AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

INTRODUCTION

In the late 16^th Century in Florence musical ideals were beginning to change. The Florentine Camerata can be defined as a significant turning point due to their revival of an ancient Greek style of vocal music, and attempt to prove that vocal song was more affecting and expressive when sung in a speechlike manner. At a time when most vocal music was polyphonic, the Camerata’s ideal of going back to a pure and simple form of monophonic vocal song influenced many later composers, who developed the style into forms which became the first operas.

ORIGINS

The Camerata was essentially an informal association consisting of a group of members who had regular meetings at the residence of Count Giovanni Bardi of Vernio. It originated sometime in the 1570s and remained active until at least 1582 when Vincenzo Galilei published his Dialogue on musical theories and practices. The key members carried on the group’s musical traditions in their compositions until 1600 or so. [1] The informal gatherings of the group included discussions on a wide variety of topics, not just music. Almost all of the members were musicians or composers, most likely among the best in Florence.[2]

KEY MEMBERS

Count Giovanni Bardi, (b.Florence 5 Feb 1534) was a key influence in the progression of the group and its driving force. He funded Galilei’s studies in Venice and offered ongoing financial support during the writing of his theories. [3] Vincenzo Galilei (b. c1520) was the main theorist responsible for the group’s legacy: he wrote Dialogue on Ancient and Modern Music (1581-82), in which he condemns modern polyphonic music in favour of singers returning to the practices of ancient Greek music. He was influenced by the writings of Gioseffo Zarlino, who wrote The Fundamentals of Harmonics (1558).[4] Other principle members were Giulio Caccini (b.1551), who was a singer and composer, Jacopo Peri (b.1561), also a singer and composer, and Ottavio Rinuccini (b.1562), the leading poet of the Medici court. The final key member was Piero Strozzi (b.1550), an aristocratic amateur musician and composer. [5]

THEORIES of MUSICAL PRACTICE

The principal goal of the Camerata’s discussions and writings with respect to musical performance was an attempt to revive ancient Greek musical practices. They theorised that ancient music had a power to move people emotionally in a way that they thought had been lost in modern times.[6] They wanted to emulate this supposed superiority of the ancient vocal style, making the assumption that the ancient tragedies were sung from beginning to end in a narrow melodic range, similar to the rhythms of normal speech.[7] This led to a new form of expressive solo singing called monody.[8] This can be seen as a significant turning point as it was the first time that a solo song with a single accompaniment alone had been thought of as crucial to evoking an emotional response. The other feature of Galilei’s Dialogue that marks a turning point in the development of solo vocal music is his rejection of counterpoint, which was the common singing style of the period.[9] His main point for singers was that they should abandon counterpoint; saying it had too many confused rules, and it went against the voice’s natural movement, ruining the purity of the music. Galilei proposed that this polyphonic singing style obscured the emotion of a song.[10]

MUSICAL WORKS AND LEGACY

The Camerata was significant as a turning point in terms of vocal musical performance as several members of the group went on to write vocal compositions in the new, evocative style, making the first steps towards early opera.[11] Giulio Caccini published airs and solo madrigals and co-wrote the music for ‘L’Euridice’ (1600), with Jacopo Peri. This was a small theatrical musical performance telling an ancient myth, with solo vocal parts set to a simple musical accompaniment. It was performed at the Pitti palace in Florence to celebrate Maria de’ Medici’s wedding.[12] Peri also wrote the music for ‘Dafne’ (1597), another pastoral drama in the narrative style. Ottavio Rinuccini wrote the librettos for ‘L’Euridice’; and ‘Dafne’, which was the first drama to be sung on stage.[13]

CONCLUSION

The Camerata can be defined as a turning point in music because the members of the group were influential singers as well as composers, writing the first librettos for operas. They applied a simple, emotional style of narrative to solo vocal music. It was significant during a time of mainly polyphonic music that a solo, unaccompanied song had been given status and power over more elaborate forms. Composers embraced and expanded on this new formulation of humanist ideas and manner of performing. The use of monody gave rise to the formation of operas – Monteverdi and others elaborated on the style, and the recitative became the standard for opera arias.[14]

Bibliography

Biographies, Grove Music Online, 2007-2011, www.oxfordmusiconline.

Galilei, Vincenzo, ‘Dialogue on Ancient and Modern Music’, Translated, with Introduction and Notes, by Claude V. Palisca, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2003.

Hanning, Barbara R, Review (untitled), Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 43(2), pp.409-411, Summer 1990, University of Chicago Press.  Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/stable/2862383

Mayer Brown, Howard, ‘Euridice (i)’, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, 2007-2011. www.oxfordmusiconline.com.

Monson, Dale E. et al, ‘Recitative’, Grove Music Online, 2007-2011. www.oxfordmusiconline.com

Palisca, Claude V., ‘The Florentine Camerata: Documentary Studies and Translations’, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1989.

Palisca, Claude V., ‘Galilei, Vincenzo’, Grove Music Online, 2007-2011, www.oxfordmusiconline.com.

Porter, William V. and Carter, Tim, ‘Peri, Jacopo’, Grove Music Online, 2007-2011. www.oxfordmusiconline.com.

[1] Claude V. Palisca, ‘The Florentine Camerata: Documentary Studies and Translations’, pp.3-5, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1989.

[2] Vincenzo Galilei, ‘Dialogue on Ancient and Modern Music’, Translated, with Introduction and Notes, by Claude V. Palisca, p.58, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2003.

[3] Palisca, p.4.

[4] Galilei, p.20.

[5] Biographies, Grove Music Online, 2007-2011, www.oxfordmusiconline.

[6] Galilei, pp.199-200. 

[7] Claude V. Palisca, ‘Galilei, Vincenzo’, Grove Music Online, 2007-2011, www.oxfordmusiconline.com.

[8] monody – a style of accompanied solo song consisting of a vocal line (with simple chordal accompaniment), which is frequently embellished, and has simple, often expressive harmonies. Composers placed emphasis on proper articulation and expressive, emotional interpretation.

[9] counterpoint – the art of combining different melodic lines in a musical composition.

[10] Galilei, p.204.

[11] Barbara R Hanning, Review (untitled), Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 43(2), p.409, Summer 1990, University of Chicago Press.  Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/stable/2862383

[12] Howard Mayer Brown, ‘Euridice (i)’, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, 2007-2011. www.oxfordmusiconline.com.

[13] William V.  Porter and Tim Carter, ‘Peri, Jacopo’, Grove Music Online, 2007-2011. www.oxfordmusiconline.com.

[14]Dale E. Monson, et al, ‘Recitative’, Grove Music Online, 2007-2011. www.oxfordmusiconline.com