Curious and modern inventions : instrumental music as discovery in Galileo's Italy

Early seventeenth-century Italy saw a revolution in instrumental music. Large, varied, and experimental, the new instrumental repertoire was crucial for the Western tradition—but until now, the impulses that gave rise to it had yet to be fully explored. __Curious and Modern Inventions__ offers fresh insight into the motivating forces behind this music, tracing it to a new conception of instruments of all sorts—whether musical, artistic, or scientific—as vehicles of discovery. Rebecca Cypess shows that early modern thinkers were fascinated with instrumental technologies. The telescope, the clock, the pen, the lute—these were vital instruments for leading thinkers of the age, from Galileo Galilei to Giambattista Marino. No longer used merely to remake an object or repeat a process already known, instruments were increasingly seen as tools for open-ended inquiry that would lead to new knowledge. Engaging with themes from the history of science, literature, and the visual arts, this study reveals the intimate connections between instrumental music and the scientific and artisanal tools that served to mediate between individuals and the world around them. Italy in the early seventeenth century witnessed a revolution in the composition of instrumental music. Large, varied, and strikingly experimental in nature, this new repertoire constituted arguably the first significant body of independent, idiomatic instrumental music in the western tradition. In an age most widely known for its innovations in vocal music, Galileo Galilei explained that, in fact, it was instrumental music that was most effective as a means to “awaken the secret affetti of our soul.” In their new approach to instruments, musical composers were not alone. Instruments of all kinds stood at the center of changes in systems of knowledge in the early modern era. The telescope, the clock, the barometer, the pen—these were the tools of the natural philosopher, the collector, the patron, the early modern thinker. Scholars in the history of science have shown that in this period, the very notion of an instrument changed dramatically. No longer merely used to re-make an object, or to repeat a process already known, instruments were now increasingly seen as tools for open-ended inquiry that would lead to new knowledge. Although the instrumental music of this period has long been recognized as foundational to the Western tradition, the impulses that gave rise to it have never been adequately understood. This interdisciplinary study argues that the new instrumental music grew out of the early modern fascination with instruments of all kinds—scientific and artisanal tools that served as mediators between individuals and the world around them List of Illustrations -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Editorial Principles -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. The Paradox of Instrumentality: The Material and the Ephemeral in Early Modern Instrumental Music -- Chapter 2. Instruments of the Affetti: Biagio Marini's Affetti musicali (1617) -- Chapter 3. Portraiture in Motion: Instrumental Music and the Representation of the Affetti -- Chapter 4. "Curiose e moderne inventioni": Biagio Marini's Sonate (1626) and Carlo Farina's "Capriccio stravagante" (1627) as Collections of Curiosities Chapter 5. Instruments of Timekeeping: The Case of Frescobaldi's Toccate e partite . . . libro primo Chapter 6. The stile moderno and the Art of History: Artisanship and Historical Consciousness in the Works of Dario Castello Conclusion Notes Musical Works Cited Bibliography Index 'Curious and Modern Inventions' offers an insight into the motivating forces behind music, tracing it to a new conception of instruments of all sorts - whether musical, artistic, or scientific - as vehicles of discovery Offers insight into the motivating forces behind seventeenth-century Italian music, tracing them to a new conception of instruments of all sorts - whether musical, artistic, or scientific - as vehicles of discovery.