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Ryan Little

Music 214-0 Sec 20

Recent Researches in Music of the Renaissance Alessandro Striggio

The volume that I researched was R143. This volume contains music by Alessandro

Striggio, one of the greatest Italian composers during the Renaissance. There are three

main sections of music in this volume. The first and main section is Striggios Il primo libro

de madrigal a cinque voci (First Book of Madrigals for Five Voices). This book contains

twenty-seven of Striggios madrigals that have a wide variety of themes. This volume also

contains the three additional madrigals that Striggio was able to add in one of the later

editions ofPrimo libro a cinquethat was published in 1560. These madrigals are titled Voi,

se col raggio di virtute ardent, Madonna, se non sete and Lavinia, se non sete. The later

two madrigals have the same exact text, while only the first word of each change. David

Butchart was able to find this music through microfilms of the eight editions ofPrimo libro

a cinque voci with the help of libraries in Bologna, London, Munich, Naples, and Rome.

Butchart also received printed editions from Ulrike Patow in Hamburg.1

In the beginning of this volume, there is a copy of the alto part from the first page of

Il primo libro de madrigal a cinque voci. It is interesting to compare this to the modern

notated version afterwards, because it looks exactly like I would expect it to. As we were

taught this formula of converting the renaissance notation to our modern notation, it is

easy to decide whether or not the editor has changed anything. In this case, the editor has

done very little and keeps the piece very much the same to the original. If I were to have

done the editing, I would have done it the same way because you want to honor the

intention of the composer. This editor has done a great job of keeping everything the same

as the original, but simply changing the notation so that our modern eyes can understand

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what is written. Many times an editor tries to put their own stamp on the music that they

are editing, thus confusing the performer from the real interpretation that the composer

would have liked to hear. The original transcription was made from the Gardano edition of

1564. The order of the madrigals has been adopted from a single Alto partbook in the

Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples. In the most recent edition, you can see the original

partbook designation, the original clef, key, and time signature, and the first note of the

piece for each voice part. The edition maintains the original note values. The last note of

each piece is notated as equivalent in duration to a whole measure, with a fermata placed

above it. Unlike the original score, this edition has barlines throughout. Barlines have been

added in measures of four half-notes in cut time. In the works with common time (time)

signatures, barlines have been added in measures with two half-notes. One of my favorite

things about this edition is that all accidentals in the original have been reproduced. Our

modern natural sign has replaced the sharp sign used in the print to show the cancellation

of a flat sign. As for the poetry in this edition, all punctuation and accents are editorial.

Every line begins with a capital letter except when repeated.2

This edition is relatively easy to use. Trained musicians should be able to read this

music fairly easily, but I would not expect a church congregation to understand how two

whole notes fit into cut time. One way that the editor could have improved his edition was

to change the time signature and fit the number of beats per measure into a more user-

friendly format, so that when it is being sung the text is able to flow in a more steady sense

of time. It is not so much that the edition looks confusing, but the note values do not click

automatically with what I would look for in a cut time piece. This edition definitely could

have been improved by taking the performers into consideration, although if this edition

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were being made primarily for early music performers, they would love it the way it is

written now.3

Alessandro Striggio was one of the leading virtuoso performers and composers of

his time. He was this highest paid of the ten musicians who served the Medici family in

Florence, and he visited courts in Vienna, Munich, Paris and London to show off his mastery

of composition and renaissance instruments. Unfortunately, the information available in

Oxford Music Online is very much the same as the information provided by the editor.

Striggio was connected to the Gonzaga court, where he probably first began developing his

musical talent. Striggio was very well known as a virtuoso on the viol, the lira da braccio,

and the lirone. Because of Striggios publishing success in the 1560s, he took over as the

Medicis maestro di cappella, which meant he was mostly in charge of the Medici musical

life. Striggio married Virginia Vagnoli of Siena and had three children. The third child,

Alessandro the younger eventually became Monteverdis librettist. One of the most

interesting things about Striggio is that in July 1584 he visited Alfonso Il deste in Ferrara.4

Although he was invited, Striggio was actually being commissioned by the Grand Duke

Francesco de Medici to set some madrigals in the Farrarese style. Although Alfonso was

unaware of this, Striggio was really trying to steal this form of art for his own.

I was able to find one recording ofO de la bella Etruria invitto Duce performed by

the I Fagiolini ensemble with Robert Hollingsworth conducting. For the most part, the

ensemble does follow the edition, but there are still a few discrepancies here and there that

seem to be more of an artistic and ensemble choice. The must surprising thing about this

recording is that the ensemble uses a trumpet and trombone, which I think is a relatively

different interpretation of what Striggio would have wanted. Carlo Gesualdos Io parto e

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non pi dissi is the madrigal that comes to mind from the Norton Anthology. It is mostly the

length of notes that make me think that these two pieces are similar. The texture of the five

voices is another thing that reminds me of Striggio. If I were to perform this music, I would

really like to also program Beethovens Missa solemnis, Strauss Vier letzte Lieder, and

Haydns Symphony No. 104 London. I think that this program would have an interesting

connection to Striggios music, and it would give the audience a chance to hear the music of

Vienna, Munich, and London, many years after Striggio would have visited these cities

himself.

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Works Cited

1. David Butchart, R143: Il primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci, in Recent Researches in

the Music of the Renaissance (Middleton: A-R Editions, Inc., 2006), p. 7, 17.

2. David Butchart, R143: Il primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci, in Recent Researches inthe Music of the Renaissance (Middleton: A-R Editions, Inc., 2006), p. 178.

3. David Butchart, R143: Il primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci, in Recent Researches in

the Music of the Renaissance (Middleton: A-R Editions, Inc., 2006), p. 2-3.

4. Iain Fenlon. Striggio, Alessandro (i). Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford

University Press, accessed December 3, 2012,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.turing.library.northwestern.edu/subscriber/article/g

rove/music/26957.

Bibliogrophy

Hanning, Barbara R. "Striggio, Alessandro (ii)." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.

Oxford University Press, accessed December 4, 2012,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.turing.library.northwestern.edu/subscriber/article/g

rove/music/26958.

"Striggio, Alessandro." The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev. Ed. Michael Kennedy.

Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

.

Carter, Tim. "Striggio, Alessandro." The Oxford Companion to Music. Ed. Alison Latham.

Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

.

Wikipedia contributors. "Alessandro Striggio." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia,

The Free Encyclopedia, 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.