ENJ P2(U3 4) 11-16 2PP.qxd

ENJ P2(U3 4) 11-16 2PP.qxd
118
8/14/06
4:20 PM
Page 118
THE RENAISSANCE
Principal Works
Operas, including Orfeo (1607) and L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation
of Poppea, 1642); other dramatic music, including Combattimento di Tancredi
e Clorinda (The Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda, 1624)
Secular vocal music, including 9 books of madrigals (1587–1651; Book 9,
posthumous), Scherzi musicali, and canzonettas
Sacred vocal music, including Vespers (1610), Masses, Magnificats, madrigali spirituali, motets, and psalms
I]Z:c_dnbZcid[Bjh^XEVX`V\Z
I]ZCdgidcGZXdgY^c\h
I]ZDca^cZA^hiZc^c\AVW
Listening Guide
HijYnHeVXZ
oll
)
-
Monteverdi: Ecco mormorar l’onde (Here, now, the waves murmer)
89"GDB
DATE OF WORK:
Published 1590, Second Book of Madrigals
89"GDB
I]Z:c_dnbZcid[Bjh^X
GENRE:
TEXT:
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR:
Italian madrigal, 5 voices (SSATB)
89"GDB
I]Z:c_dnbZcid[Bjh^X!
H]dgiZg
14 lines, rhyming a-a-b-b-c-c-d-d-e-e-f-f-g-gI]ZCdgidcHXdgZh
by Torquato Tasso
I]Z:c_dnbZcid[Bjh^X!
H]dgiZgZWdd`
HijYn<j^YZ
Careful musical pictorialization of each image of nature (waves,
rustling leaves, birds’ song, breeze).
Alternation of voice groups, from low to high, in playful exchange.
Clear text declamation and repeated phrases.
Somber mood and slower pace in closing line, to portray “heavy heart.”
TEXT
TRANSLATION
Ecco mormorar l’onde
e tremolar le fronde
a l’aura matutina e gli arborscelli,
[Ecco mormorar . . . ]
e sovra i verdi rami i vaghi augelli
cantar soavemente,
e rider l’oriente.
Ecco già l’alba appare
e si specchia nel mare,
e rasserena il cielo,
e imperla il dolce gielo,
e gli alti monti indora.
Oh, bella e vag’aurora,
l’aura è tua messaggiera, e tu de l’aura
ch’ogni arso cor ristaura!
Here, now, the waves murmur
And the leaves and young poplars tremble
In the morning breeze
[Here, now, the waves murmur . . . ]
And upon the green branches the enchanting birds
sing sweetly,
And the East smiles.
Here, now, the dawn breaks
And is mirrored in the sea,
And calms the sky,
And adorns the light frost with pearls,
And gilds the towering mountains.
O lovely, gentle dawn,
The breeze is your messenger, and you of the breeze
That restores every heavy heart.
—Translation by William F. Prizer
ENJ P2(U3 4) 11-16 2PP.qxd
8/14/06
4:20 PM
Page 119
16 Renaissance Secular Music
Examples of word painting:
Rustling of leaves (“tremolar le fronde”), in wavelike pattern:
E
j j j j
œ œ œ œ
tre - mo - lar le
j j j
œ œ œ œ
J
fron
-
de
E
tre - mo - lar
fron
-
de
&b œ
&b œ
œ
œ
œ
le
œ
Morning breeze (“a l’aura matutina”), with flowing melisma:
œ
Vb
A
œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
l’au
-
n
œ œ œ
œ
bœ
ra
ma - tu - ti
œ
œ œ
-
Sweet singing of birds (“cantar soavemente”), drawn out in long melisma:
&b
œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ
Can - tar
&b
œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
Can - tar
œ
œ
œ
so
-
œ
-
˙
a - ve - men
œ
so
˙
œ
-
te,
-
te,
˙
œ
a - ve - men
Full-textured, slow-moving chords for “heavy heart”:
˙
&b Ó
˙
Ch’o
&b ˙
˙
gni ar
-
so
˙
˙
Ch’o - gni ar
&b w
-
-
Vb ˙
ra
˙
l’au - ra
∑
so
Ó
w
l’au
b
˙
˙
˙
l’au - ra
?
-
˙
Ó
˙
cor
˙
Ch’o
∑
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
cor
ri
˙
Ch’o
˙
-
˙
˙
Ch’o - gni ar
-
˙
so
cor
Ó
-
˙
gni ar
˙
Ch’o - gni ar - so
˙
˙
˙
˙
-
˙
cor
˙
Ch’o - gni ar
The English Madrigal
“Since singing is so good a thing,
I wish that all men would learne to sing.”
—WILLIAM
BYRD
Just as Shakespeare adapted the Italian sonnet, so the English composers developed
the Italian madrigal into a native art form. The brilliance of the Elizabethan age is
reflected in the school of madrigalists who flourished in the late sixteenth century,
during the reigns of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and James I (1603–25). Among the
œ
na e gli ar
119