Rationalism and Early Opera (c.1600 – c.1700) - Session 6

Rationalism and Early Opera (c.1600 – c.1700)

Once again, to be able to understand the "progress" of music we need to take a larger view of what was going on at that specifically period of time.

The baroque period was an age of discovery by scientists such as Galileo and Newton, of religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants, and of political absolutism. Each of these factors was reflect4d in musical life. the experiment of monody led tot he creation of dramatic music, the religious hostility found music serving the purpose of proselytism, an the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of educated nobles stimulated music patronage. Some, like Count Giovanni de`Bardi of the Florentine Camerata.

The Florentine Camerata were an important group of musical amateurs who met to discuss literature, science and the arts. The earliest recorded meeting was 14 January 1573 at Count Giovanni Bardi's house. The group was not formally organized, and it is unclear as to who all might have participated in the discussions. It is known that Vincenzo Galilei and Giulo Caccini frequented the group, but it is likely that Jacopo Peri, Ottavio Rinuccini and Girolamo Mei also participated. Members of the Camerata were largely concerned with a revival of the Greek dramatic style. It is from these experimentations that the stile recitativo was invented. It was thought that the Greeks used a style between speech and song, and this is what this development produced. This style was used in several monodies and intermedi of the day, but became primarily linked with the development of opera. It is indeed the formulation of opera in the realm of music that both Florence and the Florentine Camerata are most famous for.

A fundamental belief in the power of music to move the listener distinguished the Baroque period. By seeking to discover a musical equivalent for each state of feeling, for poetic images, and for the rhythms of the words, theorists and composers gradually compiled a standardized musical rhetoric, called the Doctrine of the Affections. Enthusiasm for this rational art of emotional expression in music, combined with music’s inherent capacity for touching the soul, enabled music to become perhaps the most popular of the fine arts among both the nobility and the growing middle class.

Vincenzo Galilei

The Doctrine of the Affections clearly has something in common with the Greek Doctrine of Ethos. The Florentine Camerata represented by Vincenzo Galilei presented a critique of the 16th century polyphonic technique, based on aesthetic grounds, developed from the theories of the Greeks. Galilei proposed that music shouldn't express a particular image but instead an affection that the composer was trying to convey. This led to follow a model of oratory instead of poetry. He proposed that the new music should consist of a single vocal melody line, with accompaniment of lute or keyboard instrument, a compromise between returning to the bare monophony and the confusing complexities of counterpoint.

The solo song tradition with which Galilei was most directly acquainted was the Italian 16th Century aria, Galilei himself wrote some arias but he was not a distinguished composer. The composer who most deserves credit for putting the Cameratas practice into solo song is Giulio Caccini whose collection Le neuve musiche demonstrates the full potential of monodic melody.

Monody was simply a single vocal melody accompanied by an instrument that would play chords underneath. This supporting part was the continuo, played by any instrument capable of playing chords, such as a keyboard or a lute. Sometimes a viol doubled the bass line. The accompaniment wasn't the only new feature of monody - the melody itself was designed to suit the natural declamation of the text, enhancing natural speech rhythms and accentuation, taking its cue from an orator's delivery rather than from the measured patterns and repetitions of melodic phrases one normally associates with song.

Although the idea of a single voice singing with a chordal accompaniment may not sound particularly new today, it was a truly revolutionary concept at the time, serving as a catalyst for some of the most important developments in Baroque music. It was such a significant development that its appearance in Florence in the late sixteenth century is commonly considered the beginning of the Baroque period.

In 1605, Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643) distinguished between the "prima prattica" and the "seconda prattica", or first and second practices.  By the first, he meant the style of vocal polyphony derived from the Netherlanders, represented in the works of Willaert, codified in the theoretical writings of Zarlino, and perfected in the music of Palestrina.  By the second he meant the style of the modern Italians such as Rore, Marenzio, and himself.  As Giulio Cesare defined it, the guiding principle of the seconda pratica that the words should govern the music; this justified the freer dissonance treatment that the reactionary Artusi attacked. The seconda pratica viewed as a resurrection of the principles of music as taught by classical antiquity, rediscovered by Peri, Wert, and Monteverdi himself, among others. 

In summation, "instead of attempting to reflect poetic sound, structure, and imagery in music, the Rationalist composers sought to induce certain powerful affection in their listeners. The understanding of the manner in which this was to be achieved changed from a poetic, mimetic model to a rhetorical one. The homophonic texture of an expressive solo line and basso continuo accompaniment replaced the polyphonic style. The concerted sound ideal of timbral contrast rather tan homogeneity dominated the new music. The panconsonant sonority of earlier music was superseded by the seconda pratica's free use of dissonance to increase the affective force of composition."

The far-reaching consequences of this new musical texture included the creation of opera. One voice clearly and movingly singing text with an accompaniment that did not obscure its sound or meaning suddenly made the creation of an entire drama set to music a real possibility. Monteverdi was perhaps the first composer to envision opera as a drama in music, a depiction of human psychology. With L'Orfeo (1607), Monteverdi established opera as the leading musical genre through his extraordinary gift for expressing emotions. 

This ties us with my blog purpose of "progress" in music for many reasons: Orfeo is one of the first pieces to specify instruments in the score; it sets dramatic choices to become normative for opera through the next three centuries, and to be an amazing example of the seconda pratica. 

Here is the first part of Orfeo:

Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and Late Humanism (c.1500 – c.1600) - Session 5

Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and Late Humanism  (c.1500 – c.1600)

The Reformation in Europe, primarily in Germany, has been one of the most influential events on Western culture in the history of the World. Its impact has been felt in almost every single aspect of life, from literature to day-to-day practices. Even today, much of what happened during the Protestant Reformation has a direct link to many aspects of today's Western Culture. One of these impacts that many do not consider is the impact that it had on music in the Church, and music in general. 

In order to understand how the reformation would become such an important mark in history, we need to examine the church and culture prior to the period to determine how the Late Medieval period and the Renaissance period “prepared the way and made straight the paths” for the Reformation. As I said in my last blog post about the Humanism movement, one of the themes that movement was that one needed to go back to the original documents upon which one's beliefs are based in order to re-discover the true nature of those beliefs and to promote the development of human capacities and to open new possibilities for mankind. Enlightenment period began to raise questions about everything in the world including the Church. In other words, Renaissance Humanists believed that the original writings or beliefs of the ancient world had been adulterated and obscured by subsequent interpretations down through the middle Ages. 

Martin Luther

With that being said, certain practices within the church itself would also precipitate rebellion against it.

The Catholic Church was being increasingly challenged and resisted against, especially in areas further away from Rome that were gradually converting to Protestantism. The sale by the Pope of indulgences, a guarantee of salvation, was the last straw. Martin Luther became a figurehead for the discontented masses, and his “95 Theses” proposed dramatic reforms of the Catholic Church. With the advent of the printing press Luther's manifesto spread far and wide and garnered widespread support. The challenge from Luther caught the Pope by surprise. The leaders of the Catholic Church were also frightened by how confidently the Princes of Germany resisted Vatican pressure. These leaders, supposedly subject to the authority of the Church, now declared themselves independent of Vatican rule. 

All of these factors led to the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Church’s downfall.

Jean Calvin

Once the reformation was fully underway, with the fragmentation of the church, it began to seep into the lives and the ways of people; it would undoubtedly begin to change music. In fact, the change in music almost began immediately in the newly formed churches. This fragmentation caused the growth of many musical styles; Luther promoted hymns (called chorales) for congregational and devotional singing. They were sometimes brand-new compositions or trop from Gregorian melodies.. On the other hand, the Calvinist reformation in the other countries of Europe had a completely different view of music. While Luther strongly endorsed the use of music, Calvin considered banishing music from worship service, but at the end he allowed the congregation to sing monophonic psalms. 

Ultimately the Princes' defiance ensured Luther's survival, and prompted the birth of a Catholic movement known as the Counter-Reformation. their efforts to bring people back to Catholicism.  In 1545, the leaders of the Catholic Church gathered in the Northern Italian city of Trent for an emergency conference. Their aim was to reclaim the moral high ground, and the superiority of the Holy Mother Church, in the wake of the Protestant challenge. The stakes were high. They were playing for the survival of the Roman Catholic Church.

After 20-years of debate, the Council of Trent established the basis for a Catholic counter-attack. Decrees were issued covering every aspect of Church authority, from the holding of multiple offices, to the chastity of priests, and monastic reform. Ignatius Loyola was charged with forming the Jesuits, a band of militant missionaries whose task was to reconvert the converted. 

The “Index of Forbidden Books” was published, naming and shaming 583 heretical texts, including most translations of the Bible and the works of Erasmus, Calvin and Luther. New churches were ordered, with space for thousands of worshippers, and acoustics designed, for the first time, for vernacular sermons. The Catholic Church used the weapon of reform to entice back its disillusioned congregations.

The Council of Trent also discussed about music in worship. They were very worried that secular style and practices had crept into worship, like the use of instruments in service, the composer's focus on the music rather than the liturgical words. Ultimately they decided that sensualism, gratuitous elaboration, and virtuosic technique were to be avoided; the music was to be sung a cappella or with very discreet support from organ;  there would be no highly expressive dissonance or sensual, dancelike rhythms; and above all, the words were to be made more distinct. 

Ok, now that you know everything that happened lets come back to my thoughts. From this blog post I'll start addressing the idea of PROGRESS throughout my choice of music that represents the time period I'll be writing about.

Palestrina

For this particular period I chose the model composer of the music of the Counter-Reformation, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca. 1525 - 1594). In order to achieve progress you need to sometimes take a step back, and Palestrina is the perfect example of that. Palestrina created an exemplary style of church music, a style upheld as a model during his lifetime as well as by succeeding generations, consciously imitated by later composers and officially sanctioned by the Church, and became the basis of the so-called stile antico (the "old style"). The treatment of both rhythm and harmony was completely controlled in Palestrina's music; nothing was allowed to disturb the smooth, continuous flow, and all dissonances (except suspensions) were carefully placed on unstressed beats. Whether long or short, the melodies unfolded in balancing curves, with barely large leaps that always contoured by a change of direction in the melodic line. The text settings was always reflecting the natural accentuation, but never in a immoderate way. The voice texture was very clear, and he achieved that by many ways, such as interlocking entries, antiphonal writing, reduction in the number of parts, invertible counterpoint and repetition of the material. In terms of progress he had to adapt his music to follow the new rules of the church, and still got to achieve a point where his writing was magnificent and didn't loose any of the pre-antecedent musical thoughts, he just did it in another way.

The music I choose to represent the Counter-Reformation style was Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli. This rather "free" Mass it's based on an original theme, in contrast with the practice in the past that would borrow a melodic theme from other music. I think that this Mass translates in perfection all of Palestrina compositions techniques, that was based of the style established by the Council of Trent. When listening to it, notice where we took voices out to clarify the texture, where he treated the shape of the melody to give emphasis on the text, and how the dissonances were carefully placed. Enjoy!

Humanism (c.1400 - c.1500) - Session 4

Humanism and Music (c.1400 - c.1500)

This movement of the Renaissance had emphasized secular concerns as a result of the rediscovery and study of the literature, art, and civilization of ancient Greece and Rome. They believed that solutions to
problems could come from humans intellect and effort  rather than only from divine revelation or grace.
The aristocracy of secular wealth and power produced by rising capitalism resulted in this newly emergent feeling of personal freedom from religious authoritarianism and a consequent emphasis on the pleasures of the senses, know as Humanism. 

The belief that persons are the masters of their own fate, the grow up of this new sentiment of optimism about humankind itself, and the rebirth of classic culture is also called as "Renaissance".  In the mist of all this "rebirth" the Hundred Year's War happened. 

In 1337, Edward III had responded to the confiscation of his duchy of Aquitaine by King Philip VI of France by challenging Philip’s right to the French throne, and that precipitated the beginning of the Hundred Year's War that lasted until 1453. The War actually benefited the development of the musical style of that time in many ways. 

The Hundred Year's War helped to make a cross-fertilization between musicians and music. The English brought their music, full of sweet simpler melodies, a little shorter, more focused on the spoken language nuances with simpler harmonies (consonances) to France.  Another way that the music was befitted from the War is because it left a a large area, known as Burgundy, completed untouched. The dukes who ruled Burgundy were related to the French royal family but did not had any direct involvement in the war itself, which left them in a good financial situation. They were able to cultivate a fabulous court, a center of music and other arts as patrons. One of the most important musician that had financial support from the Burgundy was Guillaume Dufay (1397 - 1474). 

Dufay played a major role in the creation of the expressive and vertically oriented Burgundian style (a synthesis that leavened the subtle French contrapuntal art of the ars nova with the simpler, more mellifluous melodic art of the italian and the homogeneous triadic textures of the English) and also in the development of fauxbourdon. He was also very well known for developing a new cyclic concept f the Mass Ordinary as a large-scale, musically unified whole based on a borrowed cantus firmus. 

Gilles Binchois

Another important composer, contemporary of Dufay, was Gilles Binchois (1400-1460). He was a leading composer at the court of Burgundy during the middle third of the fifteenth century. Binchois is remembered primarily for his secular chansons, for which composition he was known during his lifetime as at least the equal of Dufay.
His entire creative life was spent in Burgundy, and so his style is less varied than those of many other prominent composers of the era. Binchois' output represents one of the highest points in French secular composition in the 15th century, every song being a carefully crafted masterpiece. Today we will take a look at his De plus en plus rondeau piece. 



This is a Chanson and the text is a love poem, coming from the French tradition of courtly love. Th English tradition influence can be felt on the continuity use of thirds and sixths, as well as the use of triads on the harmonisation of the melody. I couldn't find anything really amazing about this piece, other that gives a perfect example of the influence of both English and French styles that happened  in place because of the Hundred Year's war. 

Here is a very interesting rendition of Binchois' pice, for voice, string and pluck stringed instrument. I like this set up, for being a secular music I feel like it should be played with instruments is less boring and gives to the listeners some nice contrasting timbers. By listening to this you can see how Binchois is very much like Dufay, and how the tradition of the Burgundian style was strong at that time. 

References:

Seaton, Douglass. Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Pub., 1991. Print.
Latham, Alison. The Oxford Dictionary of Musical Terms. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
Burkholder, James Peter, and Claude V. Palisca. Norton Anthology of Western Music.Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print.