FOOTNOTES

1. Haar, James. Essays on Italian Poetry and Music in the renaissance, 1350-1600. No. 5. University of California Press, California. 1986. pp.111

2. Doni, Anton Francesco. Dialogo della musica. 1544. ed. GF Malipiero, Universal. Vienna, 1965. pp. 82

3. Haar, pp.107

4.  Agazzari, pp.11 “...perche in tal caso devon tener l’armonia ferma, sonora, e continovata, per sostener la voce, toccando hora piano, hora forte, secondo la qualit`a, e quantit`a delle voci, del luogo, e dell’opera, non ribattendo troppo le corde, mentre la voce fa il passaggio, e qualche affetto, per non interromperla...”

5. “...ma in certi altri che le parole non ponno haver imitatione de gesti, o de strepiti o altro mod o d'imitatione che salti fuori, dubito che languidirebbe o il passato od il futuro…” Monteverdi, Claudio. Letter of 24 May 1627. Lettere, dediche e prefazioni. Ed. Domenico De' Paoli. Roma: Santis, 1973. pp 251-2

6.  "...perché la immitatione di tal finta pazzia dovendo aver la consideratione solo che nel presente e non nel passato e nel futuro, per conseguenza la imitatione dovendo aver il suo appoggiamento sopra alla parola et non sopra al senso della clausula, quando dunque parlerà di guerra bisognerà inmitar di guerra. quando di pace pace, quando di morte di morte, et va seguitando, et perché le transformationi si faranno in brevissimo spatio, et le immitationi; chi dunque averà da dire tal principalissima parte che move al riso et alla compassione, sarà necessario che tal Donna lassi da parte ogni altra Immitatione che la presentanea che gli somministrerà la parola che haverà da dire..." Monteverdi, Claudio. Letter to Alessandro Striggio, at Mantua. 07 May 1627. Translated by Denis Stevens, The Letters of Claudio Monteverdi. Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 1980. pp.315-16.

7. Georis, Christophe.  Eds. Maeder, Costantino, Fischer, Olga, and Herlofsky, William J.  ‘Iconic strategies in Monteverdi’s Madrigali guerrieri ed amorosi : "Altri canti d’amor."’ Outside-In Inside-Out. Vol. 4. John Benjamins Publishing, 2005.

2.3  Word Painting

There are some clues regarding word painting of Italian Renaissance songs. James Haar describes general trends within text setting at the time, “a mixture of sophisticated and naive methods” from structural parallels in flowing lines and enjambment, to musical mimicry of vocalisations and literal imitations of movement.¹ Through Doni’s observations,² he also concludes  successful word painting, or “madrigalism” was largely the responsibility of the performers themselves.³

Agazzari wrote that it was the responsibility of the harpist to find the right colour within continuo:

   “Because in this case, they have to hold the harmony, make a continuous sound in order to support the voice, touching once silently, once strong, as demanded by the quality and quantity of the voices, the acoustic and the work, and shall not plug the cords too strong when the voice sings a passagio, or a certain affect which should not be disturbed.”⁴

There are three points of interest within this quote. First of all, the voice or melody instrument is dictating the affetto, without mention of an expressive counterpoint, so to speak, or leading from the bass. Secondly, he refers to this entirely in the negative, rather than as a creative force: good taste is the exclusion of bad taste, is to not disturb or disrupt. Finally, it seems to refer to more lyrical form, in affecto rather than the more narrative epic form.

Monteverdi had a more representational approach, and when addressing word painting, and even expressed concern at when the music was not imitating word and action:

   “...in certain other places where the words do not lend themselves to imitation by gestures or noises or any other kind of imitation that stands out, I fear that the passages that precede or follow might seem weak.”⁵

He further described an acting technique of the time expressed through fast word painting, to convey madness or the severity of an emotion through the rapid alternation of contrasting moods, as opposed to one overarching affetto:

   “...since the imitation of such feigned madness must take into account only the present and not the past or future, therefore it must be based on the single word and not on the sense of the phrase; when, therefore, war is mentioned, it will be necessary to imitate war, when peace, peace, when death, death, and so on. And because the transformations and their imitation happen in the shortest space of time, the person who takes the principal part, which should arouse both laughter and compassion, must be a woman who can lay aside every sort of imitation except that which is dictated by the word that she is saying...”⁶

This further re-enforces the idea of Monteverdi subscribing to the ideal of virtuosic manipulation of emotions idealised in poetic recitations of Ancient Greece.

Furthermore, word painting, through the art of the performer or composer, could add information omitted by the text, Georis citing an example in Monteverdi’s Eighth Book of Madrigals where the sound of hooves transforms a battle hymn into a cavalry battle.⁷ This would indicate that word-painting was not only effective in creating an emotional impact but was so central an expressive technique that it could be used to add additional layers of meaning.

Though the performer’s initiatives in colouring text may be obscured, it remains in the hands of historical musicians to recreate this ability. This may be achieved through pursuing all the expressive qualities and timbral possibilities of our instruments and then using this expanded palette to realise the expressive demands of the text. The development of these timbral aspects can be hasted with the added of control of notation, in order to compare and refine different techniques and map out expression on a larger scale.