The Close of the Sixteenth Century

Developments in the Italian madrigal

• Scoring — increase in number of voices (five to six common)

• Rhythm — subtle treatment of diction• Melody — wider ranges for more expert singers• Harmony — more chromaticism for expressive

effects• Form — follows text• Text treatment

– more elaborate in word painting — melodic, rhythmic, textural devices

– expression of feeling — harmony

Genres in Italian vocal music

• Canzonetta — light mood, simple style• Balletto — dance-based– familiar style — simple and rhythmic– strophic with “fa-la” refrain

• Villanella — comic– employs compositional simplicity and crudity

to suggest rustic classes• Madrigal dialogue — madrigal with dialogue text,

using subdivided ensemble to represent change of speaker

• Madrigal comedy — a cycle of madrigals (more likely villanelle) featuring contrasting ensembles and constituting a story

Vocal music in England at the end of the sixteenth century

• Affected by Italy after period of isolation and conservatism — Nicholas Yonge, Musica transalpina (1588), acquainted English musicians with the latest Italian styles

• Growth of English poetry — period of Shakespeare• Modeled on Italian genres

– madrigal — style of best Italian madrigalists– Canzonet– Ballett

• Songs for voice and instruments– lute song– consort song

French mannerism — focused on diction rather than expression

• Pléiade poets (named for Greek poets of third century BCE) — most famous was Pierre de Ronsard (1524?–1585)– promoted French over Latin for literary art– humanist interest in imitation of ancient

literature• Jean-Antoine Baïf (1532–1589) founded

Académie de poésie et de musique in 1570– applied strict interpretation of Classic long

and short syllables to poetry to produce vers mesurée

• Musique mesurée — musical rhythm follows long and short syllables exactly, not necessarily regulated by equal measure lengths

French songs for voice and lute

• Vaudeville (from voix de ville, “city voice”) — more popular

• Air de cour (court song) — courtly setting and sentiment

A “Venetian” scoring• Cori spezzati (spaced-out choirs) —

polychoral scoring– remember antiphonal liturgical singing?– popular in northern Italy in general from

fifteenth century — for special occasions

• Associated with St. Mark’s basilica in Venice– Adrian Willaert (ca. 1490–1562) —

Netherlander, maestro di cappella– Andrea Gabrieli (ca. 1510–1586) organist;

polychoral works published by nephew Giovanni in 1587 as concerti

– Giovanni Gabrieli (ca. 1553–1612) — nephew of Andrea; organist

Questions for discussion

• How did nonmusical events in history contribute to the new stylistic trends of the late sixteenth century? What purely musical forces shaped the development of these styles?

• What aspects of the national character of Italy and France are embodied in the particular musical styles developed in each of those countries in the late sixteenth century?

• Why is the term mannerist sometimes applied to the music of this period?