Transposition in Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610: An 'Aberration' Defended Author(s): Andrew Parrott Source: Early Music, Vol. 12, No. 4, The Early Piano I (Nov., 1984), pp. 490-516 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3137979 . Accessed: 28/10/2013 17:38

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions AndrewParrott Transpositionin Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 An'aberration'defended

'aberration',2 while others find the results revelatory. But if the very familiarityof the work makes objective 3~~~~g assessment difficult, it has the advantage of focusing attention on a vital but neglected area of historical performancepractice, one of directrelevance to a host of less well-known pieces. With the release of my recording of the 1610 Vespers,3the time is obviously ripe for a detailed defence of the practice. Monteverdihas had the misfortune to be labelled a Baroque composer and a Venetian composer, despite the facts that he published six collections before the 17th century even began and that he worked in Mantua until he was 45. Consequently his music has often been viewed in a false light. Instrumentalwriting of the kind illustrated in ex.1 would perhaps have seemed unexceptional in its technical demands to a musician of the early 18th century; in 1610 it would undoubtedly have seemed revolutionary in its high tessitura. And there lies the crux of the matter.Do the high vocal and instrumentalranges of the Magnificat a 7 serve a new dramatic function through an (as it were)Beethovenian stretching of existing conventions? Oris this all an illusion, caused by a trick of notation that would have ruffled none of Monteverdi's I Claudio Monteverdi: portrait by Bernardo Strozzi (1584-1644) contemporaries? (TirolerLandesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck) Ex.1 Monteverdi, Vespers (1610), Magnificat a 7, 'Deposuit' Ours is an conservative musical climate, essentially (a) CornettI and attempts to reproduce historical styles of per- formance still tend to be viewed with suspicion. It is therefore not surprising that to transpose parts of a recognized masterpiece should be regarded by some A V almost as an act of heresy. I first directeda performance of Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers in 1977, and on that (b) Violin I occasion,1 as on subsequent ones, the psalm Lauda Jerusalemand the Magnificat a 7 were given a 4th IA. below their written pitch. (The discussion that follows is quite independent of absolute pitch standards appropriateto Monteverdi'smusic: the issue is that of the relative pitch-levels of the various Vespers move- oop -P MOPl --M-P ments.) Reactions to the idea of the transpositions 9) have been predictably mixed: one of our best-known Monteverdi conductors has described them as an

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions LaudaJerusalem and the Magnificat a 7 lie consist- contemporary vocal types and of instrumental tech- ently at a higher written pitch-level than the other nique, and I shall therefore need to demonstrate that Vespers movements, a fact which is reflected in (or instrumentalistswere equipped to transpose. Finally,I caused by) the choice of a different set of clefs. These shall speculate briefly on Monteverdi's reasons for high clefs and what I shall call normal clefs are shown choosing to notate certain pieces at what is, to us, the in ex.2. (The anachronistic terms chiavetteand chiavi 'wrong' pitch. But before looking in any detail at naturalineed not be used.)4 There are variants of both Monteverdi's works, the considerable evidence for conventions of transposition during the period of the Ex.2 High and normal clef configurations composer's lifetime (1567-1643) must be examined. I S A T B shall concentrate on Italian and Germansources; the high clefs: G2 C2 C3 F3 latter(in particularthe writingsof Praetorius)are often concerned with Italian practices and are therefore an

normal clefs: C1 C3 C4 F4 C invaluable supplement. These sources fall broadly 11D into three categories: theoretical writings, keyboard instruments and musical sources. sets of clefs, but the configuration in use may be identified easily from the clef of the generally quite Theoretical writings lowest part:normal clefs have the bass clef (F4),while In his Dimostrationi harmoniche the Venetian high clefs have baritone, tenor or even alto clef (F3 (1571) and theorist Zarlino considers the (=C5), C4 or C3). The presence or absence of a key composer possible written of each of his 12 modes either signaturewith a particularclef or set of clefs can affect transposition up or down an octave, or a 4th or down a that to the implications for transposition and will be indicated up 5th; is, one alternative level, if we exclude octave trans- in subsequent examples by (6) or (-) after each clef. just Almost in he comments: 'Noi In his 1610 publication Monteverdiuses high clefs positions. parenthesis altri lo sia di utile not only for these two movements but also for the Organisti sapiamo, quanto queste & come si fare' alternativeMagnificat a 6, and for the whole of the six- trasportationi: possino (We organists know how useful these are, and how part Mass In illo temporewhich takes pride of place in transpositions can be For a fluent in all the the collection.' Again we must ask whether the clefs they made).7 player clefs, down a 5th is a matter of substi- simply reflect the composer's decision to write in a transposition simple one clef for another and of the higher tessitura than elsewhere (perhaps in response tuting adjusting an from a bass to the texts) or whether the use of such clefs is the signature;8 organist playing high-clef line written in C4 would, for an F4 result of certaintheoretical conventions which, though example, imagine clef in its of little consequence to the singer, acted as a clearly place (ex.3). understood to the instrumentalistto signal transpose. Ex.3 Although an understandingof these general questions is fundamental to the performance of Renaissance = C1or f there has been little serious research polyphony, very - of value since practical the late 1940s, when Arthur The organist's concept of transposition as the Mendel his published findings.6 Performers for the alteration of written pitches by a particular interval most part have been seemingly oblivious to the was not shared by the singer of the 16th and 17th and editors have problems perpetuated this state of centuries, for whom written notes represented not affairs to by failing produce transposed editions of fixed pitches but a series of intervallic relationships. high-clef works, perhaps because of a horror of The position of the clef and the presence or absence of certain offending 'scholarly' principles. a flat dictated where the semitones occurred among In this article I shall try to show that 'obligatory the tones and hence the appropriate solmization. transposition' is implicit in the notation of much vocal Cerone (1613) gives a table of those clefs that are music of the late 16th and early 17th centuries and that equivalent in terms of solmization (ex.4) and comments: some of Monteverdi's music Lauda Jerusalem (notably Concluyremospues que algunasClaves, puntualmente se and the a it. I shall that parecen, Magnificat 7) requires suggest en todolo que tocaal leer,y al hazerde las masdilfieren downward of a 4th those Mutanqas; transposition brings Vespers solamenteen las letrasy posiciones;la qual differenqa(como dixe) movements into line with what is known both of no es de consideraciona cercadel Cantante;el qual no considera

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions otra cosa mas, que entonar sus vozes rectamente,con la vi e necessaniointendere un altrasorte di trasportationiper poter observacionde los intervalosde Tonoy Semitono. rispondereal Choroin voce commoda,tanto nel Cantofigurato, We mayconclude, then, that some clefs [withtheir signa- quantonel Cantofermo. E perchela maggiorparte de gl'Organi tures]look exactlyalike in everythingthat concerns reading sono alti, fuora del TuonoChoristo, bisogna che l'Organistasi and the placingof the mutations;they differsolely in the accommodid sonarefuor di strada,un Tuono,& una Terzabassa. lettersand positions[i.e. pitch-names];this difference(as I it is necessaryto understandanother sort of transpositionin said)is of no concernto the singer,who is concernedonly to orderto be ableto respondto the choirat a convenientpitch- soundhis notes correctly,observing the intervalsof tones level, whetherin polyphonyor in chant.And because the and semitones.9 majorityof organs are high and not at choir pitch, the organistneeds to become accustomedto playingoutside Ex.4 Cerone,El melopeoy maestro(Naples, 1613), p.494 [theusual keys],a tone and a 3rdlower.11 A, L Lmet A .,.. I ,I L- IL.. ' I Dirutathen gives short, two-voice musical examples in irlE9 L didl l lio Mje ll Lr / • IM " - I M3 M-%IJP I !W mirkIff aA [R~.F-. ... ise-,liMA the 12 modes, each with one, two or three trans- positions 'per commodita del Choro': except in the Thus, if an organist chooses to accompany voices at a case of Tone 2, all the transpositions are downwards pitch other than the written one, he is involved in a and, predictably,transposition down a 2nd or a (minor) transposition,but the singers are not. (Forconvenience, 3rd is common. In Tones 5, 7, 9 and 12, where G2 clefs the term 'transposition'is used in this article for vocal are used for the upper parts, the intervals of trans- and instrumental music alike, but this distinction in position are wider (down a 4th, 5th and, once, a minor procedure should always be understood.) This should 7th).12 not beguile us into thinking of the singer as someone Such transpositions were by no means new. 13 Galilei unconcerned with pitch-level: as we shall see, several (1581) mentions in passing that 'i periti Organisti' theorists are quite explicit in saying that the organist's (skilled organists) are accustomed to transpose 'per transpositions are made precisely to suit the voices. comodita del coro per un Tuono, o per una Terza,o per The surprisingly wide range of intervals of trans- altro intervallo'(for the convenience of the chorus, by position cultivated by organists in particular may a tone, a 3rd or some other interval).14 But the full misleadinglygive the impressionof complete flexibility. range of transpositions was not possible on instru- It is important,rather, to think of these transpositions ments tuned in mean-tone temperaments.Cima (1606) as being in two separate categories which sometimes recognized and attempted to solve the problem by overlap:first, the largerintervals of transposition (of a giving directions for the wholesale retuning of acci- 4th or 5th) necessary to reconcile most high-clef music dentals for each semitonal transposition. (Althoughhe with normal vocal ranges; second, those fine adjust- is addressing organists, his rules are for the tuning of ments (of a tone) that take into account the tessitura of 'un Clavicordo'.) a particularwork or the pitch of a particularorgan- Conoscendoio di quanta importanzasia d gli Organisti,per our main interest here is with the first category. Trans- commoditade Cantorine i concertiloro, il sapersonare in qualsi position of a minor 3rd may have been considered a voglialuogo, & intervallo del nostroInstrumento; m' parsolodevol il con chesi combination of the two categories: a primarytrans- cosa darein luce modo; possa agevolmentefar questa Et che praticasia necessaria,lo mostrachiaro il position of a 4th, modified by a tone (and in some prattica... questa famoso Zerlino [sic] nel quarto libro delle sue Institutioni contexts transposition of a 4th consists of a primary armonicheal capitolo17 of a 5th adjusted by a tone). transposition Recognizing as I do how importantit is for organists to know This division seems to be Diruta acknowledged by howto playat anypitch-level and interval on ourinstrument (1609), who devotes a chapter of his keyboardtreatise, forthe convenienceof singersin theirconcerti, it seemedto Il transilvano,to 'la vera formatione, cognitione, e me laudableto make knowna means by which one may transportationedi tutti i Tuoni, si del Canto figurato, easilyput this intopractice . .. Thatthis practice is necessary come anco del Canto fermo: Cosa appartenente ad is shown clearly in book4, chapter 17 of the famous Zarlino's ogni Organista per lasciare in Tuono al Choro' (the true Istitutioniharmoniche.15 formation, recognition and transposition of all the Even if Cima's recommended procedure is impracti- Tones, whether of polyphony or of chant: a matter cable for organs-and no other musician or theorist of concerning every organist when he is giving the pitch the Baroque is known to have described it-he does to the choir).'0 After illustrating the Tones and their unequivocally expect organists to be able to play in the transpositions a 4th higher or 5th lower, he writes: remoter keys.

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ' Each untransposed Tone and its prescribed trans- mai mostrala naturalezzadi quel tuono.Trasportar alla quarta, position admitted of a few specific accidentals only. In quinta,e pid naturale,e commododi tutti:e tal voltauna vocepiu' 6 szi; ed in somma convien veder e the Intonationi d'organo (1593) by Andrea and Giovanni gil, piuz quel piuzproprio tuono:e non come alcuni,che Gabrieli,16 there are therefore just six different acci- conferented quel fanno pretendono suonarogni tuono in ogni corda;perche s'io potessidisputar alla dentals altogether: B natural, the flats on B and E and lunga,gli mostrareil'impropietd, ed errorloro. the sharps on F, C and G. Certain transpositions, one must know how to from one though, inevitably introduced further, unfamiliar acci- Finally, transpose pieces to another so that all the consonances are correct, dentals such as A flat and D sharp. The occasional degree and proper to the given Tone. Otherwise one must not written appearance of these new keys in vocal poly- transpose, because, as I have sometimes observed, it makes phony had already drawn adverse comment from a very disagreeable sound [, for example,]to transpose a first Zarlino and Galilei Rodio (1558)17 (1581),18 though or second Tone, naturally pleasing because of its many B the sol- (1609)19 explains how singers can simplify flats, to some degree whose Tone requiresB natural;it will be mization process by substituting high for normal clefs difficult [even] for the careful player to avoid stumbling and vice versa. Cerone (1613) summarizes the position against some conflicting note. And thus, the ensemble is as follows: spoiled and the listeners are offended with such crudity, Losquales [accidentales extraordinarios], aunque son mas usados while the natural characterof the given Tone never appears. de los Organistaspara accomodarse mejor con el Choro,que de los Most natural and convenient of all is transposition by a 4th Compositorespara componersus obras,por la difficultadque or 5th, and sometimes a note higher or lower; in short, one tienenlos Cantoresde vertantos Be moles,y tantosBe quadrados6 must see which is most appropriateand suitable to the given Sostenidos,y de cantarfuera de las cuerdasordinarias; .. todas Tone, not as some do who pretend to play every Tone at every las JSequencias]que apuntadasestan conesta b sefial en una sola level, for if I could argue at length, I would show them their posicionde befabemi,6 con su Octava,son las accidentalesmas improprietyand error.21 usadasde los mas usadasde los Compositores.Digo Compositores, We should note here the emphasis given to the 'basic' porquantode los eccelentesOrganistas todas indifferentemente intervals of transposition: a 4th, 5th and tone. son praticadasy usadas:es asaver,quando uno y quandootro, y If none of these Italian theorists unequivocally estosegun el Tonoalto 6 baxodel Organo,usando siempre de aquel associates downward and que sale mas comodopara el Choro. transposition high-clef there be reason. as I have These [extraordinaryaccidentals], though, are used more by music, may good First, organists to suit the choir better than by composers in shown, the concept of transposition did not exist for composing their works, because of the difficulty singers the singer, and thus the theoretical writing on singing have when they see so many flats and so many naturals or does not touch on the subject. Second, organists sharps and have to sing on unfamiliar staff-degrees;... all themselves may perhaps have scarcely regarded such the [species] that are notated with a single B flat, or with its manoeuvres as transposition-they, too, thought are the accidental ones most used I octave, by composers. largely in terms of solmization syllables-and in any most used because all above say by composers, [the case were so thoroughly schooled in the art of transpositions] are practised and used equally easily by transposition for the purpose of accommodating vocal excellent organists: that is, now one and now another ranges that the need would have been obvious. None according to the high or low pitch of the organ, always using of the Italian theorists concern themselves with ex- the one that best suits the choir.20 plaining exactly when are Clearly there was resistance to the use of complicated transpositions necessary; assert that are indeed and keys in vocal notation. In Agazzari's essay on continuo they merely they necessary advise how to make them. playing (1607) we may also detect a reaction against the remoter unwritten transpositions sometimes It is Praetorius (1619) who, in characteristically practised: thorough and practical fashion, clarifies the matter: Finalmenteconviene saper anco trasportarele Cantileneda un Obzwar ein jeder Gesang,welcher hoch Claviret das ist da im tasto ad un 'altro,quando perd vi sono tutte le consonanze naturali, Bass dasI, uff derander oder dritten Lini von obenan zu zehlen, e proprie di quel tono; perche altrimenti non si debbon trasportare, oderdas 9 uff derdritten Lini also befundenwird; Wenn er perche fa brutissimo sentire, come io alle volte ho osservato, che b mol, per quartaminferiorem in durum;Wenn er aber adur, trasportando un primo, over secondo tono, che sono di natura per quintaminferiorem in mollem, naturaliterin dieTabulatur soave, per le molte corde di B. molle, in qualche tasto, ch ' suo tuono oderPartitur von Organisten,Lauttenisten und allen andern,die sia di chi suona, esser tanto sich der Fundament Instrumenten unnd B. quadro, difficilmente potra, cauto, gebrauchen,gebracht che non inciampi in qualche contraria voce; e cosi vien d guastarsi transponiretwerden muss: So befindetsich doch,dass in etlichen il conserto, et offender ludito de gl ascoltanti con tal crudezza anzi Modis,Als in Mixolydio, Aeolio und Hypojonico,wenn sie per EARLYMUSIC NOVEMBER 1984 493

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions quintam transponiret, eine languidior & pigrior harmonia (1672)26 emphasizes the importance of downward propter graviores sonos generiret werde:Darumb es dann transposition of a 4th and 5th in association with high- ungleich besser, und wird auch der Gesang viel frischer und clef bass parts but also gives various transpositions for zuhdren,wenn diese Modi ex duro in anmuthiger per quartam normal-clef bass parts. Similarly, Bismantova's Com- durum transponiret werden. pendio musicale (1677-9) gives instructions as part of Everyvocal piece in high clefs, i.e., where the bass is written the suonare il Basso 'Regole; p[er] Continuo',27 for in C4 or C3, or F3, must be transposed when it is put into transposing down a 4th and a 5th (although without tablatureor score for of the lute and all other players organ, reference to high clefs) and proceeds to describe other foundation instruments, as follows: if it has a flat, down a transpositions. Later, Samber (1707)28 specifically 4th in durum,but if it has no flat, down a 5th in mollem, associates the high-clef notation of 'old Introits, naturaliter.Yet if some modes, e.g. Mixolydian, Aeolian and Graduals and Counterpoint-Masses' with downward Hypoionian, are transposed by a 5th, a duller and worse (when the lowest clef is F3, a 4th; harmony is produced because of the lower sounds; hence it transposition by when a And much later Paolucci is much better, and the piece becomes much fresher and C4, by 5th). still, more spirited to listen to, if these modes are transposed by a (1772)29 gives examples from Palestrina, Benevoli and 4th, ex duro in durum.22 Colonna of high-clef music and calls for transposition down a 4th or 5th. Later, in a section on organ continuo, these principles are taken almost for granted: Keyboardinstruments Dieses aber muss sonderlichallhier observiret und in acht Fromthe theoretical material we move to the second werden,dass in denen welche genommen Gesdngen, Mixolydij, categoryof evidence, which though small is significant: undHypojonici in quartaminferiorem (weil es in AEolij Modi, the nature of certain 16th- and early 17th-century derQuint wie obenangezeigt. allzuschldfferig seyn m6chte,und keyboardinstruments. (Forthis section a brief in der Quartsich etwas und anmutiger,sonderlich uffn depart- frischer ure from the restrictions to Italian and Instrumentenhoren lest) transponiret werden, forn an bey dem self-imposed German seems Clave Signata 9 die Diesis # bezeichnet. practices justified.) The notion that downward transposition, in parti- But this especially must be observed and taken note of here: cular that of a 4th, is in the that in those songs which, [being] in Mixolydian, Aeolian regularly required of late Renaissance and and Hypoionian modes, are to be transposed a 4th lower performance early Baroque (because down a 5th, as shown above, may be too sleepy, and music receives strong support from the disposition of down a 4th sounds rather fresher and more pleasant, the contemporary Flemish two-manual harpsichord. especially on harpsichords) a sharp is marked at the With a slightly patronizing air, Quirinus van Blanken- beginning beside the clef.23 burg (1739) looks back to the early 17th century: (We should note in passing the special importance of In die tyd was men in de Transpositiezo onervarendat men om transposition down a 4th.) eenig spel een quart lager te honnen transponerenexpres een byzondertweede clavier in de clavicimbelmaahte, Het schynt If Praetorius seems rather dogmatic, we must at least ongelooflyh,maart bewyst welhzeer aanmerhensweerdig is, zal't acknowledge that none of the Italian theorists contra- zelve bewaarheiden, dat de vermaardeRucherssen van't begin der dicts him in A decade or so later, another any way.24 voorledeeew af tot meerals 30 jarendaar na niet andershebben Schonsleder a German theorist, Wolfgang (1631), gives gemaaht set of high clefs (G2 C2 C3 F3) and declares complete At that time, they were so inexperienced in transposition that that he is 'amazed to see the of musicians majority in orderto be able to transpose a piece a 4th downwardsthey in customarily writing many of their songs them, made a special second keyboard in the harpsichord for the although they know that if anyone wishes to sing them purpose. This seems incredible, but the proof, which is very they will have to be transposed downwards'.25 remarkable,will show that the famous Ruckersfamily from With the development of instrumental music, free the beginning of the last century for more than 30 years of vocal models, the concept of fixed pitches began to made nothing else.30 predominate; hence in due course the problem of On a normal double-manual Ruckers harpsichord the understanding the different notated pitch-levels of shorter upper keyboard stood at 'standard' pitch and earlier periods. But a tradition of performing this the lower one a 4th lower, with the upper c' key aligned earlier repertory would appear to have continued with the lower f' and sounding the same strings. (Some through the 17th century, and, with it, the necessary earlier organs may well have had a similar disposition.)31 skills of transposition. Penna's Li primi albori musicali Only one such harpsichord survives in its original

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2 Two-manual harpsichord by Joannes Ruckers, 1638 (Russell Collection, University of Edinburgh) state, the 1638 Joannes Ruckersin the Russell Collect- ample, in tuning an organ or 'strumento da penna' ion, EdinburghUniversity32 (illus.2), but more than a (quilled keyboard instrument), recommends starting dozen others by members of the Ruckersfamily from with an F, 'quella si pone in tuono della natura before 1642, plus a 1646 Joannes Couchet, show signs dell'instromento in voce corista overo un tuon piu" of having originally been transposing instruments. basso overo 4. superiore, o inferiore'(which you set at Furthermore, although double-manual instruments the natural pitch of the instrument, [whether]at choir without this feature can be shown to have been in pitch or a tone lower or a 4th higher or lower).37 existence by 1620, the earliest surviving example, by Similarly,Praetorius describes the spinettaas being an Hans Moermansthe Younger, dates only from 1642.33 octave or 5th above 'normal' pitch3 and labels his So though Blankenburgmay not necessarily be right in woodcut of a harpsichord'Clavicymbel, so eine Quart regardingthe principal function of these instruments tieffer als Chor-Ton'(Harpsichord, a 4th lower than to be transposition,34 their nature clearly facilitates it. choir pitch).39 Other fragments of organological information also There were also some single-manual keyboard in- hint at the co-existence of two pitch standardsa 4th or struments that could be set at different pitch-levels. A so apartfrom each other. Although much of the history Venetian harpsichord now in Cambridge, probably of the Italian harpsichord is still ratherobscure, it has 16th-century, seems to have had a third set of strings been plausibly suggested that surviving instruments of a different scale from the others and possibly tuned were built at pitches a 4th or 5th apart;35unfortunately a tone higher,40 while a 17th-centuryregal in the Heyer the issue is complicated by the fact that strings of Collection had a keyboard that could be shifted by a brass and steel imply different optimumpitch-levels.36 tone.41 The principle of the sliding keyboard was Clearlythere was great diversity of pitch standard;but, evidently known in Germanyas early as 1537,42 and equally clearly, there was broadunderstanding of how Carl Luython's clavicymbalumuniversale, which Prae- these pitches were related. Banchieri (1608), for ex- torius describes,43had a keyboard(with 19 keys to the

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions octave) that could be set in any of seven positions, differences of pitch-level that occur not between covering a major 3rd. A little later G. B. Doni (1635)44 different sources but within a single piece. mentions a harpsichordby a Florentinemaker, lacopo Publications for lute and voices are invaluable in Ramerino, 'nel quale ingegnosamente con muover this respect; a vocal part may be notated in one key, solo la chiave del Registro,l'istesse corde servirannoal while the tablature of its accompaniment implies tuono di Roma, a quel di Firenze, & a quel di another. (Adriaenssen'sPratum musicum (1584) gives Lombardia'(in which, ingeniously, just by moving the intabulations of high-clef works generally down a 4th register the same strings will give you the pitch of but sometimes down a 5th.)5"The Roman publisher Rome, that of Florence and that of Lombardy). Simone Verovio issued several collections which offer examples of both lute and keyboardversions alongside in musical sources Discrepancies their vocal originals. The first of these, Dilettospirituale Having discussed theorists and instruments, we now (1586) contains 21 three- and four-voice devotional turn to the third category of evidence: the musical pieces, each printed in parts on a left-hand page, and sources. Numerous instances could be cited of works opposite them, versions for keyboardand for lute in G (masses and other cyclic compositions) with some (illus.3).52There is a clear pattern of transposition, movements in high and some in low clefs, producing identifiable in this case from the clef of the top part implausibly wide vocal ranges (e.g. Palestrina'sfour- and the signature: when the clef is Cl, there is no part Missa de beata Virgine(1567),45 Le Jeune's three- transposition, when it is G2(-), transposition is down a section 'Aeolian' piece from his Dodecacorde(1598)46 5th, and when G2(b),down a 4th. (Thesingle exception and Landi's II Sant'Alessio(1634).47 These certainly may be an error:Nanino's Jesus in pace imperat,which suggest the need for transposition but do not provide has a G2 clef, has a transposed lute intabulation but an conclusive proof of it, so I shall confine this discussion untransposed keyboardversion.) The secular music of to examples that offer more explicit evidence. Verovio's similar Lodi della musica (1595) follows Occasional discrepancies between keyboard in- exactly the same system; of the 18 items 9 are tabulations and their vocal counterparts suggest a transposed.53The six madrigals'percantar nel Chittar- pattern of transposition consistent with Praetorius's rone' in Salamone Rossi's first published collection54 rules. For example, a version in organ tablatureof the also follow this pattern. The tablature for chitarrone Kyrieand Gloriafrom Jacob Handl'sMissa Adestodolori (in A) matches the pitch of the four that use Cl and F4 meo'lies a 4th lower than the original, which uses the clefs, whereas the two that use G2 and F3 clefs (6) clefs G2 G2 C2 C3 F3 (b).48 Printed anthologies of appear a 4th lower in the tablature. intabulations confirm that such transpositions are not Although most organists would have been fluent in made simply to accommodate the pitch of a particular at least a few transpositions,written-out transpositions instrument. The first section of Bernhart Schmid's in staff notation are not uncommon. Among the solo 1577 collection49 contains 20 works: 19 motets and a items of the Cento concerti ecclesiastici (1602) of chanson. Of the eight originally notated in high clefs, Lodovico Viadana55are six which, exceptionally, have four remain untransposed, two are put down a 5th and the voice partin a high clef (G2for soprano, C2for alto, two down a 4th. (Thetwo down a 5th have no signature and C3 for tenor, all (b)),written a 4th higher than the in the original;of the two down a 4th, one has a flat, the organ part. There are comparable examples elsewhere other does not.) There are no obvious reasons for this in the collection, among the works for several voices. inconsistency of approach to high-clef music. Jacob Similarly, two isolated items in G. F. Anerio's Anti- Paix'svolume of six is rathermore reveal- seu sacraecantiones have continuo years later5" phonae, (1613) organ ing. Of 24 motets, seven in normal clefs are untrans- parts a 4th below the voice parts,56 and in the set of posed, while 16 in high clefs are transposed down a 4th Magnificatspublished by Johann Stadlmayrthe follow- or a 5th. (Ofthese, all 12 with a flat signature are down ing year, there is one in high clefs with its two organ a 4th, whereas the four without are transposed down a parts notated a 4th lower.57 5th.) Only one piece with high clefs is left untransposed. We now come to the music of Heinrich Schfitz, who It could be argued that all these intabulations are studied in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli and later independent of their models and that any adjustments perhaps also with Monteverdi himself, and whose of pitch are merely examples of editorial taste. Against substantial output is particularly valuable in estab- this must be set the very considerable number of lishing principles of transposition. His setting of

496 EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1984

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3 From Diletto spirituale, published by Simone Verovio, Rome (1586); for voices (left), keyboard (top right), and lute (bottom right) Psalm 111, Ich danhedem Herrn,58 is in fact a reworking explaining the transposition as a step taken 'for the of Giovanni Gabrieli's double-choir madrigal 'per benefit of the singers'. But the point at issue is that he cantar et sonar', Lietogodea a 8;19in the original each is taking for granted downwardtransposition by a 5th choir has the high-clef configuration G2 C2 C3 F3(-), for a work in high clefs (without signature);he thinks, while in Schfitz's version the clefs are Cl C3 C4 however, that in this case the pitch then becomes too C5(b)and the music is a 5th lower. More revealing still low for his singers and so he transposes down by a 4th is the notation of Schitz's MusicalischeExequien (1636), instead, thus making things more difficult for 'the where the voices are in high clefs (in A minor),but the inexperienced organist', who now has to read a part continuo part is printed a 4th lower (in E minor).60 with the still unusual signature of one sharp.61We find Schfitz himself explains: the same transposition down a 4th (fromA minor to E minor) in the seventh of the geistliche Gesange Den Bassum Continuum habe ich den Sangemrnzum Vorteil,und Zwolf (1657),62 where the vocal parts are notated in high clefs zu beriirungderen auff der Orgelzu diesen Werchemirgefalligen chorden eine Quarta niedrigertransponiret, ohngeachtetmir (without signature)and the organpart has one sharp. It nicht ohnwissend,dass ad Quintam inferius, es auff der Orgel is perhaps a little surprisingthat in the second half of natuirlicherhommen, damit auch vielleicht den ohngeibten the 17th century Schfitz should still expect singers to Organisteneines theils bessergedienet gewesen were. be aware of the transposing convention and to prefer Forthe benefitof the singersand in orderto havethe chords to avoid a sharp signature.63But there is one important I preferin this workplayed on the organ,I havetransposed additional feature: the work is explicitly headed 'ad thebasso continuo down a 4th, althoughI amwell aware that Quarteminferiorem' (a 4th lower). it wouldgo morenaturally on the organa 5th lower,thereby perhapsmaking things easier for the inexperiencedorganist. Instructions in musical sources At first glance, it may seem that Schfitz is simply We have seen examples of discrepancies between two EARLYMUSIC NOVEMBER 1984 497

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions independent sources (suggesting a convention of the player, and we have alreadynoted two examples in and of within a his seu sacraecantiones where a transposing) discrepancies single Antiphonae, transposition source (revealing the clear necessity of transposing). is written out. The collection is an exceptionally large In a last glance at the evidence of contemporary one and therefore of exceptional value in assessing musical sources, we turn to those which contain any systematic approach.67Of the 244 works, 37 use explicit instructions or advice on the subject. high clefs; these are all marked'Alla quarta' or 'Alla4' The earliest example would appear to be from the in the bassus ad organum partbook and no other first publication of sacred music to include a basso interval of transposition occurs. A further 14 items continuo, Viadana'scollection of 1602, alreadycited.64 have the rubric 'sonate come sta' (play it as it stands); There the third and fourth items, Fratres,ego enim accepi these are works, without vocal bass and with the and its second part Accipite et manducate, are intended continuo part in a C4 clef, which might otherwise for 'Canto solo over cornetto', while the organ part appear to be high-clef pieces needing transposition. (writtena 4th lower) bears the rubric'Sonando questo The importanceof three features of Anerio'scollection Concertoco'l Cornettol'Organista sonara la quartaalto cannot be over emphasized. First, the complete con- cosi' (When playing this concerto with cornett, the sistency of clef and transposition: all high-clef pieces organist will play a 4th higher, thus); there follow the are to be transposed, and none of those in normal first few notes a 4th higher. In other words, the piece clefs. Second, the exclusive importance of trans- may be performedeither vocally (at the lower pitch) or position by a 4th, whichever clef is used for the instrumentally(at the higher pitch). continuo part (C3, C4 or F3); Verovio's and others' CasparVincentius evidently preferredto leave cer- distinction between pieces without signature (down a tain options of transposition open to the organist. In a 5th) and those with one flat (down a 4th) is not preface to the bassusgeneralis part prepared by him for observed here. Third,the implication contained in the part2 of AbrahamSchadaeus's anthology Promptuarium phrase 'sonate come sta' that a bass part in a C4 clef musicum(1611) he writes: would automatically suggest transposition to a key- board player. nulld usus sum harmoniarumtranspositione: sed in descriptione A slightly more complicated but consistent picture in suis, ut in extant,reliqui Clavibus. Quilibet singulas exemplari from a of caduceatrixet igitur pro suo lubitu, praesertimhac Clavi 9 signatas emerges study Polyhymnia Michael Praetorius's collection cantiones,vel per Quartamvel per Quintamtransponat Praeterea panegyrica(1619), large quia in his regionibusorganorum atque instrumentorumCalculi of polychoral music68 issued in the same year as the sive Claves ita conficiuntur,ne in duro tertiam majorem last volume of his Syntagmamusicum. There are eight habeamusOrganista facile sibi imaginabitur • esse works notated in high clefs, all without signature, and - clavem, & habebitQuintam inferiorem. against all but one of these in the bassusgeneralisis the instruction 'quartamvel quintam inferiorem'(a 4th or I have not used any transpositionof the pieces, but in the 5th In notes nos. 15 and 16, Aus notationI haveleft them all in theirclefs, as theystand in the lower). preceding tiefer Not and Nun the reiterates the originals.So, anyone may transpose as he pleasesby either a freut euch,69 composer here 4th or a 5th,especially those cantionesgiven with the C4clef point made in his treatise70that transposition (withoutsignature). Furthermore, because the calculior keys down a 4th or 5th must be made, the former being of organsand harpsichordsin these areasare so designed better for the voices. The exception, no.6, AlleinGott in thatwe do not havethe major3rd in 4 duro[i.e. above B4], the derH6h sei Ehr,the Lutheranversification of the Gloria, organistwill easily imagine the clef C4(-) to be F4(b)and will is simply marked 'per quartam inferiorem', and in a have the lower5th. separate note preceding no.5, TeutscheMissa: 0 Vater Gott,we may discover why transposition read, this to suggest that trans- allmdchtiger Casually may appear down a 5th is here ruled out: position is at the player's discretion; but it is only the choice of interval 4th or that is in fact free. (a 5th) In den Kirchen, do das Gloria vor dem Altar gesungen wird, muss Vincentius sees no in a of point notating transposition man das (Preissei Gott)aussen lassen, und sobald das Allein Gott a 5th when this can easily be achieved by a simple clef- in der Hoh sei a 6 & 12 Aber es muss Quart Ehr, anfangen. um eine substitution and prefers to avoid those transpositions tiefer musicirt werden, damit es in den rechten Ton mit dem a 4th which introduce the of Gott of tuning problems sharp vorhergehendenKyrie. 0 Vater, Christe, etc. fiberein homme. keys.66 In contrast, G. F. Anerio seems to leave no choices to In churches where the Gloriais sung in front of the altar,one

498 EARLYMUSIC NOVEMBER 1984

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I j?::::::?::,::::,, :????i??i????:???,.,.???i??i?i?i?...j-.ij?j??:-?.*.???:--:-?`-:.:".:.:.:.;.:.;:.:.:,:?:?:.:4.:.:.:?---. : :I I:,:l.-,...-..- .1-I.?? ::.I .: ...... % ?:?? *.:.:.::: . I""' . .-?? ?? I I,. :?-,?-??i:]?]:?:??i*?*-.1. ?::;?,... .. *11I -:?I:?]i??:-.',i?i-iiii?-.';?f-i:?:]3??..?iii'?*-,??j-.-,-?:..-.-:-?;.:..:.:??.:.:.%!-,?:?-.?: :.,..-I -I .. -,.:.. .,I :: -?1.I.1. I...... ,;:i:? I ,;:::::-?-;-; ,,,?;-.-:::-,:,,.. .:.-:?:j:;?::,,,:::..-.-.-I-, : i?;?:?::?-Ii?ix:?l:::::??,.i:i:i:,?:::?:::i::..?.K?:?::?,iii:?:??i -- -;?? ? -:-:-:-?:*%-;;F?:j ??F.,.?... ,--,;:-:-:;:-:-x,?, *?i,?i:K. ---Im " ? .I-. - - - I .-I? ? I . ..1 I"Oi...... ?,-.-?. ,.j:-X...... ::: ,-;?:?:? ::::: ...... 1-11,-...... ?.1?.: ? ...... :- . ???ii?i?iz?.,,,??,--?:--?f . R-- ....., .. 1 . .,.-:3??,7? ?-? .. ?: :..., - -'- .. - .. 1. . ,,,,, ,,, -?, - . .. I - ..?, ? ?. . ?,?, , . -* ??. :I . 1..: .,-iii?i?iK. - % I:::-..-, .I 1. I.1 , ....?, ...... ,:::]?i?i?:??.'.,?'*.????i?i?i-..,:?',,?j?-,.??.? . ,? ?...,::- ?, . . ...i?:???i?iii...... -.-.?,.:el"*",.:i:i.-:-:-:-:?;-.-.-.'.-' I.K...... ,.Kmoi;K.M.. ...i.i.:?i?i?i?i?.:i:?:i:k?iiMiiii*: .... ?: -, I. I ? I ,...... - - .. %IN4- ?"",%,? ?-. .i:K??ili:?-?:::?:::j:j ""i?i??.,, II I I -I

.- - -? , .-

"'.

4 Musicians in a gallery: brown wash and ink drawing by Domenico Canuti (1620-1684) (Pierpont Morgan Library,New York)

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions mustomit the Preissei Gottand immediately begin the Allein pleasantlyon the ear. Gottin derHoh sei Ehra 6 and but it mustbe a 12; performed All this to indicate a new level of 4thlower, so thatit in withthe may appear agrees pitch[or key] preceding but 80 earlier Galilei before Kyrie,0 GottVater, Christe, etc. sophistication; years (and him Bermudo)had expected 'skilled organists' to be In other words, if the Kyrie(which is in normal clefs) familiar with these various intervals of transposition. and Gloria (in high clefs) were to match in key, What is new is that the composer's own precise wishes avoiding a downward shift of a tone, the interval of are made explicit. (Thisin itself may perhaps suggest a transposition was necessarily a 4th, not a 5th. greater degree of pitch standardization than in the Comparable instructions, though without elabor- earlier period.) Superficially, it may be taken to ation, are found in Schiitz's Kleinegeistliche Concerte, i undermine the simple principle that high-clef music (1636).Here, the only three pieces writtenin high clefs, be transposed to the 'normal'level. In fact, by allowing all without signature, are to be transposed down a 4th subtle adjustmentsto individualpieces (whileretaining or 5th, according to instructions given in the continuo a relatively simple notation), it reinforces the idea of part (e.g. 'Organumad quartaminferius').71 For what- small, well-defined ranges for each category of voice ever reasons, there may have been an increasing desire and thereby the absolute necessity of reconciling or need for composers and publishers of the 17th high- and normal-clef music. The two categories of century to be more explicit about the intended pitch- transposition described above have merely merged. levels of their music. The substantially revised 1661 In other words, where some composers would confine themselves to of a reprint of Schfitz's Psalmen Davids op.5 (the Becker indicating 'obligatory'transposition Psalter),72originally published at Freiburg in 1628, 4th or 5th, leaving organists to make smaller adjust- strongly hints at such a change of approach, and ments of pitch to allow for vocal range and so on, here several errors suggest a last-minute change of policy Schiitz for normal-clef pieces suggests the smaller concerning the method of presenting the various adjustments, while for high-clef pieces he gives only for a transpositions."3 With 30 psalms in high clefs and over the 'resultant'transposition, example, 4th down 100 transposition instructions, these 158 pieces prob- (obligatory)and a tone up (adjustment),producing a ably represent the richest surviving source of infor- downwardtransposition of a minor 3rd. mation on this subject.74 Before finally focusing our attention on the music In the publication as a whole, which contains of Monteverdi,it will be as well to look back briefly at severalnew items, transpositiondown a 4th is indicated the evidence so far presented. FromZarlino (1571) to 35 times, with transposition down a 5th (as a second Cerone(1613) the theorists merelytell us that organists option) 17 times; each is almost always associated with should be capable of transpositions (often quite high-clef notation. Appropriately,transposition down complex ones), while Praetorius(1619) explains exactly a 3rd (which occurs 17 times, eight of them with high where transposition down a 4th or a 5th is necessary. clefs) is mostly a second option and is often marked The fact that almost all two-manual Flemish harpsi- chords before the mid-17th 'proexercitatis' ifor the experienced).75Adjustments of century incorporated a tone are also frequent; upwards 12 times and two different pitches a 4th apart emphasizes the downwards29 times. (It could be arguedthat the quite importance of transposition by a 4th. Keyboardand high incidence of transposition down a tone is related lute intabulationsfrom before 1600 show transposition to the rather high pitch of Germanorgans; Praetorius of high-clef pieces down a 4th and a 5th (and also suggests this transposition for music of a wide sometimes a tone), while organ continuo parts from range where the cantus is high.)76The purpose of these Viadana (1602) to Schitz (1657) reveal written-out various transpositions is explained by Schiitz in a note transposition down a 4th and instructions or recom- at the end of the bassus continuuspart: mendations for transposition down a 4th (notably in Anerio (1613)) and, to a lesser extent, a 5th. One of solcheTranspositionen bey Gebrauch dieses Werchleins(bevorab in denenhoch = gezeichnetenSystematis) offtermals nicht alleine Schiitz's last publications (1661) shows a greater hochndtigsondern auch der CantorumStimmen bequem. und variety of interval of transposition, but is wholly dem Gehordesto angenehmfallen. consistent with the idea of bringing high-clef writing In using this little worksuch transpositions(especially in down to the more normal written levels, a principle (or those withhigh clefs) areoften not only verynecessary but at least a practice) that was still familiar to Samber also comfortablefor the singers'voices andfall all the more (1707) and even Paolucci (1765-72).

500 EARLYMUSIC NOVEMBER 1984

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Monteverdi's 1610 Mass and Vespers: Voices (ex.5).Thus if the 1650 Laudatepueri is to be transposed Monteverdi's 1610 publication contains four pieces down a 4th, should not the Magnificat a 6 follow its notated in high clefs: example?79 The 1610 Mass, as we have observed, is notated in Table S A T B 1 such a way as to suggest downwardtransposition by Mass G2 G2 C2 C3 C3 F3 (-) either a 4th or a 5th. The ranges of the work would LaudaJerusalem G2 G2 C2 C2 C3 F3 F3(-) clearly seem to rule out the lower option because of Magnificata 7 G2 G2 C2 C3 C3 F3 F3(b) the lower extremities of each voice (ex.6). They do, a 6 G2 G2 C2 C3 C3 F3 Magnificat (b) Ex.6 Vocal ranges in Monteverdi, Mass In illo tempore (1610) (&F3)77 S A T B I 1 I I - A A AA0* 0- A FI There are no instructions for transposition and the bassus generalis is consistently at the written pitch- level of the other parts. Following Praetorius'sclear- The ranges in square brackets are those of the extra parts which appear in the Crucifixus (alto) and' final Agnus Dei (bass). cut rules, the continuo player should play the Mass and LaudaJerusalem either a 5th or a 4th down, and the however, match those of the 1650 Laudate pueri two Magnificats a 4th down. (In practice, smaller sufficiently for a performance at the same pitch as intervals of transposition, of a tone and a minor 3rd, that, i.e. down a 4th, to be plausible. This possibility are perhaps feasible for the Magnificat a 6 but would receives very strong supportfrom two musical sources. place the virtuoso obbligato instrumental writing of In his Esemplareossia saggio fondamentalepratico di the related Magnificat a 7 in wholly unacceptable contrappuntosopra un cantofermo of 1775 the eminent keys; for LaudaJerusalem, and perhaps even for the musical historian G. B. Martini quotes the Agnus Dei Mass, transposition down a minor 3rd cannot be a 6 of Monteverdi's 1610 Mass down a 4th,80and in completely ruled out.) But does Monteverdi'smusic in Brescia there exists an organ score by Lorenzo Tonelli general show any evidence of conforming to the from the late 17th or early 18th century of the conventions we have found documented and practised complete Mass, also a 4th lower.8' by Praetorius and others? ForLauda Jerusalem we have no such corroborative In the large posthumous collection of Monteverdi's evidence. Ex.7 compares its vocal ranges with those of church music (1650) is a setting of Laudatepueri 'a 5 other movements of the 1610 Vespers. To leave Lauda voci da Capella'78notated in the clefs and signature of the two 1610 Magnificats (G2 C2 C3 C3 F3 (6))and in Ex.7Vocal ranges in Monteverdi,Vespers (1610), (a) Lauda Jerusalem and other movements the same key (G minor). Here the basso continuopart (b) contains the instruction 'Alla (a) S A T B unambiguous quarta I I .1 i I Bassa'. Whether or not this was originally the com- poser's own marking,the suggested transposition was clearly considered reasonable by his editor (or at least (b) - by the user of the copy which the publisher had A AA (0-)A A (A acquired).A comparison of the written vocal ranges of * *& > * * this psalm and of those of the Magnificata 6 reveals a i ( I& W % Excluded are the motets (except the portion a 6 of Audi coelum) and, of course, the two high-clef predictablesimilarity and an identical overall compass Magnificats. Conflations have been made, since Monteverdi sometimes has more than one alto and bass part and also more than two tenor parts; but such doubles tend to move in the same range. Ex.5 Vocal ranges in Monteverdi, (a) Laudate pueri (1650) and (b) Magnificat a 6 (1610) Jerusalemat its writtenpitch is to expand ranges which S A T B are already wide for the period by a small but critical ? (aI I l amount; all except the tenor and second bass would extend above their ranges elsewhere in the Vespers. But if the psalm is transposed down a 4th, all its ranges

(b) i i I I (apartfrom two unique low notes in the alto part) are contained within the extremities of those found elsewhere. Ex.8, which compares these transposed In this and subsequent examples, the notes in parentheses occur once only. ranges with those of the Mass and of the 1650 Laudate

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Ex.8Vocal ranges, transposed down a 4th, in (a)Lauda Jerusalem Ex.9 Vocal ranges in Monteverdi, Magnificat a 7 (1610), (a) as (1610), (b) Mass In illo tempore (1610) and (c) Laudatepueri (1650) notatedand (b)transposed down a 4th S (a) S A T B (a] A T B I WeI I i I I I j 1 A-) -0- 0 - -

(b) (b) I I I I

I ' " *The (low) written d occurs only once but is sustained.

voice ranges are given in ex.9. The lower set scarcely seems designed to create the brilliant climax that we pueri,shows a similarly telling consistency. Although may have come to expect of the work, but it does here the evidence is suggestive ratherthan conclusive, accord closely with the ranges of the two high-clef surely LaudaJerusalem is intended to be performedat works by Monteverdi for which we have evidence of the lower pitch.82 transposition: the 1650 Laudatepuenr and the 1610 Despite the logic of these arguments,the readermay Mass. If the presence of a low A for tenor causes some well find that the evidence presented withers into surprise, one need look no further for precedent than insignificance when weighed againstthe auralmemory to the solo tenor writing in Audicoelum from the same of the Vesperswith all sections at their relative notated publication;83but such a note is rare in Monteverdi's pitches. He may be tempted to protest that Monteverdi liturgicaloutput. 84 (In his 1614 collection Caccini goes surely intended a new, high tessitura for his final much further: he includes 'due Arie Particolari per psalm, and that to seek mere consistency in range may Tenore, che ricerchi le corde del Basso' (two special be to miss his point. No doubt these low ranges also arias for tenor which explore the bass register), prompt other questions. What happens to all the combiningtenor and (low)bass ranges.85)The abandon brilliance and brightness of LaudaJerusalem at the low with which Monteverdi appears to call for (low) Ds in pitch? Was Monteverdi'spitch-standard perhaps much the vocal bass may cause rathermore surprise. But in higher than our present a'=440? The twin subjects of addition to those arising from transposing the 1650 voice-types and pitch-standardsin early 17th-century Laudatepueri and 1610 Mass, there are instances in five Italian music each require at least as much attention polyphonic worksfrom the i 640 collection86 and three as do the conventions of transposition, and this is from the 1650 collection."8More sensational still, with clearly impractical in the present article; moreover, dheirlow Cs and 16-note range up to d' are the solo they should not be allowed to confuse the issue of motet Ab aeterno88and the role of Neptune in II ritorno transposition, which is essentially quite distinct. Con- d'Ulisse.89Pluto's comparabletwo-octave compass (D- sideration of the topic may become easier, however, if d') in II ballodelle ingrate,90 a Mantuanwork dating from the different voices are not thought of in terms of the 1608, exactly matches the 1610 Vespers bass range modern SATBchoir. In particular,Monteverdi's altos with transpositions. Clearly such solo writing is of a at Mantua are more likely to have been of the usual different kind from that of 'Et misericordia'and 'Sicut Renaissance type (i.e. what we call high tenors) than erat', where transposition results in low Ds, but even the falsettists or castrati who superseded them, while such low, sober counterpoint is not without its the contemporarytenor corresponded in range if not equivalents, as comparison with the Gloriaa 7 (1640)91 in timbreto our baritone. Greateremphasis on natural- shows (ex.10). ness of diction and less on sheer power of singing, How does transposition of the Magnificata 7 affect combined with a general fondness for low sonorities, the ranges of the publication as a whole? Ex.11 gives encouraged vocal ranges lower than those familiar to the written ranges of all the polyphonic music in the us from the music of later eras. Vespers.With Lauda Jerusalem, the two Magnificatsand Nowhere is familiarity such a barrier to compre- the Mass transposed down a 4th, the results are those hension as in the case of the celebrated Magnificata 7 given in ex.12. The comparison perhaps proves little; with which most modern concert performancesof the in the transposed table the bass range is slightly 1610 Vespers close. Its untransposed and transposed narrower, the tenor range wider, while alto and

502 EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1984

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Ex.10 Monteverdi, (a) Magnificat a 7 (1610),'Et misericordia', at 'timentibus eum', transposed down a 4th, and (b) Gloria a 7 (1640),at 'pax hominibus voluntatis', as notated

(a)

A__

(b)

A

_ _ _ _-r r r -r .

-8 - . .- ' cu m_ I I F o-o

Ex.ll11Complete vocal ranges in the Vespers and Mass In illo soprano are much the same. In fact, we may well be as notated tempore (1610) inclined to favour the untransposedranges on account S A T B of their greaterfamiliarity from more recent music. It will therefore be of value to comparethese tables with a contemporary one, that given by Praetorius in Syntagmamusicum, ii (ex.13). (It may be tempting to * Here and in ex.12 indicate void notes extremities found only in the [(untransposed) 1610 Mass. postulate a higher pitch-standardfor Praetoriusthan

Ex.12 Complete vocal ranges as in ex. 11, but with the Mass, Lauda Ex.13 Praetorius, Syntagma musicum, ii, p.20 Jerusalem, and Magnificats a 6 and a 7 transposed down a 4th S A T B S A T B A () V) -A)A WJ - -- - • W W ,OF --* _ - * See n.92

EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1984 503

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions (a) a 7 Ex.14 Magnificat (1610), 'Quia fecit', transposed down a 4th, and (b) Gloria a 7 (1640), 'Qui sedes', as notated

Bass If

Qui - a fe - -(cit) 1td Bass II

Qui a fe - (cit)

Bass I

Qui se - des, qui se -(des)

Qui se des for Monteverdi,yet Praetoriusspecifically equates his (b) Audi coelum (1610), tenor I with that of Italy.)93In both transposed and un- transposed forms, two of Monteverdi'svoice ranges exceed those of Praetorius:his soprano goes lower and Om his tenor higher. Withouttransposition, the upper end - of both alto and bass is significantly higher; with - transposition, soprano and alto go lower and the tenor nes both higher and lower. (c) Duo seraphim (1610), tenor I This is also inconclusive perhaps, but consistency of range is a matternot only of extremities but also of a tessitura. Although more difficult to demonstrate on - - the page, the gains in consistency of the tessitura resulting from the transpositions are considerable. At - ter the lower pitch the bass duet in the writing Magnificat (d) Orfeo, Act V (Tutte le opere,. xi, p.148). a 7, for reveals its close ties example, with that of the Apollo later Gloriaa 7 (ex.14). The characterof the solo tenor writingis still morerevealing: although the introduction to the doxology of the Magnificat a 7 loses a certain can - tan amount of its presumed 'brilliance' by downward it now has much more transposition, in common with - - - coelo) Audicoelum, Duo seraphimand, significantly, with the ([dl (e) Orfeo, Act III two principaltenor roles in the same (p.93) composer's Orfeo. Orfeo (See ex.15a-d.) Orfeowas published in 1609, just one year before the Vespers.The opera had been performed

Ex.15 (a) Magnificat a 7 (1610), 'Gloria',tenor I ]a. ta bel- lez - za (f) Audi coelum (1610), tenor I

dGlori

sur - gens Ut au -

ri a - ro - - - ra ru - ti - lat

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions first in February1607 and it is very likely that music for mental parts in Monteverdi's output is the madrigal the 1610 publication was assembled, if not all com- A quest'olmo'a sei voci, concertato',97which has parts posed, over the following three years.94These two for two violins and two 'flauti o fifara'[sic]; the ranges, works represent the twin peaks of Monteverdi'sMan- however, are restricted and work either at pitch or tuan output, and from the moment of the opening lower and so are of no assistance to us. One answer respond's reworking of the toccata from Orfeo,the may be that the players were not in fact required to Vespers invites comparison with its secular prede- transpose at sight. Praetoriusexpects many organists cessor. One may reasonably conjecture that Monte- to preparefor a performanceby writing out a tablature verdi had some of the same singers specifically in for themselves from the parts (see above); might mind. Was, for example, the original Orfeo, the great violinists also perhaps expect to copy out parts, at Florentinesinger Francesco Rasi,95also the inspiration whatever pitch was appropriate, from the printed for Audicoelum? (See ex. 15e-f.) The conflated ranges of source? The 1610 Vespers partbooks may be regarded (a) Nigra sum, Duo seraphimand Audi coelum offer a as a compact repository of the musical text, from further point of comparison with (b)the role of Orfeo which parts were to be prepared if and as necessary. (ex.16). Although these eight partbooks are so arrangedthat a performancefrom them (with one voice or instrument Ex.16 Tenor ranges in (a) Nigra sum, Duo seraphim and Audi to a part) can just be managed, further copying is coelum and Orfeo (1610) (b) essential if any degree of spatial separationis required. (a) (b) (If, for example, in Ave marisstella the two four-part choirs are to be separated, the instrumental group(s) V* 6 for the ritornello(a 5) will be divided between them.) So it would have been a perfectly natural process for the instrumentalists a on their to write Such comparisons may well tip the scales back in (or copyist behalf) out extra where favour of the transposed version, especially as Praetor- parts necessary. An ius explains that in Italy a low pitch-standard well alternative procedure, which Monteverdi might below his own was often used: have adopted, is to present vocal partsat one pitch and instrumental at another. illustrated Sintemahletliche Itali an demhohen singen, wie nicht unbillich, parts Alreadyamply in connection with basso continuo this keingefallen, vermeynen es habekeine art k6nneauch der Text parts, approach nichtrecht wol vemommenwerden, man krehete, schreiye und is followed in Schiitz's Nun lob mein Seel den Herren:98 singein derhohe gleich wie die Grasemagde. the two vocal choirs are notated in high clefs (in C), while the two instrumentalchoirs are a 4th lower SomeItalians, not unreasonably,take no pleasurein high (in G), singing,believing that there is no artin it, andalso thatthe a fact that offers the clearest possible demonstration text cannotbe properlygrasped; they crow,shout and sing of (vocal) transposition theory in practice. A similar high up just like dairymaids.96 procedure is followed in the Mass from the Venetian composer Giovanni Antonio Rigatti's Messe e salmi Instruments and transposition (1640):99 while the two violin parts are notated in G2 Before looking for similarities or inconsistencies in clefs at a normal level (in D), all the voice parts and the the instrumental writing of Orfeoand the Vespers, we remaining instrumental parts (continuo and three obviously need to ask whether instrumentalists other 'viola'/tromboneparts) stand a 4th higher (in G)in high than continuo players would ever have been expected clefs (G2 C2 C3 F3), all without signature. to transpose. After all, keyboard or lute tablature These examples may seem to argue against the idea incorporates an appropriate transposition, a two- of instrumentalists transposing. So perhaps does manual Flemish harpsichordgives the player a choice Viadana'sFratres, ego enim accepi/Accipite et manducate:00oo of pitch-level, and an organist, reading from staff it is for 'canto solo over cornetto', and the higher pitch, notation, is specially trained in transposition to suit giving a range of d' to a", clearly suits the instrument voices, while a singer is simply unencumbered by the better. Yet as early as the mid-16th century we find concept of a fixed pitch. But why should a violinist Ganassi1o'instructing viol players in the art of trans- ever be required to play a 4th lower than the notes in position-for that is one of the functions of his front of him normally suggested? fingering charts-albeit mostly by a tone up or down, The only other high-clef workwith obbligato instru- though in one instance a 4th up. Virgiliano(c1600)102 EARLYMUSIC NOVEMBER 1984 505

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Table 2 normal clefs high clefs

up down up down

viol 2nd 2nd, min. 3rd 4th, 5th, maj. 6th, min. 7th cornett & 2nd 2nd, min. 3rd 4th, 5th, maj. 6th, min. 7th trombone cornett 2nd, 5th 2nd, min. 3rd 2nd 4th, 5th, maj. 6th, min. 7th flute 4th 4th, 5th - 4th, 5th recorder 2nd 2nd, min. 3rd, 4th 4th, 5th, maj. 6th, min. 7th gives comparable directions for players of the viol, three pieces in high clefs (G2 and C4) lie a 5th above cornett, recorderand trombone, but with a much wider the lutes, while five in normal clefs lie a tone above. range of transposition (see table 2 above). (It is The remaining item, LachrimaeJ Dooland,has one part worth noting that the 'easy' transposition down a (in G2)a tone above the lutes and another (in F4)at the 3rd, once mistakenly associated with high-clef nota- lutes' pitch. Thus Besard presumably expects trans- tion,'01occurs only in connection with normal clefs.) position down a 5th and a tone to cause no difficulty. Virgilianoalso gives 13 solo ricercaresfor a choice of The players most likely to have been fluent in the art instrument(recorder, flute, cornett, violin and 'similar' of transposition, especially down a 4th and 5th, are instruments). One, lacking any indication of instru- those cornettists, trombonists and others who played mentation, uses G2 and C3 clefs alternately and has a regularly with choirs. As maestro di cappella at St range of g to c",104while all the others are notated in Mark's,Venice, Zarlino(1573) must have expected this Cl, twice in alternationwith C4, both (6)and (-). Those fluency from his colleagues: that specify flute, violin and cornett have the range d ... tali Trasportationinon sono utilisolamente; ma sommamente to g", which suits only the flute (moreparticularly, the necessarieanco ad ogni peritoOrganista, che serve alle Musiche instrumentwhich Praetoriuscalls a tenor/alto flute in choriste,& ad altriSonatori similmente, che sonano altresorti di D, sounding an octave higher) 105 and is clearly im- istrumenti,per accommodareil suono di quellialle Voci,le quali possible for violin or cornett without transposition alle volte non possono ascendere,o discenderetanto, quanto i delli accommodati i detti upwards. (Transpositionup a 4th aligns these ranges ricercano luoghi propii Modi sopra istrumenti. reasonably well with those of the other ricercare.) At first sight, the phrase 'Va sonata alla quarta alta' ... suchtranspositions [up a 5th or downa 4th]are not only which appearsagainst three items in Salamone Rossi's useful but highly necessaryboth to everyskilled organist first collection of Sinfonie etgagliarde (1607)106 may also involvedwith choralmusic and similarlyto other instru- appearto demand upwardtransposition. However,the mentalistsplaying other sorts of instruments,in orderto matchtheir sound to whichsometimes cannot as pieces (two of which are for two 'viole' or two cornetts voices, go or as low as the of the modes and basso continuo) are already in high clefs and the high properpositions require when playedon the said instruments.'08 rubric is evidently a warning against (otherwise cus- tomary) downward transposition of a 4th. Thus, a These ideas are elaborated by Zacconi (1592): furtherhigh-clef piece, with a higher range for the top Etaverta ogni uno chesi comele vocihumane, possano cantar una part and no rubric, may be taken to imply downward cantilenaun Tuonopiu alto,& un Tuonopiu bassosecondo che li transposition. tornacommodo & che li paree piace,che cosi ancoragl'Istrumenti in un Tuono& hora The ability of instrumentalists to transpose is even possanosonar una cosa hora nell'altro,per che tuttiuniversalmente sono alti alle voci.Et cosi more certainly presupposed in Besard'sNovus partus rispeto rispetto quandoche congl'Istrumenti si voglianoaccompagnar le vociilpiu (1617).107 The first section consists of 12 items involving dellevolte per accommodarle, le si sonanoalle seconda,alla three lutes of which can be shown to be in G, the terza, (two alla quarta & c E in questo caso quelli che li vogliano Eleven of dances pero other a 4th lower). these, including adoprare.:se non ne hanno altra particularcognitione: almeno and simphoniae,also have two or three parts in staff sappianogeneralmente che i Tuoniharmoniali posti & collocati notation (in five instances for voices or instrumentsad dentroalle lorcorde naturali: si possanosonar un Tuonopiu basso: libitum).The apparent pitch of these parts coincides &che li trasportatisi possanofare alla quarta& alla quintacome si fully with that of the lutes in only two instances; all presupponech'egli da se stesso habbiada considerarqueste cose.

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Andeveryone [should] note that, just as voices can sing a fast wenigerdarein richten k6nnen, als wann es in seinemrechten song a tone higher or lower accordingto what proves Clave bleibt:und auch manchen solcher Tonus viel bequemeraus comfortablefor them and what seems pleasingto them, derQuinta als aus derQuart zu tractirenvorkdmmr auch oft die instrumentstoo'can similarly play a piece now in one Tone H6heder Orgelnes nichtanders leiden will: so hab ichs in seinem and now in another,remembering that universallythey are rechtenTono bleibenlassen, damitein jedernach seinem eignen all high in relationto voices. Andthus, when you wantto Gefallenund guten Gelegenheitdamit procediren und gebaren accompanyvoices with instruments,in orderto accommo- k6nne. datethem you mostlyplay [at the distance a tone, 3rdor of] as these andall other cantiones in the 4th etc. Andtherefore, in this case,those who wish to join in Now, Hypoionianmode must be (if they haveno furtherparticular knowledge of it)should at necessarily transposeddown a 4th or 5th-at the 4th the becomesfresher least knowthat you can generallyplay the musicalTones piece always andmore spirited, but it is rathermore difficult given in their naturalpositions one tone lower and the for the organistsand instrument- alists than at the transposedones a 4th or 5th [lower],as anyonewho has to 5th--I intendedto havethe instrumental choirs and the continuo considerthese mattersfor himselfwould imagine.109 partprinted a 5th lower.But as I have discoveredthat instrumentalistswho are not so very While in with voices theory instrumentalists working experiencedcan manage almost less [well]than when it stays would be familiar with several intervals of trans- in its properkey and also for some such a Tone appears position, in practice experience obviously varied from muchmore comfortable to dealwith from the 5th thanfrom player to player: the 4th-also the pitchof the organswill often not permit Denn wenn irgendein Cantorso denenOrganisten im unrechten anythingelse-I have thereforeleft it in its properkey, so Clave folget und dem singen den Anfang machet ehe die thateach can proceed and act as he pleasesand according to StadtPfeifferdarzu kommen und mit anfangen,oder ehe sie zuvor circumstance."' in denCornett oder Posaun stossen und den rechten Chormessigen Although some of Praetorius's statement seem Clavem dem Cantori geben sie sonderlichauff den may k6nnen rather the is clear and Cornetten oderGeigen, so vorsich zum Chor und rechtenClave obscure, opening crystal confirms gestimmet nicht fort kommen,weil ihnen die transpositio per the points made in Syntagmamusicum (see Secundam und Tertiamnicht wol bekant,Sintemahl es etlichen above). Three of the high-clef pieces in question call sawer undschwehr gnug wird,einen Cantum per Quartamoder for instrumentaldoubling of the vocal parts, while the Quintam zu transponiren und machen also wol gar eine remaining four have independent instrumental parts; Confusion, oderdoch sonsten erbarmlicheArbeit. all are in C major. It is difficult to imagine any Forif any cantorfollows the organistin the wrongkey and notational problemsresulting from a written-outtrans- initiatesthe singingbefore the windplayers join in andbegin, position down a 5th to F major, whereas G major,with or beforethey blowtheir cornett or tromboneand give the its sharp signature, may well have been considered cantorthe correctchoral key, they cannot proceed, especially less comfortable. It seems at least possible that a on cornettsor violins tunedto the choirand to the already misprint causes the apparent obscurity: if, after the correctkey, because they are not veryfamiliar with trans- words 'Bassum Generalem','in Quartam'replaces 'in positionby a tone or a 3rd;since for some it is painfuland Quintam', Praetorius would appear to say that his difficultenough to transposea partby a 4th or a 5th, and intended down a 4th created more they thereforecause quite a confusion, or at least do a transposition miserablejob.110 (notational and technical) problems for the inex- than an unwritten Evidentlythen, experienced players could be expected perienced player transposition down a 5th and was in case not low for to transpose by a 4th or 5th when necessary, even if any enough some other intervals were generally to be avoided. In organs."3 One important final will serve to show Polyhymnia caduceatrix et panegyrica (1619), Praetorius example that in too, a of again presupposes some facility with transposition on incontrovertibly Italy, composer Monteverdi'stime would instrumentaliststo be the part of his instrumentalists: expect able to transpose,at least down a 4th, just as Virgiliano's Dieweil auch diese und alle andereCantiones in Modo Hypo- treatise implies (see above). Hodie Pater jonicoin Quartamoder Quintam inferiorem notwendig trans- gloriosus (a 8) from a volume of motets Cesis poniret werden und in Quarta der Gesang allezeit by Sulpitia (1619)114 is missen: for fischer undanmutiger, den Organistenund Instrumentisten aber two choirs: table 3 shows the distribution of the etwas schwerer als in Quinta ank6mmt:so bin ich willens parts. Despite the 'normal' upper and lowest clefs gewesendie ChorosInstrumentales und Bassum Generalem (C1/C2 and F4), the piece is to be performed down a in Quintam inferioremgesetzet druckenzu lassen. Dieweil ich 4th; hence the unusually precise instructions. Choir I aberbefunden, dass nichtsogarsehrgeibteInstrumentistensich is for three voices (all female?) and 'violone', while

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Table 3 Ex.17Instrumental ranges in (a)Magnificat a 7 (1610),as notated, (b) Magnificat a 7 (1610), transposed down a 4th, (c) Sonata sopra Choir I Choir II 'Sancta Maria'and (d) Orfeo, 'Possente spirto' violin I violin II bass violin cornett I cornett II C2 il cornetto alla C1 [voice] per quartabassa, (a) ma pero sempre si sona su A l'ottava alta C2 [voice] C4 altus per il Trombonealla quarta (b) 6 bassa C3 tenor all'ottava C4 per il trombonealla quartabassa alta (c) AA A A F3 alla quarta bassa F4 Contra basso alla quarta per per il violone l'Arciviolone (d) choir II is purely instrumental. The cornett, and the A A A A vocal'tenor', effectively transpose up a 5th, one of the intervals of transposition given by Virgiliano for the * Elsewherein Orfeo(in the ritornellowhich opens Act V)the bass violinis takendown to D. cornett (see above), while the two trombones and the two stringed instruments play down a 4th. Rognoni (1620)117all write of a basic two-octave range of a to a" which can be extended upwards according to Monteverdi's a 7: Instruments Magnificat individual ability by four and even six notes. (Mersenne Just as we have conjectured that Orfeoand the Vespers (1636-7) gives the instrument's range as c'-d"',118 (1610) were written with some of the same singers in Bismantova (1677-9)119 describes a"-d'" as 'note sforz- mind, so we may imagine that perhaps some of the zate', and Speer (1697)120 gives a range up to c"'.) Yet same virtuoso violinists and cornettists took part in the surviving music of Giovanni Gabrieli,121 who had each work. Ex.17 gives the ranges of five of the at his disposal possibly the best wind players in Italy, instruments in the Magnificat a 7: (a) at notated pitch, never exceeds b"; and, typically, that note occurs just and (b) transposed down a 4th; these may be compared once in the virtuoso cornett writing of Praetorius's with their equivalents in (c) the Sonata sopra 'Sancta elaborate setting of Wachet auf. 122 In the solo cornett Maria' and in (d) 'Possente spirto' from Orfeo, Act III. literature of the early 17th century, where one may The consistency in range demonstrated by this trans- expect to find innovations and displays of virtuosity, position is quite striking; the consistency of tessitura c'" appears infrequently and d'" not at all; Marini is no less impressive (ex.18). (1617) writes only up to b",123 while Picchi (1625),124 Let us look in a little more detail at some of the Marini (1629)125 and Fontana (1641)126 seem to be the technical aspects of these instruments. First, the earliest to write c"' (Marini also has a c"' sharp). As cornett. Zacconi (1592),115 Praetorius (1618)116 and ex. 17 shows, the unprecedentedly virtuoso writing of

Ex.18 (a) and (c) Magnificat a 7 (1610), 'Deposuit', transposed down a 4th; (b) and (d) Orfeo, Act III

(b) cornetts

(c) violins

(d) violins 1P

N.

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions the Sonatasopra 'SanctaMaria' and also of Orfeotakes Ex.21 Instrumental ranges in the Magnificat a 7 (1610), (a) as notated,and downa 4th the instrument only to a". (An isolated b"' occurs in (b)transposed recorders trombones Deus in adiutorium(Domine ad adiuvandum),which in (a) flutes * any case is in origin a trumpet part a tone lower.) A A A A V Untransposed, the two cornett parts in the Magnificat a 7 are clearly anomalous. (b) In a transposed Magnificat a 7, however, the low range of cornett III may cause some disbelief (ex.19).

Ex.19 Range of cornett III in the Magnificat a 7 (1610), (a) as notated, and (b) transposed down a 4th flute of the early 17th century was the tenor/alto in D (a) (b) with a normal range of two octaves (d'-d'").135It was treated as an octave transposing instrument, and thus the untransposed writing of the Magnificata 7 would either exceed the normal upper limit by a few notes or, Yet the cornett III part of Giovanni Gabrieli'sequally exceptionally, have to be played at the lower octave. 'brilliant'motet In ecclesiisa 15127 has a similartessitura Transposed,the parts lie comfortablyin the upper half and range (ex.20). It may well be that in both cases a of the flute. On the other hand, it is true that, after tenor cornett is intended; just as the term 'viola' or transposition, the lower trombone part in this section 'viola da brazzo'in the 1610 publication serves without has a rangewhich mightmake us expect the designation further designation for two (or probably three)128 'trombone doppio' (as in the Sonata sopra 'Sancta different sizes of instrument, so 'cornett' may refer Maria),rather than merely 'trombone'136(ex.22), but as generically to the family of instruments ratherthan to with the violin and cornett families, a complete and a specific size. The tenor cornett was certainly more consistent nomenclature is not to be expected; after all, the lowest of the three trombone parts in the Ex.20 of cornett III in G. Gabrieli, In ecclesiis Range opening respond ('Domine ad adiuvandum')is marked simply 'trombone'.137

Ex.22 Range of trombone in the Magnificata 7 (1610, (a)as notated, and down a and in common than modern performances of late 16th- and (b)transposed 4th, (c) Sonatasopra'Sancta Maria' early 17th-century music might suggest,129 but low (a) (b) (c) playing on the treble cornett is also a possibility, especially as the doubling of vocal parts in Cl and C2 clefs had long been one of the instrument's main functions. Virgilianoseems to give a fingering forg,130 Next, the strings. In first position, the violin's Praetoriusrecognizes both g and f as possibilities,131 highest note is b", but an extension makes c"' possible and Marini(1629) writes g once and a several times in without shifting.13sThe violin writingin Orfeohas b" as the fourth partof his 'Canzoneprima per quatroViolini its top note, while c"' comes just once in the Sonata 6 Cornetti'.l32 These two notes occur only in Monte- sopra'Sancta Maria'139 and is used sparinglyby Monte- verdi'sfinal 'Amen',where the instrumentis doubling a verdi elsewhere in his output.140 The note d"' is even vocal line (the g twice and the f once) and in any case rarer141 and no higher writtennote occurs anywherein the player could, as Cesis specifies (see above) and as his surviving work outside the Magnificat a 7. By Praetorius may imply,133play in the higher octave contrast, in the untransposed Magnificat a 7 c'" without difficulty; such octave doubling is, after all, appears regularly, violin I has d'" in four of its five not uncommon in polychoral music of the time.134 obbligato sections (see ex.1 b), violin II has the note in The pairs of wind instruments that make brief two sections, and both have one e"' flat. I have already appearances in 'Quiarespexit' may seem to contribute noted an instrumental work of 1607 by the Mantuan little to the argument, as flutes (if indeed the terms composer Rossi requiringdownward transposition; its 'fifara'and 'pifara'here indicate flutes), trombones and violin part goes to written d"', a note which appears recorders of appropriatesizes can be chosen to serve nowhere else in the publication. Even a decade later in the music well at either pitch (ex.21). But the ordinary his op. 1 (1617), Biagio Marini,142then a violinist under

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Monteverdi at St Mark's, Venice, does not write cornett III be such). This in itself is surely suggestive, beyond first position; b" is his normaltop note and c"' as the similartransposition of any comparablycomplex occurs in just one item. But by the time of the same instrumental music (for example, the Sonata sopra composer's op.8 (1629), c'" has become the most 'SanctaMaria) would almost inevitably produce in- frequent upper extreme,while two pieces go to d"' and soluble problems. one as far as e"'.143 Comparableranges are called for by another composer with Mantuan connections, Gio- High-clef notation vanni BattistaBuonamente (1626)144and by Tarquinio It would be unreasonableto conclude withouttouching Merula(c1631-3),145 and it may be significant that all briefly on the question of why Monteverdi used high three composers had by then spent several years clefs in the first place. With Schonsleder (1631),150we working north of the Alps. Despite some apparent may well still find ourselves 'amazed to see the anomalies in Giovanni Gabrieli'sposthumous Canzoni majority of musicians customarily writing many of e sonate (1615),146 it would seem from a provisional their songs in them, although they know that if anyone survey of early 17th-century Italian string music that wishes to sing them they will have to be transposed composers probably did not begin to write for the downwards'.The subject is a vast and intricateone and violin beyond first position until sometime in the as yet there has been no definitive study. Matters of 1620s. Even then it was very much the norm not to compositional technique, notational practice, modal demand shifting; Castello's music (1621 and 1629),for theory and pitch-standard are all involved, and the example, never exceeds c"'147and even Merula(1637) four high-clef pieces in Monteverdi's 1610 Mass and stays within this limit.'48Against this background, it Vespers perhaps reflect some of this diversity. seems strange that Monteverdi (and his Mantuan The 1610 Mass is a rigorous re-workingof ten fughe players) might have been responsible for initiating from Gombert'smotet In illo tempore.Parody works of these revolutionary experiments in violin technique, this type almost always retain the notated pitch-level, only to abandon them almost wholly to younger and therefore clefs, of their models; Monteverdi'sis no colleagues. exception and we therefore need look no furtherfor an Only one other stringed instrument is called for in explanation of his choice of high clefs in that work. the Magnificata 7: a bass 'Viuolada Brazzo'.Here there In the conservative LaudaJerusalem the chant is are perhaps fewer easy points of comparison because presented in the tenor, first untransposed and later a of the general confusion surroundingthe terminology 4th higher; these are its two traditional written levels and nature of bass stringed instruments at this time. (the only ones that remain strictly within the gamut) But downwardtransposition has two clear effects on and it may well be that Monteverdi chose the written the part.First, it brings all the music into first position, pitch of his setting accordingly. In both the Mass and in line with all Monteverdi's other writing for the psalm, to have written at the intended sounding pitch instrument (notably in the Sonatasopra 'SanctaMaria); (a 4th lower) would not only have altered the given second, it gives the instrument a single, idiomatic C material but, more important, would also have intro- (almost certainly its lowest open string and in any case duced an undesirable signature of one sharp. a note that occurs in the Sonata)at a place where the The apparent incongruity of dazzling, up-to-date organ has c (ex.23).149 instrumentalwriting in imminently obsolescent high- To transpose Monteverdi's Magnificat a 7 down a clef notation may seem a central problem with the 4th is thus to remove several apparentanomalies (and Magnificat a 7. Yet, particularly if we are correct in probableanachronisms) from the instrumentalwriting thinking that Monteverdi intentionally reproduced without creating any new ones (unless the lowness of Gombert'swritten pitch in his Mass, an explanation

Ex.23 Magnificat a 7 (1610), 'Fecit potentiam', transposed down a 4th, (a) viuola da brazzo, and (b) bassus generalis

(a)510 EARLYMUSIC NOVEMBER 1984

510 EARLYMUSIC NOVEMBER 1984

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions may be that here, too, he wished to preservethe written pitch of his model. Analysis of the two Magnificats . the smaller six-voice ..... 'strongly suggests that setting ..... served as the basis for the larger one with instru- ments','51 and thus it would have been natural for Monteverdito his more elaborate work at the ..z.... --.VWIIIt-w compose ... of the earlier one. pitch ...l One puzzle remains. Why is the Magnificat a 6 in high clefs? Here the chant (Psalm Tone 1) is mostly Aii Alcattit a used transposed up a 4th, often in alternation with an & (mp, &in rfcula JecuNorum Akia ej untransposed version. However, the traditional alter- native level of the chant is not up but down a 4th. Has Monteverdichosen to transpose the chant up only for performersto perform it down? There are no obvious notational difficulties with the lower (performing) as there are in the Mass and LaudaJerusalem; the pitch $NO1 1 W,-q flat signaturewould simply disappearand the remotest !"!PO accidental would G rather than C. Either the sharpen .7-7 choice of high clefs was almost arbitrary-it was a perfectly common form of notation presenting no problems to singers or organist-or it was dictated by reasons of modal theory still obscure to us. (Interest- ingly enough, it seems that 'as the 16th century wore on interest in and evidence for modality of any kind in the polyphonic repertory increased rather than 5 The opening of Monteverdi'sVespers of 1610 in the original print.Cantus partbook lessened'.)152 Considerations of this nature may seem to conflict Hugh Keyte for instigating the performance and for his encourage- with the modernity and freedom of Monteverdi's ment and advice at all stages. I am also grateful to many other concertatomusic, but more were in- colleagues, especially Clifford Bartlett, Bruce Dickey and Graham probably they Dixon, for their assistance. grained in the thinking of a composer in his early 40s 2John Eliot Gardiner,programme notes for performancesin 1984 whose first publication153had pronounced him a pupil of the Vespers. In an interview for BBCRadio 3 (July 1984), Gardiner forward his to the 'such an of Marc'AntonioIngegneri. In any case he was un- put objections transpositions. First, academic formula seems to me foreign to his [Monteverdi's]nature'. doubtedly sensitive to the criticisms by Giovanni Second, 'it would involve using a lower cornetto'. Third,'I just think MariaArtusi of his contrapuntalprocedures154 and an it sounds dull and wrong'. 3on EX 2701293 express purpose of the 1610 publication was, according 4Theterms seem to derive from Giuseppe Paolucci, Artepratica di to his preface, that 'claudantur ora in Claudium contrappunto(Venice, 1765-72); see S. Hermelink, 'Chiavette', The loquentium iniqua' (the mouths of those speaking New Grove. unjustly against Claudio may be closed). SClaudioMonteverdi, Sanctissimaevirgini missa senis vocibusad ecclesiarumchoros ac vesperepluribus decantandae, cum nonnullis sacris It is perhaps ironic that one of the more conservative concentibus,ad sacella sive principumcubicula accommodata (Venice, features of such an innovatory publication should 1610) (title from Bassusgeneralis; the other seven partbooks omit'ad ecclesiarum have caused Monteverdito be so badly misrepresented choros'). 6A. J. Ellis and A. Mendel, Studiesin the Historyof MusicalPitch later on. (Amsterdam,1968); Mendel's contribution consists largelyof reprints AndrewParrott is founderand directorof theTaverner Choir, of his invaluable 'Pitch in the 16th and Early 17th Centuries',MQ, xxxiv (1948), pp.28-45, 199-221, 336-57, 575-93. His later'Pitch in Consortand Players,with whom he recordsfor EMI,and Western Music since 1500: a Re-examination',Acta musicologica,1, also a freelanceconductor Formerly director of music at 1/2 (1978), pp.1-93, covers much of the same ground but often in less MertonCollege, Oxford he currentlyholds a Leverhulme detail; all references to Mendel are therefore to his earlierwork and give the pagination of the 1968 reprint. Fellowshipand in 1985 will becomeartistic director of the 7GioseffoZarlino, Dimostrationi harmoniche (Venice, 1571/R 1966), new EuropeanBaroque Orchestra based in Oxford pp.309 and 311 sMichael Praetorius, Syntagmamusicum, ii (Wolfenbiittel, 1618, 'A BBCPromenade Concert (July 1977). The performerswere the 2/1619/R 1958), p.31, describes this procedure for enabling a tenor TavernerChoir and Players with various soloists. I am indebted to trombonist to read correctly for bass trombone.

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 9PietroCerone, El melopeoy maestro(Naples, 1613/R 1969), p.494 . S: o 16.& InAnitmentiti S'PXTVS 'oGirolamoDiruta, Secondaparte del transilvano(Venice, 1609/R 1978), bk 3, p.1 lIbid, p.4 12Dirutatreats the eight Magnificat Tones similarly in a later ---- - chapter: op cit, bk 4, pp.7-16. ... -~-- "Juan Bermudo, El libro llamado declaraci6nde instrumentos musicales (Osuna, 1555/R 1957), bk 4, ch.26, ff.73v-74, gives instructions for playing the modes up a 2nd, 4th and 5th, and down a 2nd and a minor 3rd. Later, Thomas Morley writes that certain transpositions were often required for ease of the singers (APlaine and Easie Introductionto PracticallMusiche (London, 1597, p.156). Jean Traitide laccordde Denis, l'espinette(Paris, 2/1650), p.19; facs. 1, &ryu )I):....1d"Ct if)-r & ed. A. Curtis tells how his ? (New York, 1969), teacher, the organist of ? i- the Ste Chappelle in Paris, Florent le Bienvenu (1568-1623), would r play the Magnificat chant in one key 'pour la commodite des ~TUE ? l: Chantres'but his solo verses in another, avoiding 'bad' keys. ... , "4VincenzoGalilei, Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna (Florence, 1581/R 1968), p.87 Paulo "SGian Cima,Partito de ricercari& canzoni alla francese (Milan, t1 1606), p.73; ed. C. G. Rayner,CEKM, xx (Rome, 1969), p.62 f~; 16A. and G. Gabrieli, Intonationidorgano .. libroprimo (Venice, 1593) 17Zarlino, Le istitutioniharmoniche (Venice, 1558/R 1965, rev. 3 /1573/R 1966), p.391 S8Galilei,op cit, p.87; see 0. Strunk,Source Readings in MusicHistory (New York, 1950), p.314. 19Rocco Rodio, Regole di musica (Naples, 1609), pp.86-8 (this edition also bears the date 1611 on its final page). The section in question, headed 'Comeper musica finta si ponnofare gl'istessi tuoni in altri luoghi',is an addition to the original publication of 1600. See Mendel, op cit, pp.153-4, who takes Rodio as providing evidence against the principle of the downward transposition of high-clef 6 Vespers of 1610: Sextus partbook in the is not music; fact, subject mentioned. Barnes,'The Specious Uniformityof ItalianHarpsichords', ed. Ripin, 20Cerone,op cit, pp.922 and 925 op cit, pp.1-10 21AgostinoAgazzari, Del sonaresopral basso (Siena, 1607/R 1969), 36W.R. Thomas and J. J. K. Rhodes, 'The String Scales of Italian p. 10; see Strunk, op cit, pp.429-30. Instruments', GSJ, xx (1967), pp.48-62, and J. H. van der Meer, iii 22Praetorius,Syntagma musicum, (Wolfenbiittel, 1619/R 1958), 'HarpsichordMaking and Metallurgy:a Rejoinder',GSJ, xxi (1968), pp.80-81; cited in Mendel, op cit, pp.140-41 pp. 175-8 136 23Ibid,p. 37AdrianoBanchieri, Conclusioninel suono dellorgano(Bologna, in 240nlyMorley England advises against such transpositions;he 1608/R 1934), pp.94-5. Cf. the interrelationship of the different- thus at least implies the existence of such a practice. sized instruments built by the Ruckers family; see G. G. O'Brien, 25VolupiusDecorus [pseud. of Wolfgang Schonsleder], Architect- 'loannes and Andreas Ruckers',EM, vii (1979), pp.453-66. onicemusices universalis (Ingolstadt, 1631), pp.66ff; cited in Mendel, 38Praetorius, Syntagmamusicum, ii, p.62 op cit, in an addition to his article p.230, original 39Praetorius,Theatrum instrumentorum (Wolfenbfittel, 1620/R 1958), 26LorenzoPenna, Li primialbori musicali (Bologna, 1672, 5/1696), pl.VI pp.188-96 40T. Beckerleg, 'The Fitzwilliam Museum Harpsichord',Italian 27BartolomeoBismantova, Compendio musicale (manuscript treatise, Musicat the Fitzwilliam(Cambridge, 1976), pp.24f Ferrara,1677-9: Biblioteca Municipale di Reggio Emilia/facs. edn 41See G. Kinsky, MusikhistorischesMuseum von WilhelmHeyer in Florence, 1978), pp.[84-6] (Del suonareSpostato) Coln:Katalog, i (Cologne, 1910), no.310. 28JohannBaptist Samber, Continuatio ad manuductionemorganicam 42The harpsichord by Hans Mfiller (Leipzig, 1537), now in the (Salzburg, 1707), p.143; cited in Mendel, op cit, p.140 Museo degli StrumentiMusicali in Rome,has a keyboardthat could 29Paolucci,op cit, i, pp. 184-5 and 231; iii, pp. 173-4 and 215; cited be shifted by a tone. See L. Cervelli and J. H. van der Meer, in Mendel, op cit, p.130 Conservatoa Romail piu antico clavicembalo(Rome, 1967). 3oQuirinusvan Blankenburg,Elementa musica (The Hague, 1739/R 43Praetorius,Syntagma musicum, ii, pp.63-6. Giovanni Valentini 1973), p.142; cited in Mendel, op cit, p.179 (see TheNew Grove)is known to have performedon this instrumentin 3"SeeMendel, op cit, pp.170-86. 1617. 32TheRussell Collection and OtherEarly Keyboard Instruments in Saint 44Giovanni BattistaDoni, Compendiodel trattatode'generi e de'modi CeciliasHall, Edinburgh(Edinburgh, 1968), pp.12-15 della musica (Rome, 1635), p.70 33J.H. van der Meer, 'More about Flemish Two-manualHarpsi- 45GiovanniPierluigi da Palestrina,Missarum libersecundus (Rome, chords', KeyboardInstruments: Studies in KeyboardOrganology 1500- 1567);Le operecomplete, iv, pp.1-25 1800, ed. E. M. Ripin(Edinburgh, 197 1/R New York,1977), pp.50-52 46ClaudeLe Jeune, Dodicacorde(La Rochelle, 1598) 34See R. T. Shann, 'Flemish transposing harpsichords: an ex- 47StefanoLandi, II Sant'Alessio(Rome, 1634/R 1970) planation', GSJ,xxxvii (1984), pp.62-71. 48Wroclaw,olim Stadtbibliothek, Ms.mus.CI.1238 (presumably 35J.D. Shortridge,Italian Harpsichord Building in the 16th and 17th destroyed in World War II) and Jacobus Gallus [Handl],Missarum Centuries(Washington, DC, 1960), J. Barnes, 'Pitch Variations in Vvocumliber III (Prague, 1580), no.9; ed. in DTO,cxix, pp.30ff and Italian KeyboardInstruments', GSJ,xviii (1965), pp.110-16, and J. 103ff

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions :?:ll::: 49BernhartSchmid, Zwey Bticher.Einer neuen hunstlichen Tabulatur •iiiiii iiiil ? Scvcb& ataets AL o A...... auff Orgelund Instrument(Strasbourg, 1577). Contents listed, with ''''+!iliiiijj details of transposition, in W. Merian, Der Tanz in den deutschen iiiiiIi Tabulaturbtichern(Leipzig, 1927). All the works are by Lassus, except i ...... for chanson Si me tenes f.14, and the ------Crecquillon's (RISM,154514), ? motet Hierusalem Richafort or luge (RISM15329), p.49, by Lupus. I~i ::-:I::::: iiiliiprIiliiiiiiriiiiiiiir 50JacobPaix, Ein sch6n nutz unndgebreuichlich Orgel Tabulaturbuch ?ijjj iiiiiijii~iiiiiji (Lauingen,1583). The index, listing transpositiondegrees, is reprinted • in Merian, op cit, p.116. The 24 motets are mostly by Lassus and Palestrina,with one each Senfl and Clemens non by Josquin, Papa. :::::i::i:::Ii:i:::iiiiiri~riiiii •iiiiii::!iiii!::::::::::::: In addition, there are three whose original I have been unable to ...... ?::: trace: two by Paix himself (Jubilate Domino and Domine quid multiplicatisunt) and an AveMaria by one 'Riccius' (perhapsTeodore ~i_v?~ei:!-e~i-:~u: i--_--:~i-ii illllj::_lllliiiillillililiillliiiill:liiiiil~l:1i:::Iliiiil:::iliiii : Riccio). Although the transposition degree of these three is known, the original clefs are not, so they are omitted from the statistics. (One is untransposed, one down a 4th and one down a 5th.) 51Emanuel Adriaenssen, Pratummusicum (Antwerp, 1584/R Buren, 1977);partly ed. in Monumenta musicae belgicae, (Antwerp,1966). iiiiiibiii ;iii~iii ii?-i'i-iiiiiii ::::::::::: Contents listed in H. M. Brown,Instrumental Music Printed Before 1600.: a Bibliography(Cambridge, Mass., 1965), pp.334-7 (15846). The 27 :,::::vi U01a d bra :I items discussed below are nos.6-32 in Brown.Adriaenssen prints a 7Ve p rofii:: 1610:=: :i-~,'-~;riAl:r~rtu: partbook'f~fl'S~~~~~l?I? lute intabulation and the top and bottom parts of 27 madrigalsand c4- chansons. Those which I have checked (nos.6-8, 10-11, 14, 16, 21- 2, 24-5, retain their clefs, so it seems that the 27-31) original likely nc d ad uuan d others do. There are 15 with clefs Cl and F4 (i.e. normal clefs); of these, 14 have the lute part at the same pitch (assuming a lute in G Om...... tuning) and one has the lute a tone higher. (It could be argued that this is to avoid the difficulty of playing a piece in F on an instrument with a bottom string G; but elsewhere Adriaenssen uses a seventh course.) There are ten with high clefs (eight have G2 and F3 and two have G2 and C4):all are transposed downwards.Two (both with flat signatures)are transposed down a tone; both are in G minor, so there would have been difficulties in keeping the bass notes on the 7 Vespers of 1610: Altus partbook instrument, had they been put down a 4th into D minor. Two (both informationon clefs and organtransposition adequate enough to be without flat signatures)are transposed down a 5th. Six aretransposed helpful.) down a 4th (three with a flat and three without). In addition, there is 56(Rome,1613), no.42, Tanto tempore,for two altos (C2(b))and one with Cl and C4 clefs, which goes down a 4th, and one (Lassus's no. 157, Quisequitur me, fortwo tenors (C3(b)) popular Susannun jour),using G2 and C4 clefs, which goes down a 57Supermagnae matris divino carmine Magnificat (Innsbruck, 1614), tone. no.3; Magnificat'Laudansexultans' a 8 (based on a motet by Giovanni The rest of the publication clearly shows that high-clef pieces are Croce); ed. H. Junkermann in J Stadlmayr:Selected Magnificats, lowered, though it offers no examples of transposition down a 5th. A Recent Researches in the Music of the BaroqueEra, xxxv (Madison, group of three-voice works mostly in Cl, C2 or C3, and C4 clefs is Wisc., 1980), pp.74-105. The clefs of the voice parts are G2 C2 C3 transposed down a tone, though two examples with a G2 clef go F3(b)for each of the two choirs. down a 4th; the two famous pieces by Hubert Waelrant for four 58Schiitz,Psalmen Davids (Dresden, 1619), no. 13; SaimtlicheWerhe voices and four lutes, in normal clefs, are untransposed if we (Leipzig, 1885-94, 1909, 1927/R 1968-73), ii, p.180 assume lutes in G, F, D and C, or tip a tone if the lutes are in A, G, F 59Andreaand Giovanni Gabrieli, Concerti... continentimusica di and D. The two settings for two lutes a tone apart (nos.33 and 34) chiesa,madrigali, & altro (Venice, 1587) require instruments in A and G to give the expected transposition of 60(Dresden,1636); SdmtlicheWerke, xii a 4th down for the first and to preserve the original pitch for the 61It is not clear whether the inexperienced organist finds the second. Whatever the absolute pitch relationship between lute notation difficult with a sharp signature, or whether Schiitz is tuning and the pitch implied by the vocal notation, the intention to thinking of his difficulties with the 'bad' notes of a mean-tuned bring high-clef works to the level of normal-clef ones is clear. instrument. Diruta touches on the subject briefly (opcit, bk 4, p.16) 52(Rome,1586, rev. 2/1592/R Bologna, 1971). There was also an and Praetorius more fully (Syntagmamusicum, iii, p.81). edition of 1586 without the keyboard and lute versions. Nanino's 62(Dresden,1657); SdmtlicheWerke, xii; no.7, Meine Seele erhebt Jesu spes penitentibusand four other items from the collection are den Herren,is for four voices in the clefs G2 C2 C3 C4(-), with the transcribed in H. Haack, Anfdngedes Generalbass-satzes(Tutzing, basso in continuo in F4(#). 1974), Notenteil, pp.82-6. 63Thisis the only work in the set notated with a G2 clef in the top 53(Rome,1595/R Bologna, 197 1); contents listed in Brown,op cit, part; it is this clef which is the clearest indication, not that of the p.406 (15951o). Accordingto Mendel, op cit, p.149, Verovio'sGhirlanda lowest voice, which is F4 in seven of the other motets, F3 in three di fiorettimusicali (Rome, 1589) may contain similar examples. and C4 in one. Another work of Schiitz's to use this transpositional 5411primo libro de madrigali(Venice, 1600) convention is Also hat Gottdie Weltgeliebt (no. 12 of GeistlicheChor- which has voices in G2 55(Venice,1602; Lib.II, 1607, Lib.III, 1609). LaterGerman reprints Music(Dresden, 1648);Sdmtliche Werke, viii), combine all three volumes: A. Davidsson, Cataloguecritique et C2 C3 C3 F3 clefs(-), while the basso continuo has an F4 clef (#)and descriptifdes imprimdsde musique(Uppsala, 1952), no.517, lists the is transposed down a 4th. Five different intervals of transposition complete contents from the Frankfurtedition of 1626. The solo are evidently called for in Constantijn Huygens's anthology of solo motets from the 1602 edition ed. C. Gallico (Mantua and Kassel, songs, Pathodiasacra et profana(Paris, 1647); ed. F. Noske (Amster- 1964). (The transcriptions in Haack, op cit, are not accompanied by dam, 1976). Before each item the singer's initial note is given in lute

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions tablature, the fact that the is a bass despite accompaniment simply Sered.4fedrstnts~ip it TE NOR line in staff notation. Assuming a G tuning, 21 of the 39 songs are untransposed and a further 11 are down a tone. Most of the basses use F4; the remainder are as follows: F3 (-) down a 2nd O1Tmintad d andmd ffNsnto F3 (b)down a 4th ...... F3 (-) down a 5th C4 (-) down a 5th (x3) C4 (-) down a major 6th Pra4 &kdli & fpiriti uns vr. i oflp 64Seen.55. 65(Strasbourg,1611): cited in Mendel op cit, p.149 66Attemptsto solve this problem by making instruments with ---" -- separate keys for D sharp and E flat (and also G sharp and A flat) &n ,,,:+cmprmin &iduwn fcon. um A evidently date from the 15th century in Italy but seem to have been rarerin Germany(see Praetorius:Syntagma musicum, iii, p.81). The 1480 contract for an organ at Lucca cathedral specifies this solution (see M. Lindley,'Fifteenth-Century Evidence for Meantone Temper- 8V esesf1 0Te r ament', PRMA,cii (1975-6), p.37), and more than a century later Diruta(op cit, bk. 4, p. 16) records that 'In alcuni Organivi sono li tasti scavezzi' (In some organs there are split keys). See also Wolfgang CasparPrintz, Phrynis oder Satyrischer Componist (Quedlinburg, 1676), -- ch. 11, ? 12ff; cited in Mendel, opcit, p.230. Italianharpsichords with keyboardsof this type were quite common. As early as 1548 Zarlino (Leistitutioni harmoniche, p. 164) had commissioned one with 19 notes to the octave. 67SeeJ. Armstrong,'The Antiphonae, seu SacraeCantiones (1613) of Giovanni Francesco Anerio: A Liturgical Study', Analectamusico- logica, xiv (1974), pp.89-150. 68(Wolfenbiittel,1619); Gesamtausgabe, xvii. The original clefs are listed on pp.xxxi-xxxiii. 69Quotedin full below. 7oSeeabove. "(Leipzig, 1636); SdmtlicheWerke, vi, nos.7, 8 and 18 8 Vespers of 1610: Tenor partbook 72(Dresden,1661); Sdmtliche Werke, xvi (simple, four-voice settings apart from the probability of an uncomfortable transition from a of Cornelius Becker'sversification of the psalms, not the polychoral closing F sharp major chord to the ensuing antiphon or antiphon settings of the 1619 PsalmenDavids) substitute. (In the publication the psalm is followed by the Sonata 73Mendel'sanalysis of the revisions (op cit, pp.144-7) is un- sopra 'SanctaMaria', which opens in G major.) fortunately based on the misleading edition by P. Spitta (H. Schfitz, 830n the words 'aurora'and 'coelos', bars 14 and 22 SdmtlicheWerke, xvi). See S. Hermelink,'Bemerkungen zur Schiitz- 84Thenote occurs once in Selva moralee spirituale(Venice, 1640 Edition',Musikalische Edition im Wandeldes historischenBewusstseins, [1641]),in Laudatepueriii (Tuttele opere,xv, p.472, bar 127) and once ed. T. G. Georgiades (Kassel, 1971), pp.207-9 and 214-5. in Messa a quattrovoci et salmi (1650), in Dixit [i] (Tuttele opere,xvi, 74SeeU. Prinz,'Anmerkungen zur Neuausgabe des "Beckerschen p.73, bar 116); both occurrences are brief. When transposed, the Psalters"von Heinrich Schiitz', Musikforschung,xxv (1972), pp. 175- 1610 Mass has two Gs (Gloria,bar 42, and Credo, bar 34) and one A 81. (Agnus Dei a 7, bar 49) (Tuttele opere,xvi, pp.73, bars 86 and 121); 75See Praetorius'scomments in Syntagmamusicum, ii, pp.16-17. these are also brief. 76Syntagmamusicum, iii, p.82. See also Praetorius'sarguments in 85Giulio Caccini, Nuove musiche e nuova maniera di scriverle favour of a choir pitch a tone lower than the prevailing Cammerthon (Florence, 1614); ed. H. W. Hitchcock in Recent Researches in the (Syntagmamusicum, ii, pp.15-16; cited in Mendel, op cit, pp.109-11). Music of the Baroque Era, xxviii (Madison, Wisc., 1978), pp.64-77 "The tenor part uses F3 just in 'Sicut locutus est'. 86Gloriaa 7, Dixit ii, Beatus ii, Laudatepueri ii and Magnificat i 78Messaa quattrovoci et salmi (Venice, 1650); Tuttele opere,xvi, 87Bothsettings of Dixit, and Beatus vir pp.211-26 88Selvamorale (1640); Tuttele opere,xv, pp.189-94. Cf. the bass "Viewing the Magnificat a 6 in isolation from the other Vesper parts in Schiitz, Kleinegeistliche Concerte (Leipzig, 1636). music, however, a 'skilled organist' might perhaps be tempted to 89Tuttele opere,xii consider the alternativeinterval of a minor 3rd, as the alto part does 90Madrigaliguerrieri et amorosi(Venice, 1638); Tuttele opere,viii, not lie at all high, and the three lowest voices descend rather low. pp.314-47 8sGiovanni Battista Martini, Esemplare... ii (Bologna, 1775), 91Selvamorale (1640); Tuttele opere,xv, pp.117-77 pp.242-50 92For the bass Praetorius also gives an F which evidently some 8'See J. G. Kurtzman,Essays on the MonteverdiMass and Vespersof singers tried to reach, though without real success. He goes on to 1610 (Houston, 1978), pp.9 and 38. These late transpositions are name three basses reputed to have been able to sing E' flat (ibid, unlikely to have been affected directly by changes in pitch standard p.17). in the century and a half after 1610, when pitch seems ratherto have 93Ibid,p.15. The question of absolute pitch-standardsin the early moved downwards (by perhaps as much as a tone); it might be 17th century is, of course, an extremely complex one. W. R. Thomas argued, though, that such a change would have ruled out trans- and J. J. K. Rhodes ('Schlick, Praetoriusand the History of Organ- position down a 5th. Pitch', OrganYearbook, ii (1971), pp.58-76) have used the evidence of 82Thepossible temptation to lower LaudaJerusalem by a minor 3rd Praetorius's woodcut of pipe dimensions (Syntagmamusicum, ii, rather than a 4th can easily be resisted because of the prominent p.232) to propose a'= about 428 as his reference pitch. Recently, H. majortriads on F sharp that this would create for the continuo, quite W. Myers('Praetorius's Pitch', EM, xii (1984),pp.369-71) has pointed

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This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions out that the large majorityof Praetorius'sscale illustrations of wind Saoib~adentaggpair p.4. 4TV$ instruments correspond closely to surviving examples of about a'=460; this may be the standard of most Nurembergtrombones, which Praetorius considered the most reliable guides to his own ..:.:...... pitch (Syntagmamusicum, ii, p.232). This is quite likely to have been Omuintcad4ilawndnm mw4 i&M a roughly the same as Venetian pitch, but we cannot assume that it was therefore in use in Mantua too; Giovanni Battista Doni (Annotazionisopra il compendio(Rome, 1640), pp.181-2; Mendel, op ::I cit, p.236) differentiates (by suspiciously neat semitones) between laoria P.ati,&&Fil)o & tpitaufan4Siut cratinprinkpio the prevailingpitch standardsof Naples, Rome, Florence, Lombardy and Venice, from low to high respectively (see also above and n.44). 94See I. Fenlon, 'The Monteverdi Vespers: Suggested Answers to Some Fundamental Questions', EM, v (1977), pp.380-87. Fenlon &nunc & frmpr, -ei& d fclcu ora AmO- Allcku a - conjectures that a first performance took place in Mantua at S Andreaon 25 1608, but Kurtzman's cit, that May objection (op p.42) V1"e such an occasion would not account for the dedication of the Vespers to the Virgin is a strong one. zi. 95ForRasi as Orfeo,see T. Carterand D. Butchart,correspondence, MT,cxviii (1977), p.393. Marco da Gagliano mentions in the preface to La 1608; ed. J. Erber that Rasi Dafne (Florence, (London, 1978)) :- - - : I--- participated in the original performance in mid-February1608; for -4 _4. .. :- -. the date, see S. Reiner,'La vag'Angioletta',Analecta musicologica, xiv II (1974), pp.53-6. Gagliano's solo writing is much more restrained . To~w than that of Monteverdi,so a more restrictedrange is to be expected. 96Syntagmamusicum, ii, p.16. The translation of 'Grasemigde' is somewhat conjectural, cf. Mendel (op cit, p.112, n.45). ,: ~: :-::' ZTEi::'' ?klo OF T :0:~ o .4m 97Concerto.settimo libro de madrigali(Venice, 1619);Tutte le opere,vii, pp. 14-34. The violin parts go up to c"' (which, at pitch, would have been manageable in first position, with extension) and down to e'. i::::am 98PsalmenDavids (Dresden, 1619),no.20; Werke,iii, p. 101 Sdmtliche ...... ::- .. . - 99(Venice,1640): information from Jerome Roche o1oSeeabove. The original notation is with G2 clef (b);the organ partis a 4th lower but is also cued at the same pitch as the upper part 9 of 1610: if it is to be played with a cornett. Vespers Quintus partbook 'O'Sylvestrodi Ganassi dal Fontego, Regola Rubertina(Venice, 1620/R 1978), pt 2, p.[2] 1542) "1Marin Mersenne, Harmonieuniverselle (Paris, 1636-7/R 1963), 102Aurelio Virgiliano, II dolcimelo (manuscript treatise, c1600: iii, p.273. Later(p.275), Mersenne mentions that Quiclet and others Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale/facs. edn Florence, can reach two notes higher. 1979), pp.[98-9, 102-3, 105, 109, 111]. See also below. "gBismantova,op cit, pp.[108-9] 0o3SeeMendel, op cit, pp.129-32 120DanielSpeer, Grund-richtiger... . Unterrichtder musicalischen 1040pcit, p.[70]. This is an incomplete diminution on Palestrina's Kunst, oder Vierfachesmusicalisches Kleeblatt (Ulm, 1697/R 1974), Vestivii colli; editions in R. Erig, ItalienischeDiminutionen (Zurich, p.232 1979), pp.347-76 and Virgiliano, 13 Ricercate(London, 1980), p.72. 12'See the parts with designations in Sacraesymphoniae (Venice, The key and high clef derive from the original madrigal. 1597) and Canzoniet sonate (Venice, 1615). 'OsSyntagmamusicum, ii, p.22 12Praetorius,Polyhymnia caduceatrix et panegyrica(Wolfenbiittel, 106Salamone Rossi, II primolibro delle sinfonie et gagliarde(Venice, 1619), no.21 1607). Rossi, it should be remembered, was one of Monteverdi's 123Biagio Marini,Affetti musicali (Venice, 1617) colleagues at Mantua, though it is unlikely that, as a Jew, he would 124GiovanniPicchi, Canzonida sonar (Venice, 1625) have been involved in any church music-making. 12sMarini,Sonate. symphonie... e retornelli(Venice, 1629) 107Jean-BaptisteBesard, Novus partus.sive Concertationesmusicae 126Giovanni Battista Fontana, Sonate (Venice, 1641). This is a (Augsburg,1617). See J. Sutton, 'The Music of J. B. Besard'sNovus posthumous publication; the composer died c1630. partus, 1617', JAMS,xix (1966), pp. 182-204. 127G.Gabrieli, Symphoniae sacrae (Venice, 1615), no.26 108Zarlino,Le istitutioniharmoniche, p.390 128(Excludingits exceptional use for violin II at the start of the '09Lodovico Zacconi, Pratticadi musica (Venice, 1592/R 1967), Magnificat a 7.) I leave aside here the question of a'tenor' or 'small f.218v bass' violin (tuned an octave or a 9th below the treble violin), which I O?Praetorius,Syntagma musicum, ii, p.):(9 believe was common at this period in Italy and which must be the 111(Wolfenbittel, 1619), no.15, introductory para. 6; Gesamt- intended alternativeto trombone II in the Sonatasopra 'Sancta Maria'. ausgabe,xvii, p.110 '29Aninventory of the StuttgartHoflapelle in 1589 lists '4 grosse 12CompareSchuitz's observations above. gerade Zinken, 3 Tonos niederer, seindt in der Kappelzu dem Alt zu "'3Thereis reason to believe that early 17th-centuryorgan pitch in gebrauchen' (4 big straight cornetts, 3 notes lower [than the Germanytended to approximateto the highest levels known in Italy; previously mentioned 6 mute cornetts at choir pitch], to be used in thus, transposition down a 5th might have been more useful and the Kapelle for the alto part), (see G. Bossert, Wtirttembergische therefore more common there. See n.93. Vierteljahrsheftfi'rLandesgeschichte,new ser., xxi (1912)).Viadana, in a 114Motettispirituali (Modena, 1619).Cesis was a nun at the convent note in the Bassogenerale per lorgano book of his Salmia quattrochori of S Agostino in Modena. (Venice, 1612), recommends 'Cometti storti' ('crooked'cornetts) for "'50Opcit,.f.218v "6Praetorius, Syntagma musicum, ii, p.36 C2 and C3 parts in two of the four choirs. Praetorius, however, "7Francesco Rognoni Taeggio, Selva de varii pasaggi (Milan, disliked the instrument (Syntagmamusicum, ii, p.36):

EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1984 515

This content downloaded from 192.87.31.20 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:38:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Cornovel Cornettotorto, sonsten Cornon genand ist eingrosser Zinck Sc~bf~dnt~um$4 t J ASSV S baldwie ein S formiret unndist ein Quint Tieffer,alss ein rechtergemeiner Zinckhunnd wiewol etzliche meynen,dieser gebe nicht mehr alss 11. NatiirlicherThon oder Stimmen, und heinfalsett dri'ber:So befindetsichs doch denn als die Zinchen Thonvon anders, ergleichergestald gemeine 15. Siuud4f ti i p sich gibet.Aber weil derResonanz gar unlieblichund hornhafftig,so halt ich mehrdarvon, das man eine Posaun an dessen stad gebrauche. The corno or cornettotorto, also called cornon,is a large cornett, shaped ratherlike an S, and is a 5th lower than the ordinarycornett; and although some maintain that it has no more than 11 natural notes, and no falsetto above, this in fact not the case, for just like the ordinarycornett it has 15 notes. But because the resonance is quite unlovely and horn-like, I consider it better to use a trombone in its &auni & emper & i facd um Amcn. AIa place. .'4 The range he gives for the instrument (ibid, p.22) is c/d-d", while Zacconi (op cit, f.218v) gives the narrowerrange up to g'. '30Virgiliano,op cit, pp.[102-3] '31Praetorius,Syntagma musicum, ii, p.36 allcui AAua 1 132Marini,op cit (1629) 4 4 133Praetoriusallows certain alto or tenor parts to be sung an octave up by a boy (Syntagmamusicum, iii, p.158) and Viadana suggests performinga C3 part'con Violini all'ottava'(Salmi a quattro ~ft chori,(Venice, 1612)). -I,- reworkingof G. Gabrieli'sLieto Ich dankedem 7,Z 134InSchiitz's godeat Herrn(see n.58) the instruments simply double the voices, mostly up an octave, and in G. Gabrieli'sJubilate Deo a 10 (Symphoniaesacrae... liber secundus (Venice, 1615) a cornett doubles a lower part two octaves higher. 135See,for example, Praetorius,Syntagma musicum, ii, p.22. 136Therange in the other movement of the Magnificata 7 in which the instrumentappears, 'Sicut locutus est', is similar, but with some written top d's. 10Veser of160:s p 137Praetorius's'trombone doppia' is a lower instrument than Monteverdi's music requires, but he also describes the more 10 Vespers of 1610: Bassus partbook common 'Quart-Posaun',a 4th or 5th below the ordinary (tenor) trombone, with a normal range of over two octaves down from c'; (op cit, f.218), says that 'per artificio & giuditio' (through skill and this seems most suited for Monteverdi'smusic. (Syntagmamusicum, judgement) the violin's range of a 17th can be extended by 'some' ii, pp.31-2.) extra notes; it does not follow, though, that these notes would 138Thissemitone extension is shown by the figure '5' in the appearin compositions or even occur in performance(cf. Praetorius's tablatures found in GasparoZannetti, Il scolaro (Milan, 1645) exceptional low notes for the bass voice, above).(Similarly, Mersenne 139Bar49, violin II (opcit, p. 179) observes that 'excellent violinists ... can ascend each 140Forexample, in only three passages in Selva morale string up to the octave'.) 1411t occurs in one passage in Selva morale, in one bar in the 147DarioCastello, Sonate concertatein stil modemo. . libroprimo posthumous Messa et salmi, and just once in Madrigaliguerrienr et (Venice, 1621) and librosecondo (Venice, 1629) amorosi(Venice, 1638). The instrumental parts Malipiero prints in 148[Merula,]Canzoni overo sonate concertateper chiesa e camera... Act II, scene 3 of Lincoronazionedi Poppea(Tutte le opere,xiii, pp. 130- libroterzo (Venice, 1637) 34) come from the Naples manuscript--the 'autograph'has a bass '49ElsewhereMonteverdi writes down to C in the bassusgeneralis, line and blank staves above-so the d"' cannot be cited as too; the note was generally available on Italian organs of the time. Monteverdi's. 15oSeeabove and n.25. 142Marini,Affetti musicali (Venice, 1617) '•5Kurtzman,op cit, p.71 143Marini, Sonate,symphonie... e retornelli(Venice, 1629) 152See H. S. Powers, 'Tonal types and modal categories in 144Buonamente, II quarto libro de varie sonate, sinfonie,gagliarde, Renaissance polyphony, JAMS,xxxiv (1981), p.467. corrente,e Brandi(Venice, 1626) '53Monteverdi,Sacrae cantiunculae (Venice, 1582) 145Merula,II secondo libro delle canzoni da suonare (c 1631-3; Venice, '54See,for example, C. V. Palisca, 'TheArtusi-Monteverdi Contro- 2/1639) versy', The MonteverdiCompanion, ed. D. Arnold and N. Fortune 146(Venice,1615). There are 16 parts labelled 'violino', of which (London, 1968), pp. 133-66. four go beyond c'"; three of these are in the GI clef and have d"' as their top note, while the remaining one, evidently in the otherwise usual G2 clef, also has an e"'. Grantedthe loose terminology of the In EARLYMUSIC period and the youthfulness of the violin family in the early 1600s, 1985 one must at least consider the possibility that these parts were February intended for Praetorius's'Klein Discant Geig',tuned a 4th above the Jeffrey Kurtzman common violin (Syntagmamusicum, ii, p.26 and Theatruminstrument- will add some reflections on in orum, pl.XXI).Pace D. D. Boyden ('Monteverdi'sViolini Piccoli and pitch Violeda Braccio',Annales musicologiques,vi (1958-63)), the 'violini Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 piccoli alla francese' in Act II of Monteverdi's Orfeocould well be that instrument. However, Zacconi, in a slightly confusing passage

516 EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1984

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