PROGRAM NOTES
Italy in the time of Monteverdi
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the concept of "Italy" existed only as a geographical entity. Although the inhabitants of the peninsula shared much in common in terms of history, culture, and language, in political terms, there were various layers of authority and jurisdiction, primarily city-states ruled by powerful families.
In music history, the Venetian School was the body and work of composers working in Venice from about 1550 to 1610, many working in the Venetian polychoral style. The Venetian polychoral compositions of the late sixteenth century were among the most famous musical works in Europe, and their influence on musical practice in other countries was enormous. The innovations introduced by the Venetian School, along with the contemporary development of monody and opera in Florence, together define the end of the musical Renaissance and the beginning of the musical Baroque.
Several major factors came together to create the Venetian School. The first was political: after the death of Pope Leo X in 1521 and the Sack of Rome in 1527, the long dominant musical establishment in Rome was eclipsed. Many musicians either moved elsewhere or chose not to go to Rome, and Venice was one of several places to have an environment conducive to creativity.
Another factor, possibly the most important, was the existence of the splendid St. Mark's Basilica, with its unique interior with opposing choir lofts. Because of the spacious architecture of this basilica, it was necessary to develop a musical style which exploited the sound-delay to advantage, rather than fought against it. Thus, the Venetian polychoral style was developed, the grand antiphonal style in which groups of singers and instruments played—sometimes in opposition and sometimes together—united by the sound of the organ.
Yet another factor which promoted the rich period of musical creativity was printing. In the early 16th century, Venice, prosperous and stable, had become an important center of music publishing; composers came from all parts of Europe to benefit from the new technology, which then was only a few decades old. Composers from northern Europe—especially Flanders and France—were already renowned as the most skilled composers in Europe, and many of them came to Venice. The international flavor of musical society in the city was to linger into the 17th century.
In the 1560s, two distinct groups developed within the Venetian School: a progressive group and a conservative group. Members of the conservative branch tended to follow the style of Franco-Flemish polyphony, including Rore, Zarlino, and Merulo; members of the progressive group included Donato, Croce, and later Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli. An additional point of contention between the two groups was whether Venetians—or at least Italians—should be given the top job of maestro di cappella at St. Mark's. Eventually the group favoring local talent prevailed, ending the dominance of foreign musicians in Venice. In 1603, Giovanni Croce was appointed to the job, followed by Giulio Cesare Martinengo in 1609
The peak of development of the Venetian School was in the 1580s, when Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli composed enormous works for multiple choirs, groups of brass and string instruments, and organ. These works are the first to include dynamics and are among the first to include specific instructions for ensemble instrumentation. Organists working at the same time included Claudio Merulo and Girolamo Diruta. They began to define an instrumental style and technique which moved to northern Europe in the succeeding generations, culminating in the works of Sweelinck, Buxtehude, and eventually J.S. Bach.
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Christian liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Greek ἑσπέρα and the Latin vesper, meaning "evening.”
Vespers typically follows a set order that focuses on the performance of psalms and other biblical canticles. Our concert features settings of psalms and a canticle that are commonly used in the Vespers order of service.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (1567–1643)
Beatus vir (psalm)
Monteverdi was an Italian composer, string player, choirmaster, and priest. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music history.
Born in Cremona, Monteverdi developed his career first at the court of Mantua (c. 1590–1613) and then until his death in the Republic of Venice, where he was maestro di cappella at the St. Mark’s Basilica.
He defended his sometimes novel techniques as elements of a seconda pratica, contrasting with the more orthodox earlier style, which he termed the prima pratica. Largely forgotten during the eighteenth and much of the nineteenth centuries, his works enjoyed a rediscovery around the beginning of the twentieth century.
Giovanni Rovetta (c. 1595/97–1668)
Dixit Dominus (psalm)
Laudate pueri (psalm)
Lauda Jerusalem (psalm)
Confitebor tibi (psalm)
Rovetta was an Italian Baroque composer and maestro di capella at St. Mark's Basilica between Monteverdi and Cavalli. He may have been a choirboy at St. Mark's, where his father played. He was a chorister, instrumentalist, and assistant maestro di capella under Monteverdi, and finally served as Monteverdi's successor from 1664 until his death. His style reflects Monteverdi's influence, but also displays a distinct and individual talent for melody.
Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, 1602–1676)
Magnificat (canticle)
Cavalli was an Italian composer of the early Baroque period. He took the name "Cavalli" from his patron, Venetian nobleman Federico Cavalli. Cavalli, the composer, was born in Crema, Lombardy. He became a singer at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice in 1616, where he had the opportunity to work under the tutorship of Claudio Monteverdi. He became second organist in 1639, first organist in 1665, and in 1668 maestro di cappella after Rovetta. He is chiefly remembered for his operas.
Sources: Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque ;Robert Hugill, Music Web International; Wikipedia
—Patricia Jennerjohn