Figured Bass and Baroque Music PDF

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James Hepokoski: the rise of monody, madrigals, and figured bass as elements of early Baroque music....

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August 31, 2018 Friday, August 31, 2018

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Figured bass ○ People start thinking about verticality in harmony ○ NOT thinking about chordal inversions yet, but still intervals above bass ○ Liberates solo music from fixed contrapuntal grids with multiple voices no need for an absolutely steady beat § Accompaniment is freer, mixing fixed principle of specified chords with the musically improvisatory performance § This ties back to the word-oriented expressivity that comes to its peak in the madrigals ○ Giulio Caccini: "a method by which anyone could almost speak in music" ○ Origins of figured bass § 1570s - 90s § Solo singer freely performing over instrumental accompaniment § Innovation is the formalization of this improvisatory practice with NOTATION § Common practice by 1600 § Lodovico Viadana (c. 1560-1627) coined the term basso continuo in his book of concerti ecclesiastici ○ Omitted so far: recitative style singing over figured bass in early "opera" (Florence, c. 1600) Origins of Opera ○ Monody: solo song over figured bass (not a historical term - we only use it now) 1. Solo Madrigals (Caccini) 2. Solo Airs (Caccini) 3. Sacred Concertos (Viadana) 4. "Operatic Recitative" (Caccini and Peri) ○ "Sung plays" as special-event celebrations (secular, for political celebrations) ○ Intermedio - ancestor of opera (16th century) - court-sponsored, costumed, semi-staged, musical-theatrical spectable as entertainment § Originally performed in between acts of a spoken drama (thus intermediate)

Could be very lavish and extended Sort of like living pictures, not telling a connected story, often mythological topics § Most famous was a set of six performed at the Medici court (Florence) - written for a wedding, May 2 1589 □ Giovanni di Bardi was in charge of the entertainments devised the intermedi for a play called "La Pellegrina" (Peri, Caccini, and Cavallieri, among others, composed the music) Renewed interest in theories about ancient Greek drama (Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, etc.) § Revival of humanism in the Renaissance - first translations of ancient Greek texts § Is it possible to re-create the grandeur of the ancient Greek tragedies? Replicate impact? § Girolamo Mei, Vincenzo Galilei (father of Galileo), Giovanni de Bardi § Girolamo Mei came to the conclusion (no longer accepted) that ancient Greek plays were sung throughout □ Solo-voice singing, primarily (no counterpart) □ Single melodic lines □ Flexible rhythms (looking at ancient Greek poetic meters) □ Suppression of decoration and ornament § Bardi began holding salons for the study of elevated music (1570s and 80s) - Florentine Camerata (Bardi, Galilei, Caccini, Peri, Rinuccini) □ Simple music is best - avoid counterpoint □ Bardi "Discorso" about how to do this - 1578 □ Galilei "Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna" - 1581 § Florentine Camerata of 1590s - Bardi was replaced by Jacopo Corsi □ Incorporated the new ideas of figured bass First Opera: La Dafne (1598-1608) - few fragments survive 1600: a royal wedding between the king of France and Maria de Medici § Euridice composed for this occasion (Page 9 of the supplemental book) § Text by Octavio Rinuccini, original music by Peri and Caccini (1600) □ But each composer decided to write their own version - Peri's becomes known as the "first opera" ® Textural simplicity ® Declamatory or recitational style (rappresentativo) E h h th al tr tu § §

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Each scene has the same general structure □ Dialogue - scene-setting and action □ Monody - varying intensities (rappresentativo over BC) □ Change of poetic meter □ Choral summary-reaction to the scene □ NB: central aesthetic point and the burden of expression is NOT in the choral portion □ SOMETIMES inset airs that don't conform to the rest of the structure...