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?