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Tempi di Sfessania
Tempi di Sfessania
Artist: Salon de Musique
Genre:
Ancient Music
Category:
Renaissance
Composer:
Various Artists
Supported languages: English , Italiano
Extended description:
Between written music and the oral tradition
Ornamentation and instrumental improvisation in the 16th and 17th centuries
All of the works featured in this recording belong to a style of instrumental music that begins to appear at the end of the 15th Century with the Pesaro lute manuscript and the works of J.A. Dalza, continuing with Castello Arquato's organ pieces and Antonio Gardane's harpsichord collections of the 1500's, then going on for another century with the printing of the first lettered tablatures for baroque guitar. This music differs from more well-known polyphonic dance repertoire of the era - by composers such as Phalese and Susato, to name just two examples - because of how it is conceived: simple melodies with chordal accompaniment, unconcerned with the niceties of polyphonic voice-leading. It is made up, substantially, of simple musical “Canovacci:” a term used to designate the plot sketches used as a basis for improvisation by the actors of the Commedia dell'Arte. Indeed, these pieces are conceptually similar to the “Commedia,” because they call for many improvisational and extemporary elements.
One could even imagine that these sources, considered minor or unimportant because of their apparent lack of musical substance, especially when compared to the sophisticated polyphonic works of the same era, are only a small written trace of the enormous activity that took place in the universe of both formally trained and popular musicians the “eye cats” and the “ear cats” of the era. We chose to deconstruct and filter this music by playing it by heart. We isolated the melodies from the written (or polyphonic, when applicable) structures, then memorizing this melodic “scaffolding.” The pieces were played differently each time by using an extemporaneous ornamentational style inspired by the musical structure, (without distorting or concealing the melody, as sometimes happens in the more sophisticated written diminutions,) moreover assigning the roles typical of music in the oral tradition - melody, bass, harmony and rhythm to each of the instruments. We never tried to take the place of the musicians or composers that have come before us: they were, of course, far superior in expressing themselves in what was their own idiom. We have simply tried to temper the style of written art music, the only kind that has come down to us, with a reflection that comes from the non-written traditions that still speak to us via the most unexpected channels of contemporary culture.
Whoever has studied and/or played traditional music knows that the players of bass and chordal instruments have developed a method of improvising rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment, while those who play melodic instrument follow certain aesthetic and technical concepts regarding articulation and ornamentation. These concepts and practices are shared by a great number of the instrumental repertoires found in the European oral tradition. Anyone who has ever listened to the player of a “traditional” instrument - be it wind, string or keyboard - knows what level of articulation they are capable of reaching by using ornamentation. The same set of skills can be found (with almost shocking similarities) from Sardinia to Brittany, from Rumania to Ireland. In the oral tradition, it is inconceivable to have a melody bereft of continually varying ornaments, or one without a decorative formula for every attack, passage or articulation, underlining and enriching its features. Nor could there be a case where a melody is expressed in the same way by different instruments, as is common in written musical composition.
With this recording, we feature a small part of a repertoire that lives between the world of the written and the orally-transmitted, that has left many traces in the popular music of Europe's urban centers, where it had and still has an enormous influence. A repertoire that was brought into the popular tradition by, among others, the famous theatrical companies of the “commedia.” This hypothesis also helps us to imagine a new way of performing early music, treating the melodies as part of the collective consciousness and centering the repertoire on the recorder, known as “the poor man's violin” in the 1600's because of its low cost. Our hope is that this kind of performance practice could represent the world of the theatrical musicians of the era: simultaneously jugglers and scholars, using every of the trick of the trade to amaze their public or bring them to tears. Living between the courts and "piazze", they transformed repertoires, and helped to spread the contents and the practice of a style that would influence much of the dance music in the written and oral traditions from all over Europe.
Marco Ferrari (traduzione di Avery Gosfield)
A notarial act registered by V. Fortuna in Padua in 1545 supports the theory that, in the Commedia dell'Arte, the roles of actor and musician were often filled by one and the same person. This is not surprising, considering that the kinds of virtuosity needed for improvising on a theme or to create an extemporary theatrical situation based on a canovaccio certainly share many characteristics. Fortuna's text, found in an archival document, is the first known record of the foundation of a company of commedianti, even if there is no reason not to believe that other, similar, artistic troupes existed previously. Among the artists mentioned, Fortuna indicates Francesco da la Lira, musico-attore e danzerino. This archaic method of identification, where a stage name is created by combining the name of an actor and/or musician with that of their instrument, gives us a basis for a musical and historical study that looks into the inner workings of the Commedia dell'Arte itself. Thanks to this identification by name of the musical instruments, not only do we know what instruments were used, we also have an idea of the kind of aesthetic, taste and dynamic characterization favored during the era of Commedia, that “carnevale italiano mascherato, ove si veggono in figura varie inventione di capritii…” (F. Bertarelli, 1643.) In addition to the Paduan notarial act, other documents provide precious historical information towards the reconstruction of the practice of the Commedia dell'Arte, for example, the engravings of Callot. The artist's series dedicated to the theatrical masks of his time (1621-22) is entitled “Balli di Sfessania.” From the first page, the “multi-tasking” ability of the artists of the Commedia is made evident: we see three masked characters on a small stage, dancing to the accompaniment of colascione and tamburello, uniting the three elements music, dance and theater that form the basis of the Commedia. In his series of representations of personages and movements, Callot manages to portray, with photographic accuracy, some of the hallmarks of the “legendary” figures of the Commedia, such as Capitan Malagamba, Capitan Bellavita and their “Lazii” (comedy routines;) Puliciniello and Lucrezia; Razullo, the colascione player; and Cucurucu, the dancer. Each character conditions the image portraying him, bestowing upon it a dimension of theatrical, choreographic movement that gives us a sense of the legendary virtuosity of the performer. Music becomes a preponderant, creative element of the image itself. The important role played by virtuosity is reinforced by one of the art form's lesser-known names: la commedia improvvisata. The Lazzi (gags,) toccate, prologues, arias, vezzi (tricks of the trade,) fracassi (bang-ups,) and dances that make up the performances condition the movements and musicality of the actor/musicians.
“Selva, Zibaldone, ovvero Zibaldone di concetti comici…,” is an 18th century source dedicated to the Commedia. In it, Placido Adriani, a priest from Lucca, aptly describes a few of the basic situations involving characters in maschera. Before his prologue to the canovacci (plot sketches used by the actors as a basis for improvisation) employed in the commedia, Adriani inserts a few texts of an obviously musical character. He indicates their function and models with titles like Aria da cantarsi alla napoletana, Ottava alla toscana o alla romana, or stile villanesco. These names underline to what degree the actors were capable of acting out or manipulating the texts, depending on the demands of the canovacci, giving each one a different aesthetic character that was easily identifiable by the public of the era: “Ariose avite, gli occhi, e le ciglia dè signora dell'alma mia cò lò à à à la tieni e non me ne dai cò lò brù brù brù, gli occhi e le ciglia dello pappagallo, ii ii ii.”. (P.Adriani).
Aesthetic and musical considerations, and the lexical richness of the canovaccio texts blend together in an artistic marriage still capable of giving us a sense of the unprecedented artistic force of the era.
In the sung sections of Adriani's collection, only the song lyrics are written down. In other words, musical notation is completely absent from the theatrical text. It would be hard to imagine that this was because the author was incapable of writing music it is almost impossible that an 18th century prelate would not have had some kind of musical training. A possible explanation for this surprising lack of musical notation is the irrepressible, constant contamination between the cultured sphere and the oral tradition of the era, that would have made it unnecessary to write down tunes that everyone, including an educated priest, would have known by heart. In fact, the two universes balanced each other out to such a point that, in editions from the early Renaissance, certain pieces have titles or musical indications, as well as a “popular-style” aesthetic that point to material coming directly from the oral tradition. At the same time, we have evidence of a “trickle down” effect: the use of some of the “greatest hits” of the era, taken from the famous written collections of canzonette, strambotti and frottole, in “popular” situations where it would be all but impossible that the musicians would be playing from written parts. It's true that, if some pieces take their name directly from some of the masked characters of the Commedia, probably because of their identification with a particular dance or comedy routine, some of the melodies are similar to ones still heard today in the popular tradition, in music for carnival or other archaic celebrations or rituals. The actors and music, in every sense, are one and the same: they are portrayed by the music at the same time as, in playing, they transform it: “Vecchio come son recitarò senza ballar con salti smisurati; el minuetto per altro lo farò”; (Sacchi 1786, Genova).
Massimiliano Dragoni (traduzione di Avery Gosfield)
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