History of Music paper of death and destruction
Finished my paper at approximately 5:57 this morning.
...
That's the first all nighter I've pulled since 2001, when I had two minutes' worth of lunchbox animation cels to do, back when I was at Collins.
Wow.
Dear S------,
Let’s talk about three works. Specifically, Non avea Febo ancora (Lamento della Ninfa) and Zefiro torno e de soavi accenti by Claudio Monteverdi and Sonata sopra l’aria de Ruggerio by Salomone Rossi. All three have similar elements that overlap, involving things like basso ostinato and chaconnes. Well, some of them don’t have a chaconne, but we’ll get to that later.
S-----, I don’t know what you want me to say about these songs. I want to say so much. Mainly, the only thing I’ve got a vague sort of grasp on is text painting, or, as Jerry calls it when he wants to get fancy, pictoral madrigalism. He’s good at making things fancy. He can also read music. I can do neither. It’s late and I want to go to bed, but-how did the dude in Zefiro say it? As my fortune wills, I weep, then sing. I weep, then work on papers.
Well here. What’s a basso ostinato? It’s a pattern in the bass that repeats while the melody above it changes. What’s a chaconne? It’s a refrain following a simple pattern of guitar chords, and is very happy. It’s a happy happy joy joy song, as opposed to the ostinato, which is a lament. Of course, Ninfa sounds happy and there’s an ironically depressing section at the end of Zefiro, but who’s counting, right? The best part about the whole thing is that I keep typing “ninja” when I go to type “ninfa.” The Lament of the Ninja! As fortune wills, I weep, then assassinate.
Listen to me you bastard. Zefiro is a madrigal. It’s a madrigal with a chaconne somewhere in it. Is there a chaconne in it?
S-----, it’s time for me to talk about how the text works with the music.
I mentioned previously that I had a tiny handle on the whole text painting thing. I like it. I like its style. There’s just a little something extra kickin’ around when the words being sung are suggested by the musical shit going on. When a tree falls in the woods, does it fall to the soundtrack of a descending tetrachord? Does the pope shit in the woods? Is the bear Catholic?
Let’s go back to our friend the Nymph. Some omniscient narrator observes the scene and lets us know what’s happening. The narrator is clearly made up of three dudes, specifically the lower three of four voices (the top voice being, of course, Nymph’s.) This first section is a very loose version of the descending tetrachord, which foreshadows the actual event. The voyeuristic narrator trio sets up the scene both by describing the action in the text and reflecting that text harmonically. This section of the song isn’t particularly sad; however, that makes sense, considering that it is not the narrator who is lamenting. The narrator is the impartial spectator, unemotionally setting the stage for the lament itself. Enter Ninfa.
The sun hasn’t risen yet (I’ll see your lack of Phoebus and raise you Four in the Morning by Wislawa Szymborska). It’s dark and she’s wandering around in her front yard, trampling the flowers and nattering on about a traitorous love. Luckily for her, when she starts her lament she does so over a descending tetrachord over an ostinato bass, generating lots of interest in her sorrow. The whole thing is also in triple meter, which was standard for laments at the time. Points to her for being emo in private, at least, and not being an embarrassing emotional mess in public like some nymphs I know.
(talk about melody, cause I know that’s what you want to hear)
The third section isn’t anything spectacular. Straightforward diatonic, the last four lines constitute a recap of the previous narration, action, and lament. wOOt.
It’s time to talk about my favorite song! Zefiro torna, you blow through my heart and bring me joy. As well you should since you, my friend, are a chacona, that bright and lively dance imported from Latin America. The light dance-like rhythm repeats 56 times before an abandoned lover goes off and wrecks the whole thing by complaining about how love sucks in recitative style.
More than in the other two pieces, text painting is used extensively in Zefiro. The pastoral first section of the song mimics the images it is depicting in the music. For instance, in the line “E da monti e da valli ime e profonde (and from the mountains and from the valleys songs resound high and low)” the melody peaks on “high” and descends on “low.” Another interesting use of text painting occurs in the line “Raddopian l’armonia gli antri canori (and the sonorous caves reecho the music)” as the word “raddopian” is echoed back and forth between two voices, to illustrate the sounds bouncing off cave walls.
As Europe transitioned from the Renaissance to the Baroque, different musical styles were evolving as old ones were cycled out. Three works that were popular and groundbreaking were Non avea Febo ancora (Lamento della Ninfa) and Zefiro torno e di soavi accenti by Claudio Monteverdi and Sonata sopra l’aria di Ruggerio by Salomone Rossi. These two composers use different ostinato bass lines to establish an emotional context for each piece and as a foundation against which the melodic line can interact, expressing the text.
In Monteverdi’s Ninfa, the song begins with an omniscient narrator describing the scene. The narrator is actually sung by all three lower voices, not just one, while the top voice is sung by the Nymph. The narrator sings the first section and is interspersed throughout the second before singing the third. He sets up the scene both by describing the action in the text and reflecting that text harmonically. This section of the song isn’t particularly sad; however, that makes sense, considering that it is not the narrator who is lamenting. Since the first section is not a lament, it lacks the ostinato bass line, resulting in a deceptively light meter. The narrator is the impartial spectator, unemotionally setting the stage for the lament itself. Instead, the bass line wanders, illustrating the roaming actions of the Nymph that are being described.
At the beginning of the second section, the Nymph enters the song and begins her lament. As she does so, an ostinato bass line develops, providing support for a descending tetrachord. This particular element invokes all of the sorrow she is feeling, while the steady bass line hints at the fact that she has stopped pacing and is now standing still, gazing at the heavens (“il ciel mirando, il pie fermo/looking at the sky, she stayed her feet.”) Triple meter is also used to reinforce the seriousness and sadness of the piece, and was standard for laments during this time period. The lament ends with the three lower voices of the narrator interspersing a rhyming couplet that shows sympathy for the Nymph.
As the Nymph ends her lament, the ostinato bass fades away. The following third section recaps the narration of the first section and the action of the second; fairly homophonic and straightforward, the lack of ostinato in the last for lines drives the song to finish.
In contrast to his Ninfa, Monteverdi used a lively chaconne instead of an ostinato bass line for his madrigal Zefiro torna. The chaconne has a harmonic progression of I-V-vi-V, and is based on a refrain following a simple pattern of guitar chords. The light, dance-like rhythm repeats 56 times, describing different pastoral aspects of the text, before an abandoned lover interjects a lonely recitative at the end.
More than in the other two pieces, text painting is used extensively in Zefiro. The pastoral first section of the song mimics the images it is depicting in the music. For instance, in the line “E da monti e da valli ime e profonde (and from the mountains and from the valleys songs resound high and low)” the melody peaks on “high” and descends on “low.” Another interesting use of text painting occurs in the line “Raddopian l’armonia gli antri canori (and the sonorous caves reecho the music)” as the word “raddopian” is echoed back and forth between two voices, to illustrate the sounds bouncing off cave walls.
When the lover interjects at the end of the song, the key gets flatter and flatter as the lover moves into the “selve abbandonate e sole/the lonely, deserted forest.” In illustrating this movement away from the pastoral scenes of love in the first part of the song, Monteverdi shows how the lover is moving farther and farther away from his home key, which could be taken as a metaphor for moving away from himself. After this line, there is a jarring modulation jump to B major (“l’ardor di due begli occhi e’l mio tormento/the fire of two bright eyes is my torment”) to describe the fire in the eyes of the recipient of the lover’s attentions. This abrupt change brings us back to the home key and ties up the end of the song.
In Rossi’s Sonata, the mood is harder to get a grasp on, since the song has no text, however, it is still there. This song is divided into four sections, and is mainly upbeat and happy sounding. The ruggerio in this song is in four movements; in particular, the adagio is the most emotionally expressive. Around measure 100, there is a C major chord, which changes to D major and then to C sharp, resulting in a diminished chord. The swift harmonic rhythm brings the mood back from somewhat somber and serious to light and bubbly.
Emotional context for these pieces, even textless, is achieved through the use of different ostinato bass lines. The text and mood is expressed when the ostinato is played against the melodic line. These techniques helped to shape the course of both secular and sacred music during the Baroque period.
.
...
That's the first all nighter I've pulled since 2001, when I had two minutes' worth of lunchbox animation cels to do, back when I was at Collins.
Wow.
Dear S------,
Let’s talk about three works. Specifically, Non avea Febo ancora (Lamento della Ninfa) and Zefiro torno e de soavi accenti by Claudio Monteverdi and Sonata sopra l’aria de Ruggerio by Salomone Rossi. All three have similar elements that overlap, involving things like basso ostinato and chaconnes. Well, some of them don’t have a chaconne, but we’ll get to that later.
S-----, I don’t know what you want me to say about these songs. I want to say so much. Mainly, the only thing I’ve got a vague sort of grasp on is text painting, or, as Jerry calls it when he wants to get fancy, pictoral madrigalism. He’s good at making things fancy. He can also read music. I can do neither. It’s late and I want to go to bed, but-how did the dude in Zefiro say it? As my fortune wills, I weep, then sing. I weep, then work on papers.
Well here. What’s a basso ostinato? It’s a pattern in the bass that repeats while the melody above it changes. What’s a chaconne? It’s a refrain following a simple pattern of guitar chords, and is very happy. It’s a happy happy joy joy song, as opposed to the ostinato, which is a lament. Of course, Ninfa sounds happy and there’s an ironically depressing section at the end of Zefiro, but who’s counting, right? The best part about the whole thing is that I keep typing “ninja” when I go to type “ninfa.” The Lament of the Ninja! As fortune wills, I weep, then assassinate.
Listen to me you bastard. Zefiro is a madrigal. It’s a madrigal with a chaconne somewhere in it. Is there a chaconne in it?
S-----, it’s time for me to talk about how the text works with the music.
I mentioned previously that I had a tiny handle on the whole text painting thing. I like it. I like its style. There’s just a little something extra kickin’ around when the words being sung are suggested by the musical shit going on. When a tree falls in the woods, does it fall to the soundtrack of a descending tetrachord? Does the pope shit in the woods? Is the bear Catholic?
Let’s go back to our friend the Nymph. Some omniscient narrator observes the scene and lets us know what’s happening. The narrator is clearly made up of three dudes, specifically the lower three of four voices (the top voice being, of course, Nymph’s.) This first section is a very loose version of the descending tetrachord, which foreshadows the actual event. The voyeuristic narrator trio sets up the scene both by describing the action in the text and reflecting that text harmonically. This section of the song isn’t particularly sad; however, that makes sense, considering that it is not the narrator who is lamenting. The narrator is the impartial spectator, unemotionally setting the stage for the lament itself. Enter Ninfa.
The sun hasn’t risen yet (I’ll see your lack of Phoebus and raise you Four in the Morning by Wislawa Szymborska). It’s dark and she’s wandering around in her front yard, trampling the flowers and nattering on about a traitorous love. Luckily for her, when she starts her lament she does so over a descending tetrachord over an ostinato bass, generating lots of interest in her sorrow. The whole thing is also in triple meter, which was standard for laments at the time. Points to her for being emo in private, at least, and not being an embarrassing emotional mess in public like some nymphs I know.
(talk about melody, cause I know that’s what you want to hear)
The third section isn’t anything spectacular. Straightforward diatonic, the last four lines constitute a recap of the previous narration, action, and lament. wOOt.
It’s time to talk about my favorite song! Zefiro torna, you blow through my heart and bring me joy. As well you should since you, my friend, are a chacona, that bright and lively dance imported from Latin America. The light dance-like rhythm repeats 56 times before an abandoned lover goes off and wrecks the whole thing by complaining about how love sucks in recitative style.
More than in the other two pieces, text painting is used extensively in Zefiro. The pastoral first section of the song mimics the images it is depicting in the music. For instance, in the line “E da monti e da valli ime e profonde (and from the mountains and from the valleys songs resound high and low)” the melody peaks on “high” and descends on “low.” Another interesting use of text painting occurs in the line “Raddopian l’armonia gli antri canori (and the sonorous caves reecho the music)” as the word “raddopian” is echoed back and forth between two voices, to illustrate the sounds bouncing off cave walls.
As Europe transitioned from the Renaissance to the Baroque, different musical styles were evolving as old ones were cycled out. Three works that were popular and groundbreaking were Non avea Febo ancora (Lamento della Ninfa) and Zefiro torno e di soavi accenti by Claudio Monteverdi and Sonata sopra l’aria di Ruggerio by Salomone Rossi. These two composers use different ostinato bass lines to establish an emotional context for each piece and as a foundation against which the melodic line can interact, expressing the text.
In Monteverdi’s Ninfa, the song begins with an omniscient narrator describing the scene. The narrator is actually sung by all three lower voices, not just one, while the top voice is sung by the Nymph. The narrator sings the first section and is interspersed throughout the second before singing the third. He sets up the scene both by describing the action in the text and reflecting that text harmonically. This section of the song isn’t particularly sad; however, that makes sense, considering that it is not the narrator who is lamenting. Since the first section is not a lament, it lacks the ostinato bass line, resulting in a deceptively light meter. The narrator is the impartial spectator, unemotionally setting the stage for the lament itself. Instead, the bass line wanders, illustrating the roaming actions of the Nymph that are being described.
At the beginning of the second section, the Nymph enters the song and begins her lament. As she does so, an ostinato bass line develops, providing support for a descending tetrachord. This particular element invokes all of the sorrow she is feeling, while the steady bass line hints at the fact that she has stopped pacing and is now standing still, gazing at the heavens (“il ciel mirando, il pie fermo/looking at the sky, she stayed her feet.”) Triple meter is also used to reinforce the seriousness and sadness of the piece, and was standard for laments during this time period. The lament ends with the three lower voices of the narrator interspersing a rhyming couplet that shows sympathy for the Nymph.
As the Nymph ends her lament, the ostinato bass fades away. The following third section recaps the narration of the first section and the action of the second; fairly homophonic and straightforward, the lack of ostinato in the last for lines drives the song to finish.
In contrast to his Ninfa, Monteverdi used a lively chaconne instead of an ostinato bass line for his madrigal Zefiro torna. The chaconne has a harmonic progression of I-V-vi-V, and is based on a refrain following a simple pattern of guitar chords. The light, dance-like rhythm repeats 56 times, describing different pastoral aspects of the text, before an abandoned lover interjects a lonely recitative at the end.
More than in the other two pieces, text painting is used extensively in Zefiro. The pastoral first section of the song mimics the images it is depicting in the music. For instance, in the line “E da monti e da valli ime e profonde (and from the mountains and from the valleys songs resound high and low)” the melody peaks on “high” and descends on “low.” Another interesting use of text painting occurs in the line “Raddopian l’armonia gli antri canori (and the sonorous caves reecho the music)” as the word “raddopian” is echoed back and forth between two voices, to illustrate the sounds bouncing off cave walls.
When the lover interjects at the end of the song, the key gets flatter and flatter as the lover moves into the “selve abbandonate e sole/the lonely, deserted forest.” In illustrating this movement away from the pastoral scenes of love in the first part of the song, Monteverdi shows how the lover is moving farther and farther away from his home key, which could be taken as a metaphor for moving away from himself. After this line, there is a jarring modulation jump to B major (“l’ardor di due begli occhi e’l mio tormento/the fire of two bright eyes is my torment”) to describe the fire in the eyes of the recipient of the lover’s attentions. This abrupt change brings us back to the home key and ties up the end of the song.
In Rossi’s Sonata, the mood is harder to get a grasp on, since the song has no text, however, it is still there. This song is divided into four sections, and is mainly upbeat and happy sounding. The ruggerio in this song is in four movements; in particular, the adagio is the most emotionally expressive. Around measure 100, there is a C major chord, which changes to D major and then to C sharp, resulting in a diminished chord. The swift harmonic rhythm brings the mood back from somewhat somber and serious to light and bubbly.
Emotional context for these pieces, even textless, is achieved through the use of different ostinato bass lines. The text and mood is expressed when the ostinato is played against the melodic line. These techniques helped to shape the course of both secular and sacred music during the Baroque period.
.