Venetian polyphony
The Venetian polychorality was a musical practice in the mid- 16th century in the late Renaissance emerged in Italy. At that time, Venice was a leading center of innovation in the field of music (see Venetian School ).
Origins of multi-choir music making
It seems reasonable to assume that the practice of multi-choir singing goes back to the antiphonal psalms performed by two choir groups responding with alternating choirs . Since the beginning of the 15th century at the latest, the practice has been handed down to use the odd-numbered verses e.g. B. of hymns in their traditional Gregorian form, whereas the even-numbered ones are to be performed in polyphonic form . Around 1430 the final transition to polyphony of both choirs takes place ( Ms. Modena Estense ). The responding choral singing finds its instrumental parallel in the alternating play on two organs , the positive standing with the singers in the choir and the large organ on the west choir of the cathedral and collegiate churches.
According to Gioseffo Zarlino , the purpose of polychoral in a technical sense is:
"In large churches in which the four-part voice, even if there are many singers for each voice, is no longer sufficient to achieve a great sound, but also to create variety in this sound"
The architecture of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice favored such music-making in separate setups through multiple opposing galleries, but the real reasons for the development of this music-making practice are undoubtedly of a structural nature.
Justifications in the philosophical worldview
In addition to musical motives, the awareness of the spatial dimension and also that of the expansion of this space, the visible and the spiritual world, permeates all areas of life as well as art at the beginning of the 16th century.
Become both signs and pacemakers of this altered consciousness
- the discovery of America in 1492 by Christopher Columbus
- the voyages of discovery Vasco da Gamas , Amerigo Vespuccis u. A. and the subsequent conquest of a " New World "
The changing worldview is evident in
- heliocentric world view of Nicolaus Copernicus , which he formulated in 1543 in his work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium and whose consequences are also reflected in the
- Defeat the dialogue of Giordano Bruno's “ Dell'infinito, universo e mondi ” (1584).
In painting , perspective is being rediscovered as an artistic medium.
The room-spanning dynamics of multi-choral music as a parallel phenomenon of a general spiritual tendency corresponds to this expansion of the space that takes place in this way. With the proportions and functions of the architectural space, the sounds of distributed choirs that encompass the space are combined; In the consciousness of the people of this time, music acquired an almost cosmic dimension as part of the well-proportioned universe through the express emphasis on its spatiality; The ancient harmony of the spheres and thus the manifestation of the glory of God in the sounding cosmos becomes the metaphysical root of polychoralism, the listener is so to speak embraced by this interplay of sound bodies distributed in space.
External conditions for polychoralism in the Republic of Venice
As an external occasion for such radiant music, the increased need for representation of the Catholic Church (the demonstrative tendency of the Counter-Reformation ) and the increasingly solemn ceremonies of church and public life in general, but in the Republic of Venice in particular ( Doge Antonio Grimani ), lead to ever more magnificent displays the power and wealth of the Doge Republic; The development is pushing into the spacious area everywhere and new ways are being tried out to fill the widened rooms with a sound appropriate to the splendid representation.
Invoices for the multi-choir works
As a result, works were created that included the room in which the music was made by dividing them into two or more sub- ensembles (so-called “ choirs ”), which stood at different points in the room and partly responded to one another alternately united in tutti passages and filled the whole room with splendid sound. Fra Ruffino d'Assisi, Cathedral Kapellmeister in Padua , wrote psalms a coro speczato for the first time around 1510-20 , ie for a divided choir or for two four-part choirs. With him there is already beyond the change for each psalm verse the change for each word or unit of meaning in the verse itself and thus the actual coro-speczato technique. Adrian Willaert developed this technique, especially in his eight-part Salmi Spezzati from 1550.
It is particularly advantageous to have several choirs in the same, mostly 4- to 7-piece. mixed cast or, to achieve a variety of contrasting effects, the cast of several choirs in different pitches.
Disposition of the multi-choir works
Since Giovanni Gabrieli , a differentiation of the timbres has been explicitly prescribed, for example by having one choir with strings and another with winds .
In the preface to his Salmi a 4 cori per cantare e concertare (Venice 1612), Lodovico Grossi da Viadana , who draws on Venetian traditions, most of which have already been tried out by Andrea Gabrieli , drafts an exemplary cast of a four-choir choral work as follows:
1. Concertatchor: the best singers (1- to 5-part), solos without instruments (or with strings), the figured bass is performed by the main organ and possibly an additional chitarrone ;
2nd main choir ( capella ): strong line-up (4 parts, no fewer than 16, but better than 20–30 singers) with instruments (strings, trombones etc.) and harpsichord for Gb.
3rd high choir ( Coro acuto ): 4 parts, any smaller instrumentation, with violins, violas, crooked horns & spikes , the upper part is not sung because of its ambitus, but performed instrumentally, the lowest part is the tenor, which the 2 Organ plays along
4th low choir ( Coro grave ): 4 parts, smaller instrumentation with "equal voices" from low alto to sub- bass (bassi profondi) , plus trombones, strings, bassoons , the bass is played by the 3rd organ
With Adrian Willaert , the 1st choir often combines the framework parts of the entire movement, while the 2nd choir is used to fill in the tonal space that has been opened up in this way. The later distribution of the voices to the different choirs and the ever larger choir disposition naturally result in an expansion of the tone range, the volume of the tone and the tone colors. (Choirs 2–4 can also be doubled at will by adding complementary listening ( Ripieni ).)
The total number of singers at San Marco around the middle of the 16th century is likely to have been 40.
Heinrich Schütz also describes variants of these scoring patterns in the notes on the performance of his great choral works, but also admits in the preface to his Sacred Choral Music 1648 not only a great variability in the scoring of multi-choir works, but even the division of works that are actually not designed for multi-choirs into different choirs :
"But it is not to be overlooked with silence / that this style of church music without the bassum continuum (which I therefore liked to name sacred choral music) is not always the same / but the number of such compositions actually for pulp / or to one / both of the full chore with vocal and instrumental parts / partly but in the form of being set up / which with better effect does not duplicate the parties, triplicates, & c. Rather, it is distributed in vocal and instrumental parties / and in such a way with good effect in the organ, even by chorus (if it is a composition of eight / twelve or more voices) music can be played. Of which beyderley genre are to be found in the present Wercklein, which was only published with few votes before this meal (and before that among the rearmost / to which I have therefore not let the text underlay); The sensible Musicus should note the figure of the same in several previous ones / and will therefore know how to properly deal with the employment. "
Important composers and theorists for the multi-choir style
The composers and theorists who are important for the multi-choir style are, with their most important works or theoretical writings:
| Kapellmeister of St. Mark's Basilica | Organists of St. Mark's Basilica | Other composers and important theorists |
|---|---|---|
| Adrian Willaert (~ 1480–1562), from 1527 Kapellmeister to S. Marco, founder of the Venetian School, 8-part. Salmi Spezzati , Venice 1550, Musica nova , Venice 1559 | Annibale Padovano (~ 1527–1575), organist at S. Marco in Venice, allegedly the inventor of joint concertos on two organs, from 1552 joint music-making with Girolamo Parabosco and Claudio Merulo attests |
Francesco Patavino (~ 1487- ~ 1556), Maestro di Capella at various cathedrals in Northern Italy, 8-part. Psalms and Komplete a coro Spezzato .
Fra Ruffino Bartolucci (d'Assisi) (~ 1490– ~ 1532), 1510–1520 Magister cantus at the Cathedral of Padua , 8-p. Salmi a coro speczato |
| Cypriano de Rore (1516–1565), singer to S. Marco, pupil of Willaert, 1553 Court Kapellmeister in Ferrara , 1561 Court Kapellmeister in Parma , 1563 Kapellmeister to S. Marco, 1564 Court Kapellmeister in Parma | Andrea Gabrieli (1510–1586), since 1536 singer to S. Marco, pupil of Willaert, 1566 2nd, 1586. 1st organist ibid., Teacher of his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli and Hans Leo Hassler , penitential psalms, Venice 1587 | Nicola Vicentino (1511–1572), pupil of Willaert, Hofkapellmeister at Ferrara , L'antica mus. Ridotta a. moderna prattica , Rome 1555 |
| Gioseffo Zarlino (1517–1590), pupil of Willaert, 1565–1590 Kapellmeister to S. Marco, the most important theorist of his time, Istituzioni harmoniche , Venice 1558 | Claudio Merulo (1533–1604), 1557 2nd, 1566 1st organist to S. Marco, from 1586 afterwards in Parma as court organist, 8 to 16 stg. Motets 1596, but especially important for organ works | Thomas Tallis († 1585), Spem in alium with 40 voices in 8 five-part choirs |
| Baldassare Donato († 1603), around 1590–1603 Kapellmeister to S. Marco, 12 stg. Psalms Venice 1584 | Girolamo Diruta (~ 1561– ~ 1610), according to Merulos one of his best students, after 1580 organist at S. Marco, 1597 cathedral organist in Chioggia , particularly important for the organ work Il transilvano | |
| Giovanni Croce (1557–1609), 1603–09 Kapellmeister to S. Marco, 16 stg. Fair | Giovanni Gabrieli (1557–1613), nephew and pupil of Andrea Gabrieli and pupil of Orlando di Lasso, 1585 organist at S. Marco in Venice, Sacrae symphoniae I 1597, II posth. 1615 | Orlando di Lasso (1532–1594), 1553–1555 Kapellmeister to San Giovanni in Laterano , 1562 Kapellmeister of the ducal court orchestra in Munich, including teacher of A. and G. Gabrieli, Magnum opus musicum 1604 |
| Giulio Cesare Martinengo , 1609-13 Kapellmeister to S. Marco | Vincenzo Bell'Haver (~ 1530–1587), 1586–87 organist at S. Marco in Venice | Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (~ 1525–1594), 1544 cathedral organist in Palestrina , 1551 Kapellmeister of the " Cappella Giulia " in Rome, 1555 Kapellmeister to San Giovanni in Laterano , 1561 Kapellmeister to Santa Maria Maggiore , 1571 Kapellmeister at St. Peter's Basilica |
| Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), 1613 Kapellmeister of S. Marco in Venice, most respected musician of his time, Vespro della beata vergine , Mantua 1610 | Gioseffo Guami (~ 1540–1611), 1568–1579 court organist in Munich under Orlando di Lasso, 1588 first organist to S. Marco, also organist to S. Martino, 10-stg. Sacrae cantiones , Venice 1585 | Alessandro Striggio the Elder (~ 1535–1587), 40-p. Motet Ecce beatam lucem for 9 choirs, Venice 1586, mass for 40 or 60 parts |
| Alessandro Grandi (1590–1630), 1597 Kapellmeister in Ferrara, 1618 maestro del canto to S. Marco, later Vice Kapellmeister, Cantiones sacrae , Antwerp 1639 | Giovanni Priuli († 1629), 1507 in support of G. Gabrieli's organist to S. Marco | Giulio Caccini (~ 1545–1618), with Vincenzo Galilei and Jacopo Peri, founders of the “ Florentiner Camerata ”, Nuove musiche Florenz 1601 |
| Giovanni Rovetta (1596–1668), a pupil of Monteverdi, 1644–1668 his successor as Kapellmeister to S. Marco | Giovanni Battista Grillo († 1622), 1619 organist at S. Marco in Venice, 12-part. Sacri concentus… , Venice 1618 | Marc'Antonio Ingegneri (1547–1592), cathedral music director in Cremona , there teacher Claudio Monteverdis , 7 to 12 parts. Sacrae cantiones , Venice 1589 |
| Francesco Cavalli (1602–1676), 1640 second organist to S. Marco, then successor to Rovetta | Tomás Luis de Victoria (~ 1548–1611), student and successor in office of Palestrina in Rome, 1587–1611 convent organist, head of the chapel of the imperial monastery De las Descalzas de Santa Clara (convent of the barefoot nuns) in Madrid | |
| Orazio Vecchi (1550–1605), 8 to 10-part. Masses 1590–99 | ||
| Luca Marenzio (~ 1560–1599) 12-p. Motets, Venice 1614 | ||
| Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (1564–1627), 100 Concerti Ecclesiastici , Venice 1602, Salmi a 4 cori , ibid. 1612 | ||
| Bonaventuro Rubino , Vespro dello Stellario , Palermo 1612 | ||
| Adriano Banchieri (1568–1634), student of Guami, 14 Concerti Ecclesiastici , Venice 1595 | ||
| Gregorio Allegri (1582–1652), Miserere with 9 voices, for a long time reserved exclusively for performances in the Sistine Chapel | ||
| Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672), 1609 studied organ and composition with Giovanni Gabrieli, 1628–29 2nd trip to Italy (Monteverdi, Venice), Symphoniae sacrae I 1629 II 1647 III 1650 | ||
| Orazio Benevoli (1605–1672) |
Influence on later composers
The Venetian multi-choir marks the final transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. Multi-choir composing and music-making spread rapidly across large parts of Europe, particularly through the impressive example of Gabrieli, who was widely emulated. The most important German composer who adapted the polychoir was his student Heinrich Schütz , who is also known as the father of German church music. Another outstanding example of multiple choirs in German-speaking countries is the large-scale, 53-part Missa Salisburgensis (probably 1682, attributed to Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber ). In the middle of the 17th century, the preference for multiple choirs was lost in favor of a more orchestral notation, which was mainly based on France. A remnant of the multi-choir lived on in the Concerto grosso , from which impulses for the baroque solo concert then emanated. In Georg Friedrich Händel one can also find the designation of individual, clearly designed double-choir concerts as “Concerto a due cori”.
Even Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for double motets , his St. Matthew Passion has a doppelchörige system. In Salzburg, where the Venetian polychoral tradition had a tradition, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote z. B. "Venite, Populi" KV 260 (KV 248 a).
From their preoccupation with historical models, romantic composers created works for two or more choirs. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy has a particularly noticeable preference for this setting , but also z. B. Robert Schumann (Four Double Choir Chants, Op. 141), Johannes Brahms (Festive & Commemorative Proverbs, Op. 109), Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger ( Cantus Missae, Op. 109), and Max Reger have composed works for several choirs that are more or less evident in this Standing up to tradition.
Double-choir compositions in modern times can also be found with Frank Martin (Mass for 2 choirs, In terra pax).
See also
Web links
Theoretical writings
- Gioseffo Zarlino: Le dimostrationi harmoniche. (PDF; 19.9 MB) 1571, archived from the original on October 10, 2008 ; accessed on March 8, 2018 .
Public domain scores by the most important Venetian masters of polychoral composition
- at the Choral Public Domain Library
Public domain scores by masters influenced by the Venetian multi- choir at the Choral Public Domain Library
- Works by composers who are in direct tradition:
- Student of Andrea Gabrielis
- Pupil of Giovanni Gabrielis
- Other important multi-choir works:
- Important double-choir works from later eras: