Music History Ch. 7

Latin

Latin

sacred Italian music was in what language?

Italian

secular Italian music was in what language?

Frotolla ( 7 )

• Italian early secular songs written by Flemish composers (Josquin)

• strophic , 4 voices

• homophonic more often than polyphonic; nothing elaborate

• treble dominated

• catchy, dance-like rhythm

• simple, syllabic text

• forerunner to 16th century Madrigal

strophic

same music for each verse of text

El Grillo (2)

• Josquin Frottola

• "The Cricket", funny and entertaining text

Early Madrigal (6)

• written by Flemish composers in Italy

• direct descendent from Frottala

• not strophic; through composed

• high quality, short, Italian poetry: Petrarch

• 4 voices, alternation between homophony and polyphony

• sung at Italian courts after evening meals, etc.

polyphony

independent melodic lines with imitation

through composed

different music for each verse

Arcadelt (3)

• Flemish early Madrigal composer

• wrote Il banco e dolce cigno (the white and sweet swan)

• poetry by Petrarch based on a legend

Baldasare Custiglione (2)

• Treatise: "Book of the Courtiers" about court manners ex. #1: all courtiers should be able to sing (Madrigals)

• Madrigals written in part books ( one part per book )

Classical Phase (Madrigal) (7)

• native Italian composers

• more polyphony and imitation than homophony

• 5 voices

• still Petrarch poetry (high quality)

• text-painting: music expresses text

• lead to English phase

• Orazio Vechio

English phase

• after Classical Phase

• Madrigals: good music, mediocre poetry because composers wrote their own

Orazio Vechio (3)

• priest/composer/choir director in Venice and later Ferrara (d'Este's)

• wrote version of Il banco e dolce: set to own classical phase madrigal

• 1st phrase quotes 1st phrase of Arcadelt's original

Luca Marenzio (4)

• transition between classical phase and late classic madrigal

• wrote 500 + madrigals

• Italian, very well-known throughout Europe

• extreme text-painting and chromaticism: no definite key

Marenzio and D'Este family (3)

• worked for Cardinal Luigi d'Este at Vatican: Luigi retired to Ferrara and Marenzio followed

• in d'Este court, wrote for virtuoso female singers "Concerto della Dona"

• wrote for other court musicians, mixed gender ensembles, private concerts for d'Estes

Solo e Pensio (2)

• Marenzio Madrigal

• poem by Petrarch

Late Madrigal (6)

• all classical phase characteristics pushed to extreme

• 5 voices; chromaticism

• vague tonality; pitches found outside of chord

• extreme text-painting and dissonance

• lack of strong cadences until final one

• main composer: Gesualdo

Gesualdo (5)

• prince of Venossa

• killed wife and her bf and her kid and moved to Ferrara and married Leonara d'Este

• Duke Ercole d'Este II gave him refuge and a job

• wrote Madrigals for court at Ferrara

• wrote Moro Lasso (Late Madrigal, secular)

Gesualdo and emotion

• interested in creating emotions in readers through shocking notes and text

• chromatic and dissonant

• many looked down on his composing, but he had knowledge of theory because followed the fundamentals of no parallels and stuff

• created very unstable feelings with his music; voices imitated each other but at different times and with different note lengths

Luzzaschi

Who was Gesualdo inspired by?

Tenebrae (3)

• service of scripture and prayer (reading and music)

• service song in dark (translates to darkness) during holy week (Tuesday)

• Gesualdo wrote one; sacred drastically different from "interesting" secular, not as chromatic or dissonant, lower range