establishment of major and minor modes; professional performers were
heightening the standard of music to be heard and new national styles had their
ferment in this period. At the same time, a group of intellectuals were casting their
eyes backwards to antiquity in search of refinement and emulation of the ancient
Greek musical style; this group was the Florentine Camerata.
The Camerata
Chiefly a group of intellectuals and musicians, the Camerata was led by the
Florentine noble Giovanni de Bardi, and included composers and virtuoso singers
Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini, poet Ottavio Rinucini, and nobleman and musician
Vincenzo Galilei amongst others. Their main discussion and occupation as a group
was that concerning the music of ancient Greece.1
The music that they thought to be of this ancient style was greatly different to
that of renaissance polyphony. The text was of utmost importance; Caccini says that
he thought to follow that style so praised by Plato [] who maintained music to be
nothing other than rhythmic speech with pitch added (and not the reverse!).2 They
condemned and attacked the renaissance style as they concluded the poetry was
1John Walter Hill,Baroque Music: Music in Western Europe, 15801750 (New York and London:
W. W. Norton & Co., 2005), 25.2Oliver Strunk (ed.), Source Readings in Music History: The Baroque Era, Vol. 4, Leo Treitler (Rev.
ed.)(W. W. Norton & Co., 1950), 100.
1
-
7/30/2019 104616198 Developments of the Florentine Camerata in Music and Text
2/7
literally torn to pieces (laceramento della poesia), because the individual voices
sang different words simultaneously.3[See Ex. 1] They sought to compose a style for
solo voice that reflected the text, which was rhythmically governed by it and
expressed the meaning as faithfully and clearly as possible. These were the principles
that the Camerata believed to be of ancient Greek music. From these thoughts and
ideals, another form of composition was to be added to the musical repertoire. This
was monody, which means, fittingly, one song in Greek.4
QuickTime and adecompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Example 1 Palestrina, O crux Ave, Soprano and alto, bar 21-29.
Courtly Musicians
By its very nature, the Camerata was tied up with the Florentine court proceeding
heavily, and in fact Caccini and Peri were both employed by the Duke Ferdinando
de Medici in the early 16th century, if not before.5 It was at court festivities where
the theories and beliefs of the Camerata were first exposed.
During the wedding celebrations of the Dukes marriage to Chrsitine de
Lorraine in 1589, the playLa pellegrina was performed with musical interludes
based on ancient mythology. These interludes, called intermedi, were composed and
sung by members of the Camerata: Caccini, Peri and, the Roman, Emilio de
3Manfred F. Bukofzer,Music in the Baroque Era: From Monteverdi to Bach (New York and London:
W. W. Norton & Co., 1947), 5.4
David Schulenberg,Music of the Baroque (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001),48.5
Tim Carter, Jacopo Peri inMusic & Letters, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Apr., 1980), 124.
2
-
7/30/2019 104616198 Developments of the Florentine Camerata in Music and Text
3/7
Cavalieri. The intermedi consisted of songs, dances and choruses. Caccini composed
the fourth intermedio, which was sung by his wife; Peri composed and performed in
the fifth; and Cavalieri composed the sixth, Godi turba mortal.6
In this solo vocal work, Godi turba mortal, the voice and text take full
attention. The melody is a mixture of syllabic and melismatic passages. The
melismatic passages are placed on words being emphasized, like lieta (happy) or
Godi (Rejoice) but also acqueta (labour).7 There is a fourpart accompaniment
played on the chittarone which, other than the top line which doubles the melody,
merely outlines the harmony, the other parts giving basic harmonic support. The
vocal line is highly embellished and includes examples of the new practice of writing
out ornamentation rather than leaving it to the performers discretion. 8
Another point is that the text and setting of this intermedio is allegorical. It
depicts earthly mortals rejoicing in the gifts from Jupiter. This would be seen as a
positive reflection on the ruler of the period from those who composed and produced
the scene.9This foreknowledge might have also led Cavalieri to compose such an
embellished work.
This composition however is still somewhat in the renaissance style, it is like
a polyphonic madrigal that was then embellished in virtuoso style.10 It lacks the
severance from the old style which we see in the works of Caccini and Peri at the end
and turn of the 16th century.
6Schulenberg,Music of the Baroque, 51.
7Ibid., 54
8Ibid., 52.
9Ibid., 51.
10Ibid., 54.
3
-
7/30/2019 104616198 Developments of the Florentine Camerata in Music and Text
4/7
The New Departure
In1592, the Camerata's patron, de Bardi, was transferred to a diplomatic post in
Rome, and that most of the members (including Caccini, Peri and Rinuccini)
continued meeting together but under the patronage of another Florentine noble,
Jacopo Corsi.11 This was an important change as now focus was placed upon the
production of musical stage works, and not as strongly on research and discussion of
Greek music or philosophy.12 However the style that had emerged from these
previous discussions was about to make further developments in the works of Peri
and Caccini, that of monody.
From this new group emerged the first specimen of opera,La Dafne. This
work in fact went through many stages until it was performed. To a libretto of
Rinuccinis, the music was first written by Corsi himself, then by Peri and Caccini
together and its final version was mostly composed by Peri, with contributions from
Caccini.13 Monodies form the basis of the work, although only fragments survive of
the original text. It is likened more to the intermedi ofLa pellegrina, than to the
developed monody style which emerges.14 It was privately performed first in 1598,
then subsequently several times in the Dukes court. After such a success,15 the more
extended work ofLEuridice was begun from the impetus of Corsi, again with a
libretto by Rinuccini.
LEuridice
Two versions of this important work actually survive today, one by Peri and one by
Caccini. A third version was performed on the important wedding celebration of
11Hill,Baroque Music, 27.
12Ibid., 26.
13Ibid., 26.
14Schulenberg,Music of the Baroque, 54.
15Hill,Baroque Music, 26.
4
-
7/30/2019 104616198 Developments of the Florentine Camerata in Music and Text
5/7
Maria de Medici to Henry IV, king France, which was composed three quarters by
Peri, and one quarter by Caccini. This work is very significant as instead of spoken
dialogue between choruses and dances, the drama was completely sung throughout.
This was a crucial element in the significance of this work, as from this came forth
the true form of recitative as we know it, and was indeed given this name, stile
recitativo, in the years to come.16 As well as the recitative, from this monody we also
see the aria take shape.17
For the recitative, the text was set in a way which attempted to create a sort of
speech-song. The music emulated the text. Syllables which were emphasized in
speech were emphasized in the music with longer notes, often meeting with
consonant accompaniment. The other unstressed syllables were short as if spoken
quickly, sometimes passing through dissonances. The melodic line reflected the
emotion of the text and of speech, and it would ascend or descend accordingly. 18 The
accompaniment was unobtrusive to the vocal line, providing a steady accompaniment
which freed the vocal line of rhythmic and harmonic boundaries, and therefore
likening it to declamatory speech.19 [See Ex. 2]
InLEuridice we find the early form of aria also. The aria was usually
accompanied with a fuller complement of instruments and was played with much
more movement. The vocal line included more melisma and fluid motion. The arias
were the expressive passages of the work, which had the characters declarations of
love or sorrow.
16Hill, Baroque Music., 27.
17Schulenberg,Music of the Baroque, 54.
18
Claude V. Palisca,Baroque Music, H. Wiley Hitchcock (ed.), 3
rd
edn (New Jersey: Prentice Hall,1991), 33.19
Daniel Shanahan, Lecture Notes, (Oct., 2008)
5
-
7/30/2019 104616198 Developments of the Florentine Camerata in Music and Text
6/7
QuickTime and adecompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Example 2 Peri,LEuridice. Sourced fromBaroque Music, Palisca.
Into the 17th Century
The new aria and recitative styles which had their formulation in this time period
would now be refined and used countless times over throughout musical history.
Even as shortly as seven years later, Monteverdis Orfeo was performed for the first
time, a work which surely owes a great deal to the developments of men like Peri and
Caccini. From the very first experiments of the Camerata, the intermedi, up toDafne
andLEuridice, and concluding with the countless bottles of ink spilled writing
theories, and formulae, let alone the numerous collections and performance guides,
like that of CaccinisLe nuove musiche; from the extensive contribution they made
to this period, it is easy to see they played an immense role in the evolution of opera
and the musical art form.
6
-
7/30/2019 104616198 Developments of the Florentine Camerata in Music and Text
7/7
Works Cited
Bukofzer, Manfred F.,Music in the Baroque Era: From Monteverdi to Bach (New
York and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1947).
Carter, Tim, Jacopo Peri inMusic & Letters, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Apr., 1980).
Hill, John Walter,Baroque Music: Music in Western Europe, 15801750 (New York
and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 2005).
Palisca, Claude V.,Baroque Music, H. Wiley Hitchcock (ed.), 3rd edn (New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 1991).
Schulenberg, David,Music of the Baroque (New York and Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2001).
Shanahan, Daniel, Lecture Notes, (Oct., 2008).
Strunk, Oliver(ed.), Source Readings in Music History: The Baroque Era, Vol. 4,
Leo Treitler (Rev. ed.)(W. W. Norton & Co., 1950).
7
top related