HOJA DE MANUFACTURA
5.10 Mantenimiento preventivo
Sweelinck was born in Deventer in the eastern area of the Netherlands, and from childhood until his death he lived in Amsterdam. As a result, he does not follow in the line of composers from Belgium and France, but rather stands alone as a unique figure in the history of music dur-ing the Renaissance era. He most likely received his earliest musical education from his father, who was an organist at the Oude Kirk in Amsterdam and who died in 1573, and he succeeded his father perhaps as early as 1577 (at age fifteen). He remained in this position his entire life, leaving Amsterdam only for very brief periods to assess organs in nearby cities, and he passed his position on to his son, who held it until 1652. Despite his duties at Amsterdam’s most im-portant church (which included providing music for two daily services), virtually all of his choral
music was composed for use in private devotionals. Also, despite his confinement to a city not known for its musical culture, he was well known throughout Europe, and he attracted many students, including Samuel Scheidt. Sweelinck was called the Orpheus of Amsterdam and was buried in the Oude Kirk.
He composed thirty-nine motets, 153 Calvinist Psalm settings, thirty-three secular chan-sons, and nineteen Italian madrigals, in addition to seventy keyboard works. The motets, all but two of which were published in 1619 as Cantiones sacrae, are in a pervasive imitative style. They are distinctive, however, and unlike imitative motets by Franco-Flemish Renaissance composers in that the points of imitation consist of numerous melodic/rhythmic repetitions of short phrases. In Gaudete omnes, for example, the title phrase occurs seventeen times in the space of seven measures. The second phrase, “et laetamini,” occurs twenty-six times in just six measures (seven of these times are in the bass voice). In Angelus ad pastores ait the phrase “gaudium mag-num” occurs twenty-nine times in three and a half measures. Other features of Sweelinck’s motets are distinctive as well, including basso seguente parts, coda-like sections on the word “Al-leluia” in fourteen of the motets, and refrain-like phrases that separate points of imitation.
These latter two characteristics are prominent in Hodie Christus natus est, Sweelinck’s most fa-miliar motet.
The Calvinist Psalm settings, all with French texts by Clément Marot and Théodore de Bèze, were published in four volumes, beginning in 1604 and ending in 1621. Most of the settings are based on standard Geneva tunes and are in a style that combines imitative phrases with pas-sages of homophony. But unlike the works of other composers in this style, Sweelinck’s settings are frequently scored for five, six, or eight voices and are often divided into two or more sections or movements. Or soit loué l’Eternel (Psalm 150), for instance, is scored for eight voices and is di-vided into three sections, each consisting of two verses of text, and Vous tous les habitans des cieux (Psalm 148) is scored for seven voices and is divided into seven sections. Or soit loué l’Eternel also has echo e¤ects and numerous examples of word painting. The Psalm settings were quite pop-ular during their day, circulating throughout Europe, where two volumes were reprinted in Berlin under German titles.
The secular chansons and madrigals were published in Rimes françoises et italiennes in 1612.
The chansons, most of them for five voices, are in a style similar to that of the Psalm settings—
imitative polyphony is alternated with homophony. The madrigals, most of them for two or three voices, are more complex, especially in terms of varied rhythms that characterize expres-sive changes in the text.
calvinist psalm settings
selected and listed according to familiarity
Or soit loué l’Eternel (Psalm 150) – 1614 – SSAATTBB chorus – 7:15 minutes.
Chantez á Dieu chanson nouvelle (Psalm 96) – 1621 – SATB chorus – 6 minutes.
Or sus, serviteurs du Seigneur (Psalm 134) – 1614 – SATB chorus – 3 minutes.
The tune Old Hundredth (the Doxology) is quoted as a cantus firmus in the bass voice of the first part of the motet.
Or sus, serviteurs du Seigneur (Psalm 134) – 1604 – SSATBB chorus – 3 minutes. The tune Old Hundredth (the Doxology) is paraphrased in the soprano parts.
Vous tous les habitans des cieux (Psalm 148) – 1614 – SSAATTB – 11:30 minutes.
D’ou vient, Seigneur, que tu nous as espars (Psalm 74) – 1614 – SATB chorus – 5 minutes.
Vous tous qui la terre habitez (Psalm 100) – 1614 – SSATB chorus – 4 minutes.
Revenge moy, pren la querelle (Psalm 43) – 1614 – SSAATTBB chorus – 3 minutes.
motets
selected and listed according to familiarity
Hodie Christus natus est (for Christmas) – 1619 – SSATB chorus and basso continuo – 3 minutes.
Ab oriente venerunt Magi (for Epiphany) – 1619 – SSATB chorus and basso continuo – 4 minutes.
De profundis clamavi (Psalm 130:1–8) – 1619 – SATTB chorus and basso continuo – 5 minutes.
Cantate Domino canticum novum (Psalm 96:1–3) – 1619 – SSATB chorus and basso continuo – 3 minutes.
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes (Psalm 117:1–2) – 1619 – SSATB and basso continuo – 3 minutes.
Gaudete omnes et laetamini – 1619 – SSATB and basso continuo – 3 minutes.
Venite, exultemus Domino (Psalm 95:1–3) – 1619 – SSATB chorus and basso continuo – 3 minutes.
Angelus ad pastores ait (for Christmas) – 1619 – SSATB chorus and basso continuo – 2:30 minutes.
O sacrum convivium (for Communion) – 1619 – SATTB chorus and basso continuo – 3:30 minutes.
Qui vult venire post me (Matthew 16:24) – 1619 – SATTB – 3:15 minutes.
O Italy O
T
he first generation of so-called Renaissance Italian composers—Philippe Verdelot, Adrian Willaert, Jacques Arcadelt, Cipriano de Rore, Philippe de Monte, and Giaches de Wert—were born in present-day Belgium and northern France but spent the majority of their lives working in Italy and developing Italian styles of composition. All the later composers were
na-tive Italians, most of whom remained in Italy their entire lives. Only five composers were born in Italy but employed in other countries: Arcadelt spent the final years of his life in France;
Monte worked at the court of Maximilian II in Vienna; Alfonso Ferrabosco served Queen Eliza-beth I in England; and Luca Marenzio and Giovanni Francesco Anerio spent a brief period of time at the court of Polish King Sigismund III in Warsaw.
The major centers of composition were Venice and Rome, with Ferrara and Mantua being specialized centers of activity for madrigals. Of the thirty-three most notable composers of the era, twenty-two held significant positions in these four cities, and seventeen composers were associated with either St Mark’s Basilica in Venice or the papal choir in Rome. Those employed at St Mark’s include Willaert, Rore, and Giovanni Croce as maestri di cappella and Andrea Gabrieli, Claudio Merulo, and Giovanni Gabrieli as organists; Nicola Vicentino and Costanzo Porta were students. The singers in the papal choir were Costanzo Festa, Arcadelt, Domenico Maria Ferrabosco, Rore, Palestrina, Giovanni Maria Nanino, Felice Anerio, and Gregorio Alle-gri. Five composers—Vicentino, Rore, Alessandro Striggio, Luzzasco Luzzaschi, and Carlo Gesualdo—served at the court in Ferrara, and four others—Wert, Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi, Lodovico Viadana, and Sigismondo d’India—all had positions in Mantua.
The main compositional genres were masses, motets, and madrigals, with canzonets, vil-lanellas, and ballettos achieving a degree of popularity at the end of the era. The masses began in the style of the early sixteenth-century Franco-Flemish composers, with a prevalence of tenor cantus firmi, notational puzzles, canons, and other structural devices such as soggetto cavato. In addition, the early masses were based on preexisting material—usually chants, chansons, and motets. Later masses continued to be based on preexisting material, including madrigals, but the structural devices gave way to pervasive imitation. Finally, the masses at the end of the sixteenth century exhibited characteristics dictated by the Council of Trent, which was initiated by Pope Paul III in 1542 and which met intermittently until 1563. As a part of the Counter-Reformation, the Council of Trent mandated intelligibility of text in all sacred music and thus promoted the composition of declamatory and syllabic musical settings. Other text-oriented characteristics followed, including expressive word painting and the alternation of brief sections of imitative polyphony based on short motif-like subjects with passages of homophony.
The motets were similar in their development from archaic construction techniques to more modern text-oriented textures. In addition, the motets were frequently composed in cycles for the liturgical year or in two separately titled movements. The cycles for special feast days con-sisted of individual motets, each to be sung at its specific occasion. The two-movement motets—
which are frequently listed, published, and performed separately—were conceived as a single entity, however, and often composed with an ABCB structure (i.e., each movement of the motet ends with the same music, although the first B generally ends in the dominant key and the sec-ond B ends in the tonic). Many motets are also scored for multiple choirs (specified by the terms polychoral or cori spezzati) and for forces of eight or more voices.
The madrigal was the chief secular genre of the Italian Renaissance. Every composer dis-cussed in this section of the era but Allegri composed madrigals, and many composers wrote more than one hundred. Arcadelt composed 200, Wert composed more than 225, Marenzio com-posed more than 425, and Monte comcom-posed approximately 1,100. The madrigal began and was basically understood as a serious art form, one that had compositional traits closely resembling the motet and that therefore had imitative polyphony as its normal characteristic of texture.
Madrigal composition went through three periods of development in Italy during the Re-naissance. In the first period, composers generally set the serious poetry of Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca, 1304–1374) and other humanist poets such as Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). Scor-ing was mostly for four voices, textures consisted of uncomplicated polyphony and homophony, and rhythmic values had little variation. Representative composers are Verdelot, Costanzo Festa, Willaert, Sebastiano Festa, and Arcadelt. The first printed appearance of the term madrigal was in the title of the publication Madrigali de diversi musici: libro primo de la Serena, which was is-sued in Rome in 1530 and which contained eight madrigals by Verdelot and two by Costanzo Festa.
The second period of madrigals is characterized by numerous traits: (1) a variety of rhyth-mic values that expanded the notation from the conventional use of half and whole notes (white notation) to include shorter note values such as eighths and quarters (black notation—called during the time note nere); (2) expanded textures to a standard of five and six voices, with not in-frequent writing for seven and eight voices; (3) fewer settings of poetry by Petrarch and more settings of contemporary poets and of less serious subject matter; (4) a greater amount of ho-mophony and corresponding lesser amount of polyphony; (5) short motifs as opposed to long phrases; (6) occasional use of chromaticism for expressive purposes; and (7) melodic passages that depict specific textual characteristics (referred to as word painting, madrigalism, or musica reservata). Major representative composers exhibiting these traits include Andrea Gabrieli, Rore, Monte, Palestrina, Wert (the early madrigals), and Alfonso Ferrabosco. Other composers of this period who contributed substantially to either the madrigal repertoire or to its development are Vincenzo Ru¤o, Vicentino, Porta, and Striggio.
The third and final style period is characterized by a focus on texts set in an expressive and declamatory manner. At the end of the sixteenth century, ideals of expression resulted in greater degrees of varied rhythms within a polyphonic texture, and mid-century developments of ex-pression and word painting were heightened and magnified: rhythmic variety became disjunct, expression became emotional, and word painting became mannered. These characteristics are evidenced in the late madrigals of Wert, all the madrigals of Marenzio and Gesualdo, and the early madrigals of Claudio Monteverdi. Other lesser-known composers—such as Nanino, Luzzaschi, and Salamone Rossi—also wrote in this style. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, ideals of declamation resulted in elements of monody, including recitative and inde-pendent instrumental accompaniment of solos, duets, and trios.
The lighter forms of secular music during the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the sev-enteenth century were mainly homophonic and generally comedic. Three forms were most pop-ular—the villanella, canzonet, and balletto. The villanella, which was a counterpart to the madri-gal, was generally for three voices and written for play-like entertainments. In addition, it often poked fun at the madrigal by joking about serious subjects or madrigal trends, and also by pur-posely breaking, in a humorous way, some of the basic rules of traditional harmony. The can-zonet, generally set to pastoral poetry, was similar to the villanella, although less rustic. The bal-lettos were, as the name implies, dance songs. They were often composed for five voices and are repetitive in structure (AABB), with fa la la refrains. Many of these lighter forms were composed in sets for costumed entertainments, and although the sets may not have consisted of a prepon-derance of madrigals, they are called madrigal comedies. Composers of these lighter forms in-clude Orazio Vecchi, Gastoldi, and Adriano Banchieri.
Most of the madrigals, villanellas, canzonets, and ballettos were published in books devoted to single composers. However, many madrigals also appeared in collections such as Madrigali de diversi musici: libro primo de la Serena, mentioned earlier. A particularly famous collection is Il trionfo di Dori, published in Venice in 1592 by Angelo Gardano and consisting of twenty-nine six-part madrigals composed by twenty-nine of the most famous composers of the time, includ-ing (in order of appearance in the collection) Vecchi, Giovanni Gabrieli, Marenzio, Giammateo Asola, Monte, Croce, Striggio, Felice Anerio, Gastoldi, Porta, and Palestrina. Distinctively, each madrigal ends with a setting of the phrase “Viva la bella Dori” (Long live fair Dori).
Composers who are not discussed in this section of the Renaisssance era, but who made noteworthy contributions to the development of the madrigal and other genres in Italy, are Gio-se¤o Zarlino (ca.1517–1590), Baldassare Donato (ca.1525–1603), Giovanni Battista Mosto (ca.
1550–1596), and Giovanni Bassano (ca.1560–1617). Zarlino, who studied with Willaert in Venice and succeeded Rore as maestro di cappella of St Mark’s, composed forty motets and thirteen madrigals. The motets include the first polyphonic cycle of texts from the Song of Songs, and the madrigals include settings of popular Petrarch poems such as I’vo piangendo. Zarlino is best known, however, for his 1558 theoretical treatise Le istitutioni harmoniche, which discusses rules for counterpoint. Donato was a singer at St Mark’s in Venice and then maestro di cappella after Zarlino. He is known for his villanellas, first published in 1550 and subsequently reprinted sev-eral times, and also for two ballettos—Chi la gagliarda and Viva sempre in ogni etade. His most popular villanella is O dolce vita mia for SATB voices. Mosto, who was maestro di cappella at Padua Cathedral for ten years, composed madrigals that were popular in England. Finally, Bas-sano was a cornet player and director of instrumental ensembles at St Mark’s in Venice and was known for his polychoral motets (e.g., Dic, Maria, nobis) and canzonets, and for his 1585 treatise on ornamentation, Ricercate, passaggi et cadentie.