Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643) was born in Cremona,
where he studied under Marc’Antonio Ingegneri,
choirmaster of Cremona cathedral. He served at the
Gonzaga court at Mantua from early1590 until 1612, and
then as choirmaster of S Marco, Venice, from 1613 until
his death in 1643.
Monteverdi published two collections under the title
Scherzi musicali, one in 1632 consisting mainly of solo
songs with continuo, and the collection which dates
from 1607. This was a period of both intense ...(+)
Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643) was born in Cremona,
where he studied under Marc’Antonio Ingegneri,
choirmaster of Cremona cathedral. He served at the
Gonzaga court at Mantua from early1590 until 1612, and
then as choirmaster of S Marco, Venice, from 1613 until
his death in 1643.
Monteverdi published two collections under the title
Scherzi musicali, one in 1632 consisting mainly of solo
songs with continuo, and the collection which dates
from 1607. This was a period of both intense activity
and great pressure for Monteverdi, the year which saw
the production of his epoch-making opera Orfeo, but
also one in which Monteverdi, underpaid by the court in
Mantua and nursing an ailing wife (Claudia Monteverdi
died on September 10, 1607), was experiencing great
unhappiness. Two years prior to these events Monteverdi
had issued another seminal work, his Fifth Book of
Madrigals, a set which clearly established the composer
as being in the forefront of radical moves that were
guiding music toward the new Baroque style, the seconda
prattica. In the preface to that book Monteverdi had
mounted a spirited defense of his radicalism in the
face of an attack by the conservative theoretician
Giovanni Maria Artusi. The subject again taken up in
the preface of the Scherzi musicali, which was written
not by Monteverdi himself, but his brother Giulio
Cesare. In this immensely important document Giulio
clearly defines the differences between the old and new
musical styles, which he terms the prima prattica and
the seconda prattica, naming the representative
composers of each. He goes on claim that the Scherzi
musicali includes several works in modern French
manner, which may be defined as the airy, dance-like
pieces which characterize many of the works in the
publication.
It consists of 18 works scored for three voices and
continuo, which according to the composer's preface are
intended to be played by three viols and chittarone (a
large lute), harpsichord or similar continuo. The
character of the collection is immediately established
in the opening song, "I bei legami," with its hemiola
rhythms, a type of syncopation much employed by
Monteverdi in his lighter pieces. Many of the songs of
the Scherzi musicali inhabit the same pastoral world as
the madrigals of Book Five; they include such popular
songs as "Vaghi rai" and "Dolci miei sospiri."
"Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti" (SV 251) is published
in the collection Scherzi Musicali, and in the
composer's Ninth Book of Madrigals (1632), most of the
piece is in the form of a ciaccona or passacaglia,
which uses a constantly recurring bass line. "Zephyr
returns" is an English equivalent of the Italian phrase
Zefiro torna. Specifically, Zephyr was the ancient
Greek god of the west wind that is so characteristic of
pleasant springtime weather. The verb torna means "does
return, is returning, returns." The pronunciation is
"TSEH-fee-roh TOHR-nah."
The madrigal sets a sonnet by Ottavio Rinuccini, the
poet who authored the librettos for the first two
surviving operas, Peri's La Dafne and Euridice, as well
as Monteverdi's lost opera, Arianna. The text concerns
the west wind Zephyr that brings Spring and its
attendant opportunities for romance, or at least
dalliance. Here, as in many of his madrigals,
Monteverdi's exceptionally fluid text-setting
skillfully subverts the structure of the sonnet so that
its poetic effusions seem spontaneously improvised
rather than constructed according to strict formal
standards. The catchy repeated figure of the ciaccona,
the springy rhythms, and the graceful but florid vocal
lines give the work an infectious exuberance.
Although originally written for voice, I created this
arrangement for Bassoon Trio.
PARTITION