Novel music

http://ift.tt/2h0jyod

Roman claviorgans and 'table organs with a spinetta on top, 1567-1753

In an absolute sense, the first mention of the term 'claviorgan'—in its modern meaning—is found in a couple of notarial deeds dated, respectively, 1568 and 1576, the last one also containing the first known contract for the making of such an instrument. Furthermore, a set of deeds dating from 1611–13 provides the first detailed description of the cheaper 'portable' version of this instrument, the 'table organ with a spinetta on top'. The organi a tavolino, chamber instruments often furnished with wooden pipes, enjoyed their maximum distribution in the first quarter of the 17th century, i.e. during the age of the so-called madrigali a tavolino concertati. Later they were replaced by the more sonorous organi ad ala, still 'portable' instruments, but better suited to the church polychoral performances which had taken over from the madrigali concertati.

The claviorgan also underwent a rather rapid decline from the mid-17th century onwards, precipitated largely by the problems of mistuning between the pipe- and string-sections of the instrument caused by variations in ambient temperature; a theoretical investigation of this problem perfectly agrees with the degree of mistuning reported in 1630–5 by Giovanni Battista Doni. Doni was also one of the most fervent supporters of using the graviorgano (as it was often called in Rome and in other Italian cities) for theatre music. Even if he does not provide documentation in this regard, it is known that this instrument was used in the commedie con intermedi and drammi in musica staged in Florence (c.1596–1645); it was also prescribed by Antonio Cesti for his Il pomo d'oro (Vienna, 1668) and, in 1699, recorded in the orchestra of a theatre at Pistoia. As far as Rome is concerned, according to a caricature by Pier Leone Ghezzi, a claviorgan seems to have been used much later at the Teatro Argentina during the Carnival of 1753, for the performance of Nicola Logroscino's L'Olimpiade.

http://ift.tt/2hoD8r4

Racconto di due citta

http://ift.tt/2h0h357

Thoughts on Maraiss second thoughts

Marin Marais's first collection of music for basse de viole, Pieces à une et à deux violes, was published in two partbooks: the viol partbook appeared in 1686, and the basse continue partbook was printed in 1689. In preparing his critical edition of this collection, John Hsu identified some 413 readings in which the earliest copies off the press differed from later copies. These differences were the results of changes that Marais authorized to be made to the plates from which the partbooks were printed. Some scholars have assumed that the differences reflected changes in the way that Marais played the pieces in the collection, but careful analysis of the variants indicates that both states of the plates represent essentially the same interpretations. Some (a very few) of the changes were made to correct errors; some were made to incorporate musical second thoughts; some were made to adapt pieces composed for unaccompanied viol to the presence of a basse continue; but the overwhelming majority were made to provide additional technical or interpretative data—fingerings, bowings, ornamentation—to amplify the instructions provided in the earlier states. The motive behind this detail was to encourage—indeed, to the extent possible, to oblige—players to perform the pieces as the composer himself did. The quality of his music apart, it is the level of detail and the concern for representing components of performance that makes Marais's publications so valued today.

http://ift.tt/2hoEuSS

Musicians, publishers and pirates of the mid-Baroque

http://ift.tt/2h0nuFq

Muted violins from Lully to Haydn

To describe the effect of muted violins, modern commentators often default to such terms as 'ethereal', 'otherworldly', or similarly magical and disembodied images. But in the 18th century, musicians had different ways of understanding the effect and meaning of muted violin tone. This article identifies conditions and principles that underpinned the usage and perception of muted violins from their beginnings to the 18th century, as well as significant shifts that took place during this time. For most of this period, musicians preferred metal to wooden violin mutes. Whether the accessory fundamentally altered the tone-quality of the instrument, or simply made it quieter, was up for debate, the question complicated both by regional differences in violins, and the fact that 'timbre modification' was not yet a familiar concept. And while otherworldly associations are sometimes apropos, more often the idea was to hear murmuring water, a mournful character, or some other effect—magical or mundane—cued by the particular context.

http://ift.tt/2hoOPxX

The giant Handel edifice

http://ift.tt/2h0axeN