Performance Practice in the seconda prattica Madrigal

Author(s): Rinaldo Alessandrini

Source: Early Music, Vol. 27, No. 4, Luca Marenzio (1553/4-99) (Nov., 1999), pp. 632-639
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3128763 .
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 matters
Performing
RinaldoAlessandrini

Performancepracticein the secondapratticamadrigal

Seconda prattica, de la quale e statto il primo rinovatore ne nance (Monteverdi, Marenzio), chromaticism and
nostri caratteri il Divino Cipriano Rore ... seguitata, & ampli-contrapuntaldaring(Gesualdo),and the use of basso
ata ... dal Ingegneri, dal Marenzio, da Giaches Wert, dal Luz- continuo and obbligato instruments (Monteverdi
zasco, & parimente da Giacoppo Peri, da Giulio Caccini, &
again). But these changes were not easily achieved.
finalmente da li spiriti piui elevati & intendenti de la vera arte,
intende che sia quella che versa intorno alla perfetione de la The Bolognesetheorist GiovanniMariaArtusi casti-
melodia, cioe che considera l'armonia comandata, & non gated these novelties as offences against nature and
comandante, & per signora del armonia pone l'oratione.1 reason.2 And although Artusi ended up as an
admirerof Monteverdi(if we areto believethe claim
By Second Practice, which was first renewed in our notation
by Cipriano de Rore ... was followed and amplified ... by
Monteverdi made in his letter of 22 October 1633
Ingegneri, Marenzio, Giaches de Wert, Luzzasco, likewise by to Giovanni BattistaDoni),3 the Artusi-Monteverdi
Jacopo Peri, Giulio Caccini, and finally by loftier spirits with controversy epitomized the same conflict between
a better understanding of true art, he understands the one
that turns on the perfection of the melody, that is, the one
authority and empiricism as the period's most
that considers harmony not commanding, but commanded,
famous literary quarrel, the controversy regarding
and makes the words the mistress of the harmony. the stylisticproprietyof Guarini'spastoraltragicom-
edy IIpastorfido.4
inclusion of Marenzio in his This was the period when composers and per-
M ONTEVERDI'S
list of composers of the secondaprattica is formers took upon themselves the responsibilityof
recognitionof his place among those who initiateda continuallyrenewingthe rulesand of creatinga new
radicalreform of musical languageat the end of the and comprehensive artistic expression encompass-
16th centuryand the beginning of the 17th.The sec- ing meaning, word and music. One of the most
ondapratticaexpoundedby Monteverdi(or, at least, important changeswas in fact the emergenceof two
his brother) favoured the primacy of orazioneover distinct (though not necessarilyopposed) spheresof
armonia, reversingwhat he perceived as being the competence, those of the composer and the per-
priorities of the prima prattica. The new claims of former, the firstrequiredto translateinto music the
rhetoric and the importance granted to the poetic contents of the poetic text, the second to translate
text not only transformedthe madrigalbut also had that synthesisof text and music into sound and emo-
an impact on the younger generation of poets-- tion. Nicola Vicentino emphasizes that the music
Guarini, Chiabrera, Marino-who, resolving to should correspond to the mood and affects of the
meet the aspirationsof these new aesthetic trends, words: thus rapid note-values are equated with
set out to enchant and astonishthe public with their cheerfulness, while a slow pace, soft progressions
virtuoso technique and use of surprise(meraviglia), (gradimolli) and minor 3rdsand 6ths areassociated-
audacioussimiles and paradox. with melancholy, and he complains that composers
The changes in musical direction were accompa- often introduce devices contrary to the meaning
nied by explorationof the emotional power of disso- of the words.5 Luzzaschi (or rather Alessandro

RinaldoAlessandriniis the directorof the ensembleConcertoItaliano,whichhas a particularlyhigh

reputationfor its interpretationsof Monteverdi.He alsofollows an internationalcareeras a conduc-
tor of opera.

EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1999 633

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Guarini,ghost-writingfor the composer) spells out
in considerable detail the primacy of words over
music in the dedication to his Sestolibrode' madri-
gali a cinque voci (Ferrara, 1596):
... se il Poetainalzalo stile,sollevaeziandioil Musicoil tuono.
Piagne,se il versopiagne, ride,se ride, se corre,se resta,se
priega,se niega,se grida,se tace,se vive,se muore,tuttiquesti
affetti,&effetticosivivamenteda lui vengonespressi,chequella
par quasiemulazione,chepropriamente rasomiglianza de dirsi.
Quinciveggiamola Musicade nostritempialquantodiversada
quella,chegia fu ne'passati,perciochedallepassate,le Poesie
modernisonoaltresidiverse.
... if the poet raiseshis style, the musicianalso raiseshis
tone. He criesif the versecries,laughsif it laughs;if it runs,
stops, implores,denies, screams,falls silent, lives, dies, all
theseaffectsandeffectsareso vividlyexpressedby musicthat
what should properlybe called resemblanceseems almost
competition.Thereforewe see in our times a music some-
whatdifferentfromthatof the past,for modernpoeticforms
are similarlydifferentfromthose of the past.6
As for the performer, it was no longer enough
simplyto convey, as pure sound, the melodic lines of
a madrigal;there was also an obligation to demon-
strate,if not display,technicaland artisticexpertise.
Thus for Giovanni MariaTrabacia performanceof
either vocal or instrumentalmusic cannot succeed
'unless there is a very gracefulhand, a mature and
detailed study, and those touches of elegance and
those accenti which this music requires'.7And a
much earlier source for the new style of singing, a
passage from Nicola Vicentino's L'antica musica
ridotta alla moderna prattica (Rome, 1555), is worth
quoting at length:
... & s'avvertirache nel concertare le cosevolgaria volerfare
chegl'oditorirestinosatisfatti,si de cantarele paroleconformi
all'oppinione del Compositore; & con la voceesprimere, quelle
intonationiaccompagnatedalle parole, con quellepassioni.
Horaallegre,horameste,& quandosoavi,& quandocrudeli&
congli accentiadherireallapronuntiadelleparole& dellenote,
& qualchevoltasi usa un certoordinedi procedere, nellecom-
posizioni,che non si pub scrivere.[sic] comesonoil dirpiano,
&forte,& il dirpresto,& tardo,& secondole parole,muovere
la Misura,per dimostrare gli effettidellepassionidelleparole,
& dell'armonia,& la esperienza,dell'Oratore l'insegna,che si
vedeil modochetienenell'Oratione, chehoradiceforte,& hora
piano, & piiatardo,& piii presto,& con questomuoveassai
gl'oditori,& questomododi muoverela misura,fdeffettoassai
nell'animo,&per tal ragionesi canterbla Musicaalla mente
per imitargli accenti,& effettidellepartidell'oratione ...
He is also advisedthat in coordinatingvernacularworks,he
634 EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1999
should sing the words in keeping with the composer's inten-
tion, so as to leave the audience satisfied. He should express
the melodic lines, matching the words to their passions-
now joyful, now sad, now gentle, and now cruel-and adhere
to the accents and pronunciation of the words and notes.
Sometimes a composition is performed according to a cer-
tain method that cannot be written down, such as uttering
softly and loudly or fast and slow, or changing the measure
in keeping with the words, so as to show the effects of the
passions and the harmony. The experience of the orator can
be instructive, if you observe the technique he follows in his
oration. For he speaks now loud and now soft, now slow and
now fast, thus greatly moving his listeners. This technique of
changing the measure has a powerful effect on the soul. For
this reason music is sung from memory, so as to imitate the
accents and effects of the parts of an oration.8
The early madrigal presented very few technical
difficulties from the standpoint of performance.
Rather,the focus was on the composer'ssubtle han-
dling of counterpointand texture,and performance
seems to have had little or no bearing on how the
work as such was assessed. Thus in 1592Lodovico
Zacconi contraststhe 'antichi' (Josquin,Gombert),
who obtainedtheir effects from 'points of imitation
and other observations[of the rules]' ('fughe,& altre
osservationi') with the 'new and graceful effects'
('nuovi, & vaghi effetti') of Willaertand Rore;like-
wise he observes that the singers of old 'sang their
parts as they were written in the books, without
adding a single accentoor giving them any touch of
grace,since they were intent only on pure and simple
modulatione'.9
However,things were changingaround 1600.The
madrigalwas the polyphonic vocal genre par excel-
lence in this period. The market conditions for the
genre were favourable,given that it could cater for
all tastes and situations. Another important factor
was the influence of singers on composers. With
their expanded range of technical possibilities,
singerswere able to offer a wider rangeof vocal and
expressiveeffects. At the beginning of the 17thcen-
tury the level of expertise was continually rising:
vocal rangeswidened, especiallythose of sopranos,
who gained at least a 4th in their upper register.In
addition virtuoso techniques such as rapid and
extended coloratura were developed, requiring a
more economic use of breathing.These and other
issues have a significantbearing on performancein
the secondaprattica.
 underminedif vibratois used by four or more voices
Vibrato at the same time. This is an importantconsideration
Christoph Bernhardwas given the task of bringing bearing in mind the tuning systems currentin Italy
from Italyto Germanysingersfor the cappellaof the duringthis period (and still used for organsuntil the
Elector of Dresden. Describingthe various types of beginning of the 19th century). The mean-tone sys-
ornamentationin fashion in Rome at the beginning tem, commonly used in this period as a standard
of the 17thcenturyhe says: tuning systemfor polyphonic instrumentsand deci-
to the equal-tempered system
... fermo,or themaintenance of a steadysound,is required sively preferred
(which was neverthelessknown in theory),was char-
on all the notes exceptwherea trilloor ardireis performed.
This is to be considereda decoration[Zierde]of the fermo, acterizedby the use of absolutelypure major 3rds.
becausethe tremulois a vice (excepton the organ,whereall This greatly restricted the tonal space that it was
the voices can vibrate [tremuliren] at the same time and possible to use, but it was a price composers were
sound well together because of the [uniformity in the]
willing to pay, given that they were rewardedby the
change [of pitch]). It is used by older singers, but not as an and sweetnessof chordswith pure major3rds
artisticdevice;rather,they use it inadvertently,becausethey beauty
can no longer hold the note. If one were to seek further and, in the case of a cappellavocal performances,
confirmation about the undesirability of tremulo, one should with absolutely pure 5ths. So, as with the vox
listen to an old person singing alone. Then he would under- humana on the purest Principalof an Italian organ,
stand why the most elegant singers do not use tremulum with vocal ensembles it is better to keep the vibrato
except when performing an ardire ... However, basses may to a minimum in ordernot to impairthe intonation.
use it fromtime to time, as long as it is not too frequent,and
only on shortnotes.10
And it would be interestingfor singersand teachers,
once they had refined their ability to produce a
Italianorganswere in fact equippedwith a registerat sound without vibrato,to explore ways of using the
first known as a fiffaro, then, starting at the begin- device to expressiveends. This could lead them to
ning of the 17thcentury,as a voce humana.It was a reflecton the occasionalneed for a particularkind of
series of Principal-scaledreed pipes tuned slightly vibrato (which seems in any caseto havebeen some-
higher than the Principal8'.Coupled with the Prin- what differentto the modern variety,to judge from
cipal itself, the tuning discrepancyproduces a regu- the examples given in contemporarytreatises), on
lar beat the speed of which is proportional to the the specificoccasionswhereit might be used, and on
degreeof discrepancy.The effectresemblesan unob- how to control it, avoiding its indiscriminate or
trusive vibrato, and is especiallyatmosphericwhen unconscious use.12
the pulsation is slow and gentle. The fact that this
registeris calledvox humanais obviouslya reference Pitch, range, vocal technique
to the vibrato characteristicof the human voice. In Italian organs from the end of the 16th century and
registrationtables it is designatedfor use only with duringthe next two centuriesgive fairlyclearindica-
the Principal rather than, for example, the louder tions of the pitches used. It is a safe generalizationto
Ripieno registers,"being reservedfor slow, particu- say that in northern Italy a high pitch was used
larlyexpressivepieces, mainly the toccateper l'Eleva- (about a semitone above modern pitch), and in
tioneor, by extension,the slow, sustainedpieces des- southernItalya low one (a semitone or a tone below
ignatedDurezzee ligature.These indicationstend to modern pitch)."3 Obviously, when the organ was
limit the use of vibrato to special expressive situ- used, these pitches were compulsory (unless the
ations and demonstrate that it had an expressive organist transposed), but with a cappellasinging,
function. whether in sacredor secularmusic, there was com-
Acousticallyspeaking, vibrato may be defined as plete freedom of choice to choose a pitch which
an oscillationin pitch (of which a violinist's oscillat- allowed the greatest convenience during perfor-
ing finger on the string of his instrumentis the visi- mance. But the tessiturasfound in pieces requiring
ble counterpart).It is thereforeeasy to imagine that instrumentalaccompanimentsuggestthat it was the
the overall purity of an ensemble's intonation is middle of the vocal range that was considered the

EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1999 635

most convenient and suitablefor sound production.
Moreover,common sense would suggestthat pieces
notatedin normalclefsand those writtenin chiavette
would not have been placed side by side in the same
prints if their rangeswere so divergent.The written
pitch of pieces in chiavetteis very high (a 4th or 5th
above the norm) and is totally ill-suited to the fluid
expressivemeans of the madrigal.Confirmationof
this practicecomes indirectlyfrom the rubricwhich
Monteverdiplaces at the beginning of his madrigale
Dolcissimouscignolo(in his eighthbook of madrigals
of 1638):14 the first soprano is notated in the G2
(not Ci) clef, whereasthe other partsare all in chiavi
naturali.Monteverdithereforeadds the instruction
'Canto in tuono' ('at pitch') in order to prevent the
downwardtranspositionby a 4th or 5ththat the high
clef would normallyprescribe.Further,more incon-
trovertibleconfirmationcomes from the organ bass
part of the 16o8 edition of Palestrina'sMotettorum
quinquevocibusliberquartus(firstprintedin 1583)-
publishedin Venice by AlessandroRaveriias Motec-
torum ... addita parte infimapro pulsatorisorganis
comoditate-where the organ part of the pieces
notated in chiavetteis transposed by a 4th when
there is a signatureof one flat or a 5th when there is
no signature.
Nowadays, female voices seem the best possible
choice for the soprano parts. To a greater degree
than a falsettist, the female voice brings variety of
timbre to the ensemble and provides a naturalbal-
ance to the sound of the male voices. This voice can
be soprano, or mezzo-soprano in cases where the
range does not exceed e". Often one finds genuine
mezzo-soprano ranges in a second soprano part in
which the ambitus is exactlya 3rd below that of the
first soprano (as in Monteverdi's fourth and sixth
books of madrigals). The use of a falsetto for the
partsin the medium rangeis alwayspossible, if only
for practicalreasons,but it is interestingto note that
AdrianoBanchieri,in his Festinonellaseradelgiovedi
grasso(1608),includes a Vinatadi brindesi,e ragioni
which prescribesthe use of a 'falsetto'to sing the part
of the second soprano (both soprano parts are
notated in the Ci clef) and not that of the alto.15Usu-
ally the alto part is better suited to a male singer
capable of reviving the old technique of the head-
voice or the falsetto for notes above the 'break'.
636 EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1999
These alto partsnormallyextend down to g or f and
upwardsas far as (but never beyond) bb'.In Monte-
verdi it is not rareto find d as the lowest note, which
suggests a need to use a tenor ratherthan a female
contraltoor a falsettistwho would too frequentlybe
obliged to use the chest voice.
A relativelylow register(or the use of low pitch in
general) makes it easier for the voices to produce
sounds in a range close to that used in speech.16A
vocal technique which allows for a deliverymidway
between speaking and singing (Peri's cosa mezzana
or 'intermediatestyle')17or at any ratean articulation
of the text and a way of enunciatingthe consonants
that is close to spoken language-so long as it is sus-
tained by a correctuse of breathto guaranteestabil-
ity of intonation-could contribute to the cultiva-
tion of a vocal sound more in keeping with the
madrigal.The case for an excessivelywide dynamic
range is not supported by documentary evidence.
Quite the contrary;as Zarlinoobserves,'one way of
singing is used in churchesand public chapels,and
anotherway in privatechambers:becausein the first
one sings with a full voice ... and in chambersone
sings with a more subdued and soft voice, without
making any loud sound'.'8In other words, secular
music is sung in a fairly moderate dynamic range,
wherethe sound can grow or diminishin accordance
with the musical effect and the accentuationof the
words.
The extreme flexibility and malleability of the
resultingsound seems the perfectvehicle for the aes-
thetic ideas of the late Cinquecento. According to
Vincenzo Giustiniani (c.1628), the famous female
singersof Mantuaand Ferrara
... facevano a gara non solo quanto al metallo et alla dispo-
sizione delle voci, ma nell'ornamentodi esquisitipassaggi tirati
in opportunacongiunturae non soverchi... e di piihcol moder-
are e crescerela voceforte o piano, assottigliandolao ingrossan-
dola, che secondo che veniva a' tagli, ora con strascinarla,ora
smezzarla, con l'accompagnamento d'un soave interrotto
sospiro, ora tirando passaggi lunghi, seguiti bene, spiccati, ora
gruppi, ora a salti, ora con trilli lunghi, ora con brevi, et or con
passaggi soavi e cantati piano ...'9
... vied with each other not only in regard to the timbre and
disposition of their voices but also in the ornamentation of
exquisite passaggi delivered at opportune moments, but not
in excess ... Furthermore, they moderated or increased their
to thedemands
voices,loudorsoft,heavyorlight,according
of the piece;now dragging,now breakingoff with a gentle, many,havingneitherbreathor diaphragmsupport,have to
interrupted sigh, now singing long passaggi legato or interrupttheirphrasesafterfour or six notes ... whileothers
detached,now gruppi,now leaps, now with long trilli,now with a deficientthroatdo not soundthe notes distinctly,that
with short,and againwith sweetpassaggisung softly ... is, do not articulatethem to the point where they can be
distinguishedas gorgie.
Likewise,FrancescoPatrizi,in his descriptionof the
voice of TarquiniaMolza, gives a clear idea of the
level of agility, elasticityand subtle flexibilitywhich Tactus
was consideredthe ideal: Leavingasidethe issue of the metricalor propor-
La voceadunquesua e un sopranononfosco, non soppresso,
tionalrelationshipbetweenthe notes and the time
non sforzato,ma chiarissimo,aperto, delicatissimo,piano, signature,the most importantevidenceconcerning
eguale,soavissimo;in sommase ei si potessediresenzapeccato, tempo seemsto indicatean extremelibertyin the
piit che angelico;et quello che i musici soglionoappellare treatmentof rhythm, relatingto the expressive
rotondo,che tantovaledi sotto,quantodi mezzo,e di sopra. essenceof the text. Rhythmicflexibilitybecamean
So her voice is a soprano not dark, not suppressed,not elementof virtuosoensembleperformance to the
forced, but very clear, open, very delicate,soft, even, very pointwhereincreased refinementmadeit necessary
sweet;in sum, if one may say it withoutsinning,more than for someoneto keeptimein 'modernmadrigals' by
angelic;and what musiciansusuallycall round,of the same givinga beat,as Frescobaldi observes."2The role of
worthin the lowerregisters,as in the middle,and in the top,
whichis somethingveryrarelyfound.2o directorneed not to be externalto the group of
singersbut can be assumedby one of the singers
Powerfuldynamicand extremesof pitch were not themselves.However,the need for such a director
sought after.A modern technique, based on a kind seemsto increasein proportionto thedegreeof sub-
of sound production needed to fill a modern 2,ooo- tletyaimedatin theperformance.
seat hall or theatrecannot be consideredsuitablefor
the delicacy and sense of detail required in the Pronunciation
madrigal. The different relationship that existed Thevastmajorityof originalmadrigalprintsreveals
between wind pressure and the passive contraction a notationalprocedurewhich suggeststhat the
of the vocal chordsis highlightedby the techniqueof singer should make an obvious elision between
throat articulationfor rapidand light notes generally words ending and beginningwith a vowel-thus
known as gorgia,which accordingto Camillo Maffei 'dolc'aure',not 'dolci aure';a modern tendency
requireda 'soft, flexible throat'.21As Zacconi points towardspresumedconsistenciesof pronunciation
out in his Prattica di musica (1592, f.58v), petto has misledsingersinto opting for the latter.The
('chest',i.e. powerfulbreath)and gola (i.e. a flexible, sametendencyhasalsoledthemto neglecttheprac-
agile and relaxed 'throat') and fianco (i.e. strong tice-present in many dialects,includingTuscan,
'hips', or diaphragmsupport) are the basis of good and usefulforpreventingsemanticmisunderstand-
singing, without which gorgiawould not be recog- ing-of doublingthe consonantsat the beginnings
nizable as such: of words.Forexample,the correctpronunciation of
Due cosesi ricercano a chi vuolfar questaprofessione: 'e sevoi non havete'is 'e ssevvoinon havete'.How-
petto,&
gola;pettoperpoterunasimilquantitti,& un tantonumerodi ever,this is not nearlyso bad as the barbarisms of
figurea giusto terminecondurre; gola poi per poterleagevol- singerswhose mother tongue is not who
Italian, are
mente sumministrare: perchemolti non avendone petto ne often deludedinto thinkingthat an indiscriminate
fiancho, in quattrooversei figure convenganoi suoi disegni doublingof consonants(especially the'r'andthe '1')
interrompere ... & altriper difettodi gola nonspiccanosi forte
le figure,cioWnon le pronuntianosi benechepergorgiacono- can re-createthe soundof the Italianlanguage.To
sciutasia. my astonishment,I have often heard the word
'dolore'changedto 'dol-lore',also with both 'o'
Two things are requiredby whoeverwishes to follow this
profession:breath,and the throat:a breathpowerfulenough
sounds open to the point of sounding ridiculous.
to sing sucha quantityof notes rightthroughto the end;and (Both the 'o's in 'dolore'aredark,the second a shade
the throatto accomplishthis in a comfortableway:because more than the first.)

EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1999 637

Ornamentation La sprezzatura e quella leggiadria la quale si di al canto co'l
trascorso di piii crome, e simicrome sopra diverse corde co'l
Lightornamentation, which takesinto considera-
quale fatto a tempo, togliendosi al canto una certa terminata
tion the use of a ribattuta(trillo)at cadences,or angustia, e secchezza, si rende piacevole, licenzioso, e arioso, si
greateruse of the rhetoricalflourishusuallyknown come nel parlar comune la eloquenza, e la fecondia rende
as accento,23changessignificantlythe conceptionand agevoli, e dolci le cose di cui si favella.
colour of a madrigal.A less appropriateform of
Sprezzatura is that charm lent to a song by a few 'faulty'
ornamentation wouldseemto be the useof diminu- eighths and sixteenths [quavers and semiquavers] on various
tionsandlong,rapidornamentswhichdetractfrom tones, together with those [similar 'faults'] made in the
the clarityandtransparency
of the polyphonicweb, tempo. These relieve the song of a certain restricted narrow-
ness and dryness and make it pleasant, free, and airy, just
as occurfor instancein Luzzaschi's
Madrigali... a as in common speech eloquence and variety make pleasant
uno, e doi, e tresoprani(1601).Describingthe Roman and sweet the matters being spoken of.25
style,Bernhardrefersto a repertoryof small,rapid
ornaments,often light portamenti,anticipations The art of madrigalperformanceis a difficult com-
and delaysof notes which,used in phraseswhere bination of technical precision (intonation, minute
the melody unfoldsin a narrowrange,give the dynamic shadings,timbre) and expressivemobility.
expressiona sense of lively mobilityand delicate The difficulty derives from this combination of
casualness.24 technical and expressiveelements, often in opposi-
Unfortunately, except in rare cases such as tion to one another. The fact that madrigalswere
Caccini's Le nuove musiche (1601/2), we have few in essence destined to be sung in small chambers
precise details of the smaller ornaments, and it is is a good indication of how subtle, and also how
generallysupposed that it is the large diminutions indispensable,was the expressivedimension of the
that provide the basis for ornamentation.In reality, madrigal.A complete understandingof the text and
especiallyin vocal music, ornamentationis inextri- a flawlessintonation are not in themselvessufficient
cably bound up with minute alterationsin sound, to give justice to these compositions: only a total,
ranging from tiny, rapid accenti through brief artistic immersion in the emotional content of the
passaggito trilli and groppiof a certain length. We poetry and words, combined with an extremevocal
can also think of ornamentationas the sprezzatura fluidity, are capable of restoring that atmosphere
describedby Caccini in his Nuove musichee nuova of timelessness characteristicof a cappella vocal
manieradi scriverle(1614): performance.

1 FromGiulioCesareMonteverdi's Delleimperfettionidellamoderna 6 For Alessandro Guarini's authorship

'Dichiarazione' glossinghis brother
Claudio'spostfaceto his Quintolibro
de'madrigalia cinquevoci(1605)-
andrespondingto criticismsof Monte-
verdi'sstyleby GiovanniMaria
Artusi-publishedin ClaudioMonte-
verdi'sScherzimusicali(Venice,1607);
see ClaudioMonteverdi: Tuttele opere,
ed. G. F. Malipiero(2/Vienna,1954-
68), x, pp.69-72,at p.70o.
Thetrans-
lationis takenfromSourcereadingsin
musichistory: fromClassical Antiquity
throughtheRomanticera,ed. O. Strunk
(NewYork,1950),pp.4o8-9.
2 In L'Artusi,overoDelleimperfettioni
dellamodernamusica(Venice,1600)
andSecondapartedell'Artusiovero
musica(Venice,1603).Forthe former,
see alsothe partialtranslationin Source
readings,ed. Strunk,pp.393-404.
3 ClaudioMonteverdi: Lettere,ed.
E. Lax(Florence,1994),pp.200-202, at
p.201;Thelettersof ClaudioMonteverdi,
trans.D. Stevens(Oxford,2/1995),
PP.416-22,at p.421.
4 SeeG. Tomlinson,Monteverdi and
theendof theRenaissance (Oxford,
1987),PP.3-30,esp. pp.17-21.
5 NicolaVicentino,L'anticamusica
ridottaalla modernaprattica(Rome,
1555;R/ Kassel,1959),ff.81r-81v;trans.
asAncientmusicadaptedto modern
practice,trans.M. R. Maniates(New
Haven,CT,1996),p.254.
of this dedication, see LuzzascoLuzza-
schi: Madrigaliper cantare e sonare a
uno, due e tre soprani (16ol), ed. A.
Cavicchi (Brescia and Kassel, 1965),
pp.12-13,which also includes a partial
transcription (with some errors). The
text given here is taken from the origi-
nal, and the translation from T. Carter,
Music in late Renaissanceand early
BaroqueItaly (London, 1992), P.17.
7 G. M. Trabaci, Il secondo librode
ricercate& altri varii capricci(Naples,
1615;R/ Florence, 1984), preface: 'se
non vi ? una leggiadrissima mano, &
un studio maturo, & particolare, & che
si diano quei garbi, & quelli accenti che
detta Musica ricerca'.

638 EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1999

8 Vicentino, L'antica musica ridotta
alla modernaprattica, ff.94r-94v;
Ancient music adapted to modern
practice, trans. Maniates, p.301.
9 Lodovico Zacconi, Prattica di musica
(Venice, 1592;R/ Bologna, 1967), f-7v:
'cantavano le cantilene come le stavano
scritte sopra de libri, senza porgerli poi
un minimo accento, 6 darli qualche
poco di vaghezza: perche non erano
intenti ad altro...che alla pura, &
semplice modulatione'.
to Translated from Christoph Bern-
hard, Von der Singe-Kunstoder Manier
(1649), transcribed in Die Komposi-
tionslehreHeinrich Schiitzensin der
Fassung seines SchiilersChristophBern-
hard, ed. J. M. Miiller-Blattau (Kassel,
1926, 2/1963),PP-31-9, at pp.31-2.
11 See, for example, the registration
tables in CostanzoAntegnati: L'arte
organica (16o8), ed. R. Lunelli
(Mainz, 1938), p.72; Girolamo Diruta,
'Discorso sopra il concertar li registri
dell'organo', Secondaparte del Tran-
silvano: dialogo diviso in quattro libri
(Venice, 1622; R/Bologna, 1978),
pp.22-3.
12 Compare Mozart's complaints
about Joseph Nikolaus Meissner's
excessive vibrato in a letter to his father
dated 12 June 1778;The lettersof Mozart
and his family, trans. E. Anderson
(3/London, 1985), PP-551-3.
13 See Giovan Battista Doni's findings
reported in J. J. K. Rhodes and W. R.
Thomas, 'Pitch', New Grove,xiv, p.783.
Tuttele opere,ed.
14 Monteverdi:
Malipiero, viii, pp.271-9.
15 AdrianoBanchieri:
Festinonellasera
del giovedi grasso avanti cena a 5 voci
miste (16o8), ed. B. Somma, Capolavori
Polifonici del Secolo XVI, i (Rome,
1948), pp.68-70
16 SeeDelleletteredelSignorGio.
CamilloMaffeida Solofra(Naples,
1562): 'La settima [regola] ? che tenga
la bocca aperta, e giusta, non piit di
quello che si tiene quando si ragiona
con gli amici'. Quoted in N. Bridgman,
'Giovanni Camillo Maffei et sa lettre
sur le chant', Revue de musicologie,
xxxviii (1956), PP.3-34, at p.20.
17 In his preface to Euridice (Florence,
1600), ed. H. M. Brown, Recent
Researches in the Music of the Baroque fix the tempo. In them there is a truly
Era, xxxvi-xxxvii (Madison, 1981), wondrous capacity for moving the
pp.xli-xlii. affections.'
18 Gioseffo Zarlino, Le istitutioni 23 For descriptions and musical
armoniche (Venice, 2/1573),p.24o: 'ad examples see Michael Praetorius,
altro modo si canta nelle Chiese & nelle Syntagma musicum, iii (Wolfenbuttel,
Capelle publiche, & ad altro modo 2/1619; R/Kassel, 1958), p.233. See also
nelle private Camere: imperoche ivi si the details of ornaments in the preface
canta a piena voce ... e nelle camere si to Giulio Caccini, Le nuove musiche
canta con voce piuisommessa & soave, (Florence, 1601 [= 1602]; R/ Florence
senza far alcun strepito'. 1983).
24 Bernhard, Von der Singe-Kunst
19 Vincenzo Giustiniani, Discorso
oder Manier; see Die Kompositionslehre
sopra la musica (c.1628), in A. Solerti,
Heinrich Schiitzens,ed. Miiller-Blattau,
L'originidel melodramma (Turin, 1903;
R/Hildesheim, 1969), p.1o8. PP.31-9.
25 For the original and translation, see
20 F. Patrizi, Amorosafilosofia (1577),
ed. J. C. Nelson (Florence, 1963), P-39;
Giulio Caccini:Nuove musiche e nuova
maniera di scriverle(1614), ed. H. W.
trans. in L. Stras, 'Recording Tarquinia:
Hitchcock, Recent Researches in the
imitation, parody and reportage in Music of the Baroque Era, xxviii
Ingegneri's "Hor che '1ciel e la terra
e '1vento tace"', Early music, xxvii (Madison, 1978), pp.xxxii-xxxiii.
(1999), PP-358-77, at p.362.
21 SeeDelleletteredelSignorGio.
Camillo Maffei (1562), given in Bridg-
man, 'Giovanni Camillo Maffei et sa
lettre sur le chant', p.18:According to
Maffei, the 'voce passeggiata' 'non &
altro ch'un suono caggionato dalla
minuta, et ordinata ripercossione
dell'aere nella gola' ('is none other than HUW SAUNDERS
a sound produced by the minute and HARPSICHORD MAKER
ordered repercussion of the air in the
throat') and cannot be produced
without 'l'istromento pieghevole e
molle' (i.e. a soft, flexible throat).
22 In the preface to his II primo libro di
toccated'intavolatura
di cembaloe
organo (Rome, 1616),ed. E. Darbellay,
Monumenti Musicali Italiani, iv
(Milan, 1977), p.xxvii (rule 1). Compare
the prefaceto PaoloQuagliati:IIprimo
librode'madrigalia quattrovoci(1608),
ed. J. Cohen, Recent Researches in
the Music of the Baroque Era, lxxix
(Madison, WI, 1996), pp.lxxviii-lxxix,
and Aquilino Coppini's letter to Hen-
drik van der Putten concerning madri-
gals from Monteverdi's third, fourth Harpsichords, spinets, & virginals
and fifth books, given in P. Fabbri, based on or copied from historical
Monteverdi,trans. T. Carter (Cam- originals & largelymade & decorated
bridge, 1994), p.10o5:'Those [madrigals] by hand using traditionalmethods.
by Monteverdi require, during their Formoredetailswriteto:
performance, more flexible rests Huw Saunders,ino Milton Grove,
[respiri]and bars that are not strictly London m6 8QY
regular, now pressing forward or aban- or 'phone0171503 5824
doning themselves to slowings down, huw_and_martha@compuserve.com
now also hurrying. You yourself will
EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1999 639