Studies in Music, Words, and Imagery in Early Modern Europe (Variorum Collected Studies)

Characterized by an interdisciplinary approach, these essays highlight the relationship between music and poetry in Italian secular works of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, examine the role of images in shedding light on the cultural context in which these and other works came into being (music iconography), and explore the binaries and similarities of the arts in this period. Insights about early opera are complemented by discussions of accompanied solo song, or monody, both genres new to Italian music at the turn of the seventeenth century. Many chapters focus on specific images, ranging from the figure of Apollo and his significance as the earliest operatic protagonist, to an early eighteenth-century representation of a salon concert and its “ensemblisation” of events that likely occurred serially. Others include discussions and analyses of musical poetics, from Tasso’s influence on the Italian madrigal to Rinuccini’s authorship of the earliest opera libretti. Another focuses on history while narrating the circumstances under which opera came into being in late Renaissance Florence. Addressed in large measure to teachers and students, Studies in Music, Words, and Imagery in Early Modern Europe presents a range of subjects that broaden our perspective on the era. Certain essays take a specifically pedagogical approach, while others are more apt to interest music historians or those familiar with Italian versification. All are presented with a view toward making more accessible essays that do not fit neatly into one subject area but cross boundary lines between music, words, and images. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Introduction 10 Part I Music and Words 14 1 Opera Is Born: The Wedding of Music and Drama in Late Renaissance Florence 16 2 Music and the Arts in the Seventeenth Century 32 3 Music in Italy on the Brink of the Baroque 52 4 Apologia pro Ottavio Rinuccini 67 5 The Ending of L’Orfeo: Father, Son, and Rinuccini 90 6 Powerless Spirit: Echo on the Musical Stage of the Late Renaissance 131 7 Monteverdi’s Three Genera: A Study in Terminology 155 8 Tasso and the Italian Madrigal 177 9 Love’s New Voice: Italian Monodic Song 185 Part II Music and Images 212 10 Some Images of Monody in the Early Baroque 214 11 Glorious Apollo: Poetic and Political Themes in the First Opera 233 12 From Saint to Muse: Representations of Saint Cecilia in Florence 262 13 The Iconography of a Salon Concert: A Reappraisal 279 14 Conversation and Musical Style in the Late Eighteenth-Century Parisian Salon 296 Index 310 Early,Modern,Europe;,Early,opera;,Orfeo;,Madrigal;,Florence;,Medici;,Music,iconography;,Iconography;,Renaissance;,Monody;,Baroque;,Monteverdi Early Modern Europe,Early opera,Orfeo,Madrigal,Florence,Medici,Music iconography,Iconography,Renaissance,Monody,Baroque,Monteverdi