V , VIVALDIANISM AND ZANI INFLUENCE AND INDIVIDUALITY · Three of Andrea Zani’s violin concertos (Zan1, Zan15, Zan27)6 refer to Vivaldi’s concertos RV 184, 316a, and 317 respectively

Jehoash Hirshberg

VIVALDI, VIVALDIANISM AND ZANI:INFLUENCE AND INDIVIDUALITY

Almost any solo concerto composed in Italy between 1710-1750 manifestedthe overwhelming influence of the process which Michael Talbot has named“The Vivaldian Revolution”.1 At the same time, Vivaldi’s contemporaries andimmediate followers also retained individual traits of their own. When thephrase “strongly influenced by Vivaldi” makes its frequent recurrence inresearch and popular literature, what does it specifically imply beyond a vagueimpression? This question is especially difficult in the context of the enormousrepertory which requires a distinction between that which Jan La Rue hadcoined “significant and coincidental resemblances”.2

In our recent book3 Simon McVeigh and I have applied two complementarymethodologies:

1. The statistical methodology, which we have used in order to compareentire repertories through the separate encoding of individual parameters. Thismethodology enabled us to determine the preferences each composermanifested in his choices of options.

2. Detailed accounts of entire movements as performative experience.In the present paper I will expand the latter methodology as a proposed tool

for judging the extent and nature of the influence of Vivaldi on hiscontemporaries.

Our premise has been that the Vivaldian concerto movement was conceivedas a succession of brief events, each opening up a set of implications, one ofwhich is chosen to be realized in the next event, which in its own turn opens upa new set of implications.4 The constant process of selection between optionswas guided in each individual case by an overall strategy. A systematicmethodology would be required in order to determine the individual strategyof each composer. In the present article I propose the first step towards such a

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Jehoash Hirshberg, Dept. of Musicology, Hebrew Un., Mt Scopus 91905, Jerusalem, Israele.e-mail: [email protected] “Vivaldi”, The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed 25 November,

2002), <http://www.grovemusic.com>.2 Significant and Coincidental Resemblances between Classical Themes, “Journal of the American

Musicological Society”, 14, 1961, pp. 224-234.3 SIMON MCVEIGH and JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, The Italian Solo Concerto 1700-1760, Woodbridge, The

Boydell Press, 2004.4 The implication-realization model has been extensively discussed in LEONARD MEYER, Style

and Music, Philadelphia, 1982, pp. 3-68, and in EUGENE NARMOUR, The Analysis and Cognition of BasicMelodic Structures, Chicago, 1990.

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methodology, through a detailed comparison of two concerto movementswhose deliberate association may be established beyond doubt.

Andrea Zani (1696-1757) was one of the finest concerto composers of theperiod. Zani was active most of his life in his hometown Casalmaggiore save fora few years in the mid 1930s when he worked in Vienna, and there is noevidence of any personal encounter between Vivaldi and Zani.5 Yet his concertosmanifest a thorough knowledge of Vivaldi’s concertos. Example 1.

5 RAFFAELLO MONTEROSSO, Musicisti cremonesi nella mostra bibliografica nella Biblioteca governativa,Cremona, 1958, pp. 79-82; Medaglioni di musicisti lombardi in Musicisti lombardi ed emiliani, Siena, edsAdelmo Damerini and Gino Roncaglia, 1958, pp. 51-54; SIMON MCVEIGH and JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, TheItalian Solo Concerto, cit., pp. 248-256; NIKOLAUS DELIUS, Andrea Zani, alias Vivaldi RV 785, “StudiVivaldiani”, 6, 2006, pp. 9-15.

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Three of Andrea Zani’s violin concertos (Zan1, Zan15, Zan27)6 refer toVivaldi’s concertos RV 184, 316a, and 317 respectively through a direct andeasily recognizable quotes of their high-profile mottos.

In the present article I will concentrate on the two C major concertos,Vivaldi’s RV 184 and Zani 1.7 I will make use of the following symbols:8

Symbols and Definitions

R1 Ritornello in tonicM MottoS1 Solo modulating to secondary keyR2 Ritornello in secondary keyS2 Solo in secondary key, modulating to peripheral keyR3 Ritornello in a peripheral keyR3a, R3b Ritornelli in two different peripheral keysS3 Solo effecting retransition to tonicR4 Ritornello in tonicS4 Solo in tonic

In addition to the motto common to the two concertos, one of the specifictraits of Vivaldi’s movement is a brief concertino phrase just before thecompletion of R1. Zani states his intentional indebtment to Vivaldi in that he tooends R1 with a similar concertino phrase, both sections being based on similarsyncopated patterns.

Vivaldi’s R1 unfolds a sequel of brief motives:1.An arpeggiated chord [M]2.A descending scale pattern, both parts in strict unison [n], all on I-V-I3.A short two part imitative, rhythmically irregular, motive [o]4.A two chord brief reference to the subdominant with a cadence in unison [p]5.A return to the scale pattern [n1]6.A concertino three-violin syncopated motive in the minor tonic. The

concertino phrase creates anticipation for a full section in the minor mode7.A fanfare-like cadential phrase [q]8.An Adagio preview of the solo violin9.A repeat of the fanfare like cadential phrase [q]

6 See thematic catalogue in SIMON MCVEIGH and JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, cit., pp. 346-351. Zan15 hasbeen published, eds Jehoash Hirshberg and Simon McVeigh, Edition HH, 2002.

7 For a comparative discussion of Vivaldi’s RV 317, Albinoni’s op. 9/8, and Zan15 see SIMONMCVEIGH and JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, The Italian Solo Concerto, cit., pp. 18-24.

8 SIMON MCVEIGH and JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, The Italian Solo Concerto, cit., p. 11.

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Example 2.

Zani’s R1 is of about the same length, but differently built. The implicationsof the motto quote from Vivaldi are realized immediately. The texture iselaborated into a dense imitative texture over a walking bass and the ascendingfourth of the motto is realized as an Adeste Fideles pattern [m].9

9 LEONARD MEYER, Style and Music, cit., p. 51.

Adagio Allegro

This continues into an arpeggiated modulatory pattern with a full cadenceon the dominant. The same imitative texture now continues on the dominant.There follows a concertino phrase which makes another direct reference toVivaldi and the arpeggiated motive closes R1. Yet Zani ignores Vivaldi’s discreteimplication of the minor mode, limiting the concertino to the textural parameter.Whereas Vivaldi’s ritornello is diverse, Zani’s is monomotivic.Example 3.

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In his repertory Zani follows Vivaldi in his preference for soli which aremotivically different from the ritornelli. Statistically, those two options reach 59%in Vivaldi and 62% in Zani: that is, a meaningless difference. Vivaldi’s S1 retainsthe articulated, multi-motivic conception of R1, with a specialized motive foreach of the three stages of the concise modulation to the dominant. The soloperforms a process of rhythmic acceleration from triplets to semiquavers.Example 4.

Zani adopts the same conception of a multi-motivic S1, yet he expands theprocess to a considerable extent. Zani also bases each stage of the modulation onthe principle of rhythmic acceleration, which goes much beyond that of Vivaldi. Example 5.

Having based S1 on themes different from R1, both Vivaldi and Zanipostpone the realization of the implications of R1 until the entry of R2.

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Vivaldi’s R2 restates the motto in the dominant, and then omits nearly halfof R1, so that R2 consists of 14 bars instead of 23. Significantly, the implicationof the brief turn to the subdominant that occurs in R1 is omitted in R2, since itwould have resulted in an intermediate tonic, the use of which Vivaldi appliedmerely in 14% of his repertory.10 The concertino phrase is likewise omitted sincethe time for the realization of the implied minor mode has not yet arrived.

Example 6.

By contrast, Zani’s second ritornello is an accurate transposition of R1,together with the intermediate tonic which realizes the implication of thesubdominant in R1 (compare example 3, bar 16). Indeed, Zani prefers theintermediate tonic in half of his 37 solo concertos.

Vivaldi begins his S2 with a realization of the implications of the secondmotive of S1. Whereas S1 accelerates from quaver triplets to semiquavers, S2accelerates from semiquavers to semiquaver triplets.

10 SIMON MCVEIGH and JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, The Italian Solo Concerto, cit., p. 123.

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Example 7.

Both Vivaldi and Zani adopt the strategy of basing the soli on the principleof acceleration, yet whereas Vivaldi sustains the process over two soli, Zaniexhausts it already in S1. Consequently, Zani turns in S2 to new devices ofdouble stops and contrapuntal texture. His long S2 runs for 25 bars, comparedwith 13 in Vivaldi’s S2.

Example 8.

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Vivaldi’s S2 modulates to the peripheral tonal area. Interestingly, this is theonly movement in his entire solo concerto repertory with the tonal scheme I-V-IV-vi-I: that is, with the subdominant as a peripheral tonal centre.11 Each centreis articulated by its own stable ritornello. This is Vivaldi’s preferred strategy,which appears in 53% of his ritornello movements. Vivaldi creates a hierarchyof the tonal centres in that both R3a and R3b omit the motto and are muchshorter than R2. R3a is only 11 bars long, and it does include a brief reminder ofthe concertino phrase, which reiterates the implication of the minor mode.Example 9.

R3b finally realizes the implication of the minor mode. It is very brief and isall based on the imitative motive O, this time in an unstable progression ofdescending fifths which is circular, returning to A minor.Example 10.

11 See SIMON MCVEIGH and JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, The Italian Solo Concerto, cit., pp. 110-113, for theextreme diversity of Vivaldi’s tonal schemes.

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The peripheral tonal area is the salient area in which Zani fully departs fromVivaldi and asserts his own strategy. He presents a single R3 which modulatesfrom iii to vi. Indeed, modulating R3 is his preference in 73% of his 37 concertos.R3 features an intensive modulatory process of descending fifths, whichsuddenly changes direction and moves towards the cadence in A minor.Example 11.

After R3, the very short S3 re-establishes the tonic through a hiatus.Example 12.

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Yet at that point the soloist moves directly from S3 to S4, which postponesthe final ritornello through a quick sequential progression from C major throughA minor, C minor, G major, and back to C major. Motivically S4 is a miniaturerecapitulation of past ideas of the rhythmic acceleration and the minorization.R4 re-establishes formal balance, being a full da capo of R1.

Zani’s S3 is much longer – 33 bars – and it realizes the modulatory processimplied in R3 in that it continues the pattern of the descending fifths up to bar109, with a sudden move to an implied F major in bar 110, which leads as far asB flat and E flat major before turning back through a chromatic change in bar 119.Zani final ritornello, like Vivaldi’s, is a full da capo. Example 13.

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Example 14.

The comparative analysis leads to the following conclusions:

1. Vivaldi and Zani share the general conception of the ritornello movementas a succession of hierarchically graded events, each of which creates a setof implications.

2. Vivaldi places the two analogous tonic areas at the top of the hierarchy,descending in duration and extent of motivic material to R2 and then toR3a and R3b. By contrast, Zani retains a balance between the tonic anddominant areas which strongly contrast with the harmonically unstableR3. Yet he uses the melodic parameter as a unifying device in that allritornelli are based on the motto.

3. Vivaldi is more consistent in his realizations of the implications and in hisemployment of the hierarchical concept in all parameters. For example, inR2 Vivaldi carefully omits the motivic units, the realization of which hepostpones to the peripheral area, as well as the violin solo preview, whichwould have been meaningless had it been repeated.

4. Vivaldi is extremely economical in that he leaves out any material whichis not conducive to the overall process of the entire movement, so that theperipheral ritornelli and soli are markedly brief. By contrast, Zani tends tomore extensive soli and to the maintenance of the motto as a unifyingdevice.

The methodology suggested here must be applied with care before anygeneral conclusions are drawn, in view of the enormous diversity of optionswhich Vivaldi applied. For example, Vivaldi did use modulatory R3 in 26%, andthe ritornelli and soli share material in 46% of his solo concertos. An inquiry indepth will be required in order to determine the reasons behind the selection. Inthis particular case, the nature of the motto suits the tutti texture and is notidiomatic for solo violin. Also, criteria should be devised for the choice ofcomparable movements beyond the limited group of proven homage. The pilotproject offered in the present article is intended to lead to a deeper insight intothe compositional thought and strategies of the concerto composers.

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Documents

V , VIVALDIANISM AND ZANI INFLUENCE AND INDIVIDUALITY · Three of Andrea Zani’s violin concertos (Zan1, Zan15, Zan27)6 refer to Vivaldi’s concertos RV 184, 316a, and 317 respectively