How One Learned To Ornament in Late SixteenthCentury Italy

Performance Practice Review
Volume 13 | Number 1 Article 6
How one Learned to Ornament in Late Sixteenth-

Century Italy
Timothy J. McGee
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McGee, Timothy J. (2008) "How one Learned to Ornament in Late Sixteenth-Century Italy," Performance Practice Review: Vol. 13: No.
1, Article 6. DOI: 10.5642/perfpr.200813.01.06
Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/ppr/vol13/iss1/6
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How One Learned to Ornament in Late Sixteenth-
Century Italy

Timothy J. McGee

Copyright © 2008 Claremont Graduate University

Numerous documents from the early centuries make it clear that ornamentation was
expected of all solo performers, meaning not just soloists, but also those who performed
polyphonic music with one person on a part. In spite of its omnipresence during the Middle
Ages and Renaissance, however, information about how novice musicians went about learning
the technique is somewhat illusive. For a present-day musician wishing to recreate it or to
understand how it interacted with the written music, there are several avenues that can be
followed. For the earlier centuries we can compare variant versions of the same vocal
composition, including ornate intabulations such as the Faenza codex and the Buxheimer
manuscript, which provide instrumental embellishments. 1 There are also occasional written-out
ornamentations of vocal music over the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries which provide a
glimpse of the extent and variety of the tradition;; we are fortunate that a few composers were
sufficiently obsessive to ornament their own compositions;; Alexander Agricola comes to mind as
a good example. 2 But there are no formal manuals intended to instruct performers about
ornamentation practices until the sixteenth century, and even those sources are not as helpful as
one would wish, since they offer information about what kinds of ornaments to use, but rarely
tell us where they are to be placed or how much ornamentation was expected in any one
composition. One would assume that much of that kind of detail was learned through imitation
and observation or taught by direct instruction from a master. It is surprising therefore, to read in
some of the manuals that by studying the material included in them, the skill actually could be
learned without a teacher. A close look at the instruction manuals that survive will give us some
idea of what might have been expected of both instrumentalists and singers, which can be used to
augment the anecdotal evidence of how one learned to ornament.

Before we take a look at that evidence, however, it would be well to look closely at the
different types of compositions that traditionally received ornamentation. Until recently most
general discussions of sixteenth-century ornamentation seem to have been based on the
assumption that prior to the introduction of a new dramatic performance style by Giulio Caccini,

1
Modern transcriptions in Dragan Plamenac, ed., Keyboard Music of the Late Middle Ages in Codex Faenza 117
(Rome: American Institute of Musicology, 1972);; and Bertha Wallner, ed., Das Buxheimer Orgelbuch, Das Erbe
deutscher Musik, vols. 37-39 (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1958-59).

2
Alexander Agricola, Opera Omnia, ed. Edward R. Lerner ([S.l.]: AIM, 1961-70), vol. 5.

2
there was only the single, universal type of ornamentation applied to every conceivable
composition type. That assumption was based on the uniformity of much of the available
material included in the ornamentation sources and in the written-out examples. If we look at the
instructions in the 1562 letter of Maffei, and the manuals by Ganassi (1535), Ortiz (1553), Dalla
Casa (1584), etc.,3 or the written-out examples in a variety of lute and keyboard collections from
the period, we find a fairly uniform set of ornamental examples, the very thing Caccini dismissed
with WKHSKUDVH³PHUHHDU-WLFNOLQJ´4 What he was referring to were the passaggi: quick-moving
ornamental passages intended to be inserted between written notes of a composition. In modern
WHUPLQRORJ\ WKH\ ZRXOG EH FDOOHG ³ULIIV´ ,QVWUXFWLRQV LQ WKHVH VDPH Panuals also describe
DQRWKHUW\SHRITXLFNEXWXQZULWWHQRUQDPHQWWKDWZRXOGODWHUEHFDOOHG³JUDFHV´DQGLQGLFDWHGLQ
the music by symbols. The popularity of both of these types of ornamentation stems from the
ease with which they can be supplied;; on the lowest level both can be done easily without
straying far from the written note. Once the performer gets the hang of it and memorizes a few
dozen set formulae²which is what the manuals all suggest²it requires almost no mental work
to apply them, and it has the superficial reward of dazzling the listeners.

Since Howard Mayer Brown has done an admirable job of analyzing and describing the
passage-type ornamentation instructions5 it should be sufficient here to summarize the approach
found in most of the sources. The usual procedure is for the authors to illustrate a simple interval
or a short melodic pattern, and follow that with one or many suggested ways for elaborating it.
The manual then proceeds to another melodic pattern followed by another set of ornamentation
suggestions. This format is followed for pages and pages, usually in a systematic way through a
graduated set of melodic patterns and modes. It was expected that the learner would not just
practice the illustrated ornamentations but actually memorize them to the point where they could
be inserted automatically when the particular basic melodic shape appeared in a composition.
The writers also encourage the students to pick and choose from the patterns according to their
own tastes and abilities, and to strive to advance to the point where they could personalize their
ornamentations by inventing their own riffs.

This, of course, results in a fairly sterile product: ornamentation patterns applied to
melodic shapes without consideration of the musical context. Just as important to the neophyte

3
0DIIHL OHWWHU SXEOLVKHG LQ 1DQLH %ULGJPDQ ³*LRYDQQL &DPLOOR 0DIIHL HW VD OHWWUH VXU OH FKDQW´ Revue de
Musicologie 38 (1956): 3-34;; Sylvestro Ganassi, Opera intitulata Fontegara, Venice 1535, trans. and ed. Hildemarie
Peter (Berlin: R. Lienau, 1956);; Diego Ortiz, Tratado de glosas sobra clausulas « Roma 1553, trans. and ed. Max
Schneider (Kassel: Bärenreiter: 1961);; Girolamo Dalla Casa, Il vero modo di diminuir, 2 vols., Venice 1584, facs
ed. (Bologna: Forni editore, 1970). For a complete list of the ornamentation manuals and a discussion of their
contents see Howard Mayer Brown, Embellishing 16th-Century Music, Early Music series I (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1977).

4
Giulio Caccini, Le Nuove Musiche, Florence 1601 [1602], Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era 9,
trans. and ed. H. Wiley Hitchcock (Madison: A-R Editions, 1970).

5
Brown, Embellishing 16th-Century Music.
3
ornamentor would be instructions as to where these kinds of riffs can be inserted in an actual
melodic line, and how dense should be the ornamentation of any particular phrase. None of the
manuals actually address those points at any length in prose, although several do include one or
more well known fully ornamented melodies, which serve as illustrations for the placement of
the stock ornament patterns. Lacking any detailed written analysis, however, the student is left to
extract the principles of application from the few examples, noticing where in a phrase an
ornament is inserted, and exactly which types of ornaments are chosen for placement in various
melodic or cadential situations. Ludovico Zacconi, for example, presents a single full example, a
motet Quae est ista, and states that motets are easier to ornament than are madrigals. 6 He does
not mention chansons or any of the instrumental forms, although it is clear that he intends his
ornamentations to be used in those compositions as well. Nearly all of the ornamentation sources
state quite clearly that they are applicable to both vocal and instrumental practices, implying that
there was only a single style of ornamentation to be applied to all available forms of music.

The increasing number of such manuals as the sixteenth century progressed is evidence
that little by little they were finding popularity as a source of instruction for both instrumentalists
and vocalists wishing to learn how to ornament, and these manuals were intended to augment
and possibly replace instruction from a teacher. Present day experience shows that it certainly is
possible to learn ornamentation from the manuals, as many modern performers have
demonstrated, and it undoubtedly would have been far easier during the late 16th century, when
there would have been numerous opportunities for a fledgling musician to hear competent
professionals exercise their craft.

There is evidence, however, that in those manuals we are seeing only a partial picture of
the ornamental performance practices during this period, especially in terms of vocal music. The
repertory they address does not represent all of the compositional types popular in Italy at the
time, nor was the delivery of all musical forms open to the ornamental practices found in the
manuals. There is ample evidence of a distinct Neapolitan vocal repertory from early in the
sixteenth century;; one that required a different, far more dramatic type of performance approach.
In recent years John Walter Hill and Tim Carter have written about the Neapolitan style and its
popularity in Roman courtly circles. 7 As Hill has discussed at some length, that style was the
EDVLV IRU WKH ³QHZ VW\OH RI VLQJLQJ´ EURXJKW WR )ORUHQFH IURP 5RPH by Giulio Caccini in the
1560s;; a style of delivery and ornamentation quite distinct from that applied to the repertory

6
³3HUFKHL0DGULJDOLRUGLQDULDPHQWHVRQSLXGLIILFLOLGHL0RWHWWL´/XGRYLFR=DFFRQLPrattica di musica (Venice:
Girolamo Polo, 1592, repr. Bologna: Forni editore, 1967), 64v.

7
See -RKQ:DOWHU+LOO³2UDWRU\0XVLFLQ)ORUHQFH,Recitar Cantando, 1583-Ácta Musicologica 51 (1979):
108-136;; and Roman Monody, Cantata, and Opera from the Circles Around Cardinal Montalto, 2 vols. (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1997);; 7LP&DUWHU³$)ORUHQWLQH:HGGLQJRIÁcta musicologica 55 (1983): 89-107;; and
³*LXOLR &DFFLQL¶V $PLULOOL PLD EHOOD 6RPH 4XHVWLRQV DQG D )HZ $QVZHUV´ Journal of the Royal Musical
Association 113/2 (1988): 250-273.

4
addressed in the ornamentation sources. 8

There are essential differences between the Neapolitan dramatic style of song and that to
which the riff-type ornaments were applied. The music that received passaggi can be
characterized as quite regular in its elements: a regular tempo which often is dance-based in
terms of rhythmic organization;; relatively short and even phrase periods;; and a clearly sculptured
melody. In contrast, the Neapolitan style is irregular. It has passages that are not kept at a
regular pace;; the rhythm of the melody follows the text and is often irregular;; the phrase lengths
are varied and often unequal;; and the melodic profile often has what we would call recitative-like
sections²repeated notes, and passages with limited melodic range which are intended to be sung
freely in order to express the text.9 What Caccini brought north, therefore, was a highly
developed dramatic performance style that demanded a different type of ornamentation, one that
he developed and exploited throughout his career. The style has been credited to him as its
originator, although he never claimed to have invented it. 10

Caccini was not alone in the North as a representative of the southern style;; throughout
the late sixteenth century and well into the seventeenth, there was continuing contact and
exchange of northern and southern singers, which was especially active among the courts in
FloUHQFH)HUUDUDDQG0DQWXDLQWKHQRUWKDQG&DUGLQDO0RQWDOWR¶VFLUFOHRIDUWLVWVDQGSDWURQV
in Rome. 11 Although the basic elements of the southern style seem to have originated in monodic
performance, by the late sixteenth century a number of composers had incorporated the style into
ensemble compositions. In his Discorso, Vincenzo Giustiniani highlights the two different styles
by noting that as early as the 1570s the style of monodic singing in Rome as practiced by the
singers Giovanni Andrea, Giulio Cesare Brancaccio, and Alexandro Merlo was quite different
from that applied to the music of Palestrina and others. He then goes on to note that composers
such as Giaches de Wert in Mantua and Luzzasco Luzzaschi in Ferrara had adopted some of the
dramatic monodic practices in the polyphonic music they wrote for the concerti delle donne in
those two northern cities. 12 His description of the style as adapted to ensemble performance by
the donne, is quite helpful in its presentation of the basic elements of the southern style:

³7KH\ LQFUHDVHG WKHLU YRLFHV ORXG RU VRIW KHDY\ RU OLJKW DFFRUGLQJ WR WKH
demands of the piece they were singing;; now slow, breaking off with sometimes gentle

8
Hill, Roman Monody, 1:119-20.

9
Hill refers to the st\OHDV³UHFLWDWLRQDO´,ELG75.

10
Ibid., 1:58.

11
See the discussion in Ibid., especially 1:25-48.

12
Vincenzo Giustiniani, Discorso sopra la musica, ca. 1628, Musicological Studies and Documents 9, trans. Carol
MacClintock (Rome: AIM, 1962), 69.
5
sighs, now singing long passages legato or detached, now groups, now leaps, now with
long trills, now with short, and again with sweet running passages sung softly, to which
sometimes one heard an echo answer unexpectedly. They accompanied the music and the
sentiment with appropriate facial expressions, glances and gestures, with no awkward
movements of the mouth or hands or body which might not express the feeling of the
song. They made the words clear in such a way that one could hear even the last syllable
of every word, which was never interrupted or suppressed by passages and other
embellishments. They used many other particular devices which will be known to
13
SHUVRQVPRUHH[SHULHQFHGWKDQ,´

That style, as practiced and promoted by Giulio Caccini, his family and students, was
highly respected and wildly popular, both in Italy and in foreign courts.14 In 1583 Giulio visited
the court of Ferrara where he impressed Duke Alfonso II with his singing and was himself
impressed by the famous concerto delle donne. This resulted in a request shortly afterward that
he add his style of ornamentation to madrigals written for the donne by Alessandro Striggio.15 In
1592 he was again invited to Ferrara to perform for the Duke and to coach the donne in his
singing style.16 ,Q KH KLV ZLIH DQG WZR GDXJKWHUV ZHUH LQYLWHG E\ 0DULD GH¶ 0HGLFL to
perform in Paris at the court of Henry the IV, where they were the recipients not only of much
praise, but also lavish gifts. They remained at the French court for approximately six months and
during that time had impressed the Duke of Lennox, who in turn invited them to London to
entertain the Queen of England. Permission to travel to England was not granted, and the family
returned to Florence, stopping along the way in Turin for a short time, once again to much
acclaim and many gifts. 17

It is clear that Giulio was not just demonstrating his talents on these visits, but also
teaching his style of performance to local singers. In a letter relating details of his 1592 visit to
)HUUDUD&DFFLQLWHOOVXVRIWKH'XNH³6LQFHKHHQMR\HGP\PDQQHURIVLQJLQJ, today he begged
me (this was the word he used) to favor him both by teaching his three ladies something with
these accenti and passaggi of ours and by writing a few diminutions on a favorite bass of his.

13
Idem.

14
)RUFRQWHPSRUDU\TXRWDWLRQVDERXW&DFFLQL¶VVLQJLQJVHH Warren Kirkendale, The Court Musicians in Florence
During the Principate of the Medici (Florence: Olschki, 1993), 154-8.

15
See Anthony Newcomb, The Madrigal at Ferrara, 1579-1597, 2 vols. (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1980), 1:56.

16
Ibid, 58.

17
TLP &DUWHU ³&DFFLQL *LXOLR´ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 4, ed. Stanley Sadie
(London, New York: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 769-75.

6
Thus for three hours I taught some Arie to these ODGLHVLQWKHSUHVHQFHRI+LV+LJKQHVV´ 18

On a more local level, in addition to the many Florentine court singers who were his
students, Caccini also taught in the community. He regularly visited the convent of
Montedomini to teach singing to the nuns, 19 and in a letter of 1597 he singles out one of the
nuns, Sister Clarice Baldovinetti, as being especially talented, and states that he taught her and
the other nuns i gorgiamenti²ornamentation. The occasion for his letter was to complain that
the Vicar had canceled his permission to visit the convent because the singing of the nuns had
become so popular that many citizens were flocking to the convent to hear them, and the
archbishop thought it was improper.20

More striking evidence of the popularity of the dramatic singing style can be seen from
the contest held in Rome in 1623 between two of the most famous singers of the early
VHYHQWHHQWKFHQWXU\)UDQFHVFD&DFFLQL³/D&HFFKLQD´DQGWKH5RPDQWUDLQHGVLQJHU $GULDQD
%DVLOH³/¶$GULDQD´7KHUHZDVDGLIIerence of opinion among members of the Medici circle as
to which of the two singers was the more talented. To resolve the dispute the poet Giovanni
Battista Marini, a member of the circle, produced an ottava rima on the subject of Adonus, and
the two sopranos were invited on successive evenings to demonstrate their talents before a
distinguished audience by improvising both melody and accompaniment without having seen the
WH[WEHIRUHKDQG7KHMXGJHPHQWZDVWKDW³/D&HFFKLQD´KDGWKHVXSHULRUPXVLFDOXQGHUVtanding
(GLPROWRSLVDSHUHHSDGURQDGHOO¶DUWHZKHUHDV³/¶$GULDQD´KDGDEHWWHUYRLFHDQGDELOLW\WR
express (alquanto migliore voce et artifiziosa negli affetti).21 The deciding factor, which caused
the listeners to declare Francesca Caccini the winner, was her ability to match her performance to
WKHWH[WWKHHOHPHQWWKDWZDVXVXDOO\VLQJOHGRXWWRSUDLVHKHUIDWKHU¶VSHUIRUPDQFHV

:H GR KDYH VRPH UHIHUHQFHV DV WR KRZRQH PLJKW OHDUQ WR SHUIRUP LQ *LXOLR &DFFLQL¶V
style. The introduction in his second volume of songs in 1614 states that he has added to his
publication ornamentation not often seen in print. Because of this, he claims the edition is so

18
Quoted in Newcomb, The Madrigal at Ferrara, 1:58.

19
Vocal and instrumental performance by nuns in a convent was apparently not unusual. Bottrigari praises the
performances of nuns in Ferrara at the church of St. Vito, and singles out their talented maestra who is also a nun,
and although he says that the performance is unusual because of its quality, he does not imply that the practice itself
is unusual. Hercole Bottrigari, Il Desiderio (1594, repr., Forni editore Bologna, 1969);; Translation of second ed.
1599 by Carol MacClintock ([n.p.]: AIM 1962), 59-61.

20
&DFFLQL¶V OHWWHU LV IRXQG LQ $6) 0HGLFHo filza 882, fol. 456, Giulio Caccini in Firenze to Belisario Vinta 1
December, 1597. Reproduced in Warren Kirkendale, The Court Musicians in Florence During the Principate of the
Medici, 132. Also see ASF: Mediceo, filza 882, fol. 457, in which the vicar replies and explains the problem.

21
The information is included in a letter from Antonio Galli to the Medici court, 11 November 1623, ASF:
0HGLFHR ILO]D $ SRUWLRQ RI LW LV SULQWHG LQ (OOHQ 5RVDQG ³%DUEDUD 6WUR]]L virtuosissima cantatrice: the
ComSRVHU¶VYRLFH´JAMS 31 (1978): 241-81, at 254, n. 31.
7
KHOSIXOD VLQJHUFDQ OHDUQWKHVW\OHZLWKRXWIXUWKHUDVVLVWDQFH IURP KLP ³LW LVVKRZQWKDWZLWK

this new way, and practice in it, all the delicacies of this art can be learned without having to
hear the composer sing;; adorned with diminutions, tremolos, trills, and new effects for the
WKRURXJK WUDLQLQJ RI DQ\RQH ZLVKLQJ WR EH DQ H[SHUW LQ VROR VRQJ´ 22 Since the material in the
second publication does not differ from that of his first in 1602, Wiley Hitchcock has argued
convincingly that he was referring to the earlier collection of songs as well, 23 allowing us to use
information in both sources in order to identify the elements of his style.

)URP &DFFLQL¶V VWDWHPHQWZHFDQ LQIHUWKDWLQ KLVRSLQLRQSUHYLRXVWRWKHSXEOLFDWLRQV
the only way one could learn his style of interpretation was to study directly with the master, and
in fact, there is some evidence that this was the way things were done, as is clear in several of the
DQHFGRWHVUHSRUWHGDERYH&HUWDLQO\&DFFLQL¶VZLYHVGDXJKWHUVDQGVRQOHDUQHGWKHVW\OHLQWKLV
manner. He also claims to have taught his style to Vittoria Archilei, another of the Florentine
court virtuosi shared with Cardinal Montalto, as well as numerous other singers. 24 His fame as a
teacher was such that in 1603, as a part of the employment negotiations between the Gonzaga
court in Mantua and the father of the thirteen year-old sRSUDQR &DWHULQD 0DUWLQHOOL ³/D
5RPDQLQD´LQ5RPHLWZDVSURSRVHGWKDWVKHILUVWWUDYHOWR)ORUHQFHDQGVWD\ZLWKWKH&DFFLQLV
for a while in order to learn first-hand from the master.25 The arrangements were eventually
changed and she went directly to Mantua to stay with Claudio Monteverdi and his wife, but the
original arrangement tells us again that direct contact with the teacher was considered to be
important in order to learn the dramatic style of singing.

We also have information regarding the way in which Ginevra Mazieri learned her part as
La Tragedia for the 1600 presentation of Euridice. Although the bulk of the music heard during
the first performance of that opera was written by Jacopo Peri, Giulio Caccini had insisted that
all singers who were under his control would sing the music that he wrote. That would certainly
include Ginevra, who did not study directly with the master himself, but with his son, Pompeo
Caccini. The part Ginevra was to learn, the Prologue, consists of exactly twelve bars of music, to
which she was to set seven four-line verses of text. Pompeo was sent to her home in the months
preceding the October performance in order to instruct her in the proper manner of presenting it.

22
³Nelle quali si dimostra, che da tal Maniera di scrivere con la pratica di essa si possano apprendere tutte le
VTXLVLWH]]HGLTXHVW$UWHVHQ]DQHFHVVLWjGHO&DQWRGHOO¶$XWRUH$GRUQDWHGL3DVVDJJLTrilli, Gruppi, e nuovi affetti
SHU YHUR HVHUFL]LR GL TXDOXQTXH YRJOLD SURIHVVDUH GL FDQWDU VROR´ )URP WKH WLWOH SDJH RI WKH SXEOLFDWLRQ
Reproduced in Giulio Caccini, Nuove Musiche e Nuova Maniera di Scriverle (1614), Recent Researches in the
Music of the Baroque Era 28, ed. H. Wiley Hitchcock (Madison: A-R Editions, 1978).

23
Idem.

24
For more discussion of singers shared between Florence and the court of Cardinal Montalto see Hill, Monody,
1:42-7.

25
See Edmund 6WUDLQFKDPSV³7KH/LIHDQG'HDWKRI&DWHULQD0DUWLQHOOLÉarly Music History 5 (1986): 159-60.
8
There is no record of exactly how many hours were required to teach the young Florentine singer
WKLV VHHPLQJO\ VPDOO TXDQWLW\ RI PXVLF LQ *LQHYUD¶V PRWKHU¶V ODZVXLW LW LV FODLPHG WKDW ³KH
>3RPSHR@KDGIUHTXHQWHGKHUKRXVH IRUDORQJWLPH´,QWKHFRXUVHRIWKHVLQJLQJ LQVWUXFWLRQV
however, the two young people became enamored of one another, which resulted in Pompeo
being sued for paternity in February of 1601, four months after the performance. 26

,IZHEHOLHYH&DFFLQL¶VVWDWHPHQWRQFHKLVPDWHULDOZDVDYDLODEOHLQSULQWLWZDVQR
longer necessary to consult a teacher in order to learn his performance style. A close look at the
music in both the 1602 and 1614 publications, however, does not inspire much confidence in his
claim. The printed music actually contains only a small quantity of the details necessary to
SHUIRUPLQDZD\WKDWLVGHVFULEHGLQWKHFRQWHPSRUDU\DFFRXQWVDQGLQ&DFFLQL¶VRZQUHPDUNV
about the style. What has been added to the songs in the 1602 collection is mainly the notation
of short, irregular rhythmic ornaments for selected syllables (mostly the penultimate syllable of a
text phrase), along with a few extended passaggi, and a few symbols for trillo (rapid reiteration
of a single pitch) or gruppo (a modern trill). In the second collection there is an increase in the
quantity of short rhythmic ornaments and short passaggi, as well as more variety of rhythmic
groupings within them. He also includes a few cascate, a quick-moving descending ornament
that was discussed, but not notated in the earlier collection. In neither collection, however, does
he indicate the other ornaments discussed in the preface of his first publication: esclamazioni;;
intonatione della voce;; messa da voce, although it is clear from his instructions that they are to
be added by the singer. And at no point is there any indication of the wide range of dynamics and
vocal inflections that were the most distinctive element of the style;; the kind of dramatic
presentation described by Giustiniani in the quote above, and which Merin Mersenne tells us
distinguished the Italian singing style from the French:

³7KH ,WDOLDQV LQ WKHLU UHFLWDWLYHV WKH\ REVHUYH PDQ\ WKLQJV RI ZKLFK RXUV DUH GHSULYHG
because they represent as much as they can of the passions and affections of the soul and
spirit, as, for example, anger, furor, disdain, rage, frailties of the heart, and many other
passions, with a violence so strange that one would almost say that they are touched by
the same emotions they are representing in the song;; whereas our French are content to
tickle the ear, and have a perpetual sweetness in their songs, which deprives them of
27
HQHUJ\´

The addition of passaggi to written music could already be found in earlier
RUQDPHQWDWLRQ PDQXDOV DV ZHOO DV RWKHU PDQXVFULSWV DQG SXEOLFDWLRQV LQFOXGLQJ &DFFLQL¶V
ornamentations for the Ferrara donne DQG V\PEROV LQGLFDWLQJ ³JUDFHV´ KDG EHHQ DURXQG IRU

26
)RU GHWDLOV RI WKH VXLW DQG WUDQVFULSWLRQV RI WKH GRFXPHQWV VHH 7LPRWK\ - 0F*HH ³3RPSHR &DFFLQL DQG
µ(XULGLFH¶ 1HZ %LRJUDSKLFDO 1RWHV´ Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme 26 (1990) [1991]:
81-99.

27
Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle, contenant la Theorie et la Pratique de la Musique (Paris: Cramiosy,
1636, Vol. II), 354-60;; translated in Carol MacClintock, Readings, 173.
9
VHYHUDO KXQGUHG \HDUV &DFFLQL¶V FODLP WR QRYHOW\ LQ WHUPV RI ZULWWHQ-out ornamentation,
therefore, really was restricted to the shorter rhythmic passages and the cascate, which he states
should be performed exactly as notated.28 This alone would not be much help to an aspiring
singer attempting to learn the Neapolitan/Caccini dramatic style without the aid of a teacher.
Many additional elements are necessary, including an ability to interpret affect, and especially
the execution of sprezzatura, that illusive term that Caccini himself emphasizes is so important
to the graceful execution of a song. He does discuss these elements in the preface to his 1614
work where he names three things necessary for those who would learn to sing well and with
expression: affect, variety of affect, and sprezzatura (affetto, la varietà di quello, e la
sprezzatura). He goes on to elaborate a bit on these elements, describing affect as the ability to
express the meaning of words by use of a variety of dynamics that match the emotion of the
words, and sprezzatura as the charm rendered to a song by the performance of the written notes
with some freedom. Sprezzatura is a difficult word to translate, it is usually translated as
³QHJOLJHQFH´ RU ³QRQFKDODQFH´ ,Q FRQWH[W &DFFLQL VHHPV WR EH UHIHUULQJ WR WKH LQVHUWLRQ RI
short, quick-moving ornaments, but the way he chooses to explain his idea is interesting:

³Sprezzatura is that charm given to a song by the rapid succession of several eighth or
sixteenth notes on various tones, which, when done at the right time relieve the song of a
certain restricted narrowness and dryness and make it pleasant, free, and airy, just as in
common speech eloquence and fluency make pleasant and sweet the matters being
expressed. And with respect to this eloquence, I would liken to the rhetorical figures and
shadings, the passaggi, trilli, and other similar ornaments, which can be introduced
29
sparingly in every affect´

What is being described is a specific type of melodic-rhythmic ornament, but
unfortunately the statement is unclear as to the particulars of when it is used and where it is
placed. In this case, as with all of his statements about the dramatic ornaments, it is difficult to
imagine how any singer could learn this style without considerable additional help. But a hint as
WRZKHUHVRPHRIWKDWDGGLWLRQDODVVLVWDQFHFRXOGEHIRXQGOLHVLQ&DFFLQL¶VFRPSDULVRQRIVRPH
of the ornaments to rhetorical figures and shadings. These were a part of the area of rhetoric
known as oration, a subject widely taught in Italian schools, and therefore an area quite familiar

28
For a summary and discussion of what Caccini claims about his singing style, see Hill, Monody, 1:58.

29
³/DVSUH]]DWXUDqTXHOODOHJJLDGULDODTXDOHVLGDDOFDQWRFR¶OWUDVFRUVRGLSLFURPHHVLPLFURPHVRSUDGLYHUVH
FRUGH FR¶O TXDOH IDWWR j WHPSR WRJOLHQGRVL DO FDQWR XQD FHUWD WHUPLQDWD DQJXVWLD H VHFFKH]]D si rende piacevole,
licenzioso, e arioso, si come nel parlar comune la eloquenza, e la fecondia rende agevoli, e dolci le cose di cui si
favella. Nella quale eloquenza alle figure, e à i colori rettorici assimiglierei, i passaggi, i trilli, e gli altri simili
RUQDPHQWLFKHVSDUVDPHQWHLQRJQLDIIHWWRVLSRVVRQRWDO¶RUDLQWURGXUUH´6HHSKRWRUHSURGXFWLRQLQ&DFFLQLNuove
Musiche, ed. Hitchcock, preface (no page nos.). I am grateful to Guido Olivieri for assistance with this difficult
passage.

10
to all singers. 30 &DFFLQLLQWXUQLVFRXQWLQJRQWKHUHDGHUV¶NQRZOHGJHRIRUDWRULFDOWHFKQLTXHVDs

a way to understand affect as well as how to use the other ornaments.

Rhetorical delivery was usually associated with another dramatic vocal style and
repertory that already was present in Florence when Caccini arrived: the cantare DOO¶LPSURYYLVR
tradition, which was widely practiced throughout Italy, and which would seem to be closely
related to the Neapolitan style. By looking closely at the rhetorical style as it related to the
dramatic style of the FDQWDUH DOO¶LPSURYYLVR tradition, it is possible to obtain a clearer idea of
what Caccini was trying to tell singers about his dramatic style of ornamentation.

The heritage of FDQWDUHDOO¶LPSURYYLVR was the ancient tradition of the village bard and
later, the troubadour;; the practice of improvising simple melodies to enhance poetry. It was a
tradition that was still present to some degree in all areas of Europe in the late Middle Ages, and
which continued to have a rather high profile in Italy as late as the seventeenth century. 31 In the
mid-sixteenth century there was even a debate in Florence at the distinguished Accademia
Fiorentina, in which the speakers identified the DOO¶LPSURYYLVR style as a national Italian product
as contrasted with written polyphony, which was identified as Northern European²foreign.32
Delivery of poetry DOO¶LPSURYYLVR was highly dramatic, and it was that tradition which was
referred to in terms of the rhetorical style in music treatises of the time. Nicola Vicentino, for
example in his /¶DQWLFDPXVLFDULGRWWDDOODPRGHUQDSUDWWLFa of 1555, states:

³7KHH[SHULHQFHRIWKHRUDWRUWHDFKHVXVWKLVIRUZHREVHUYHWKHPHWKRGWKDWKH
adopts in his oration, that now he speaks with force, and now soft, now a bit slower, now
a bit faster, and by this means greatly moves the listeners, and this method of changing
33
the pace greatly affects the spirit. And thus one should sing improvised music in such a

30
On rhetoric and schools see Paul F. Grendler, Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning, 1300-1600
(Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1989);; and Albert Rabil, ed., Renaissance Humanism: Foundations,
Forms, and Legacy, 3 vols. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1988).

31
2QWKHKLVWRU\RIWKHWUDGLWLRQVHH(]LR/HYL³,FDQWDULOHJJHQGDUL´Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana,
6XSSO DQG -DPHV +DDU ³,PSURYYLVDWRUL DQG 7KHLU 5HODWLRQVKLS WR 6L[WHHQWK-&HQWXU\ 0XVLF´ LQ his
Essays on Italian Poetry and Music in the Renaissance, 1350-1600 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 1986), 76- 2Q UHDVRQV IRU LWV GHPLVH LQ WKH VHYHQWHHQWK FHQWXU\ VHH ,YDQR &DYDOOLQL ³VXJOL
improvvisatori del Cinque-SeiceQWRSHUVLVWHQ]HQXRYLUHSRUWRULHTXDOFKHULFRQRVFLPHQWR´Recercare I (1989): 23-
40.

32
Robert Nosow, ³7KH'HEDWHRYHU6RQJLQWKH$FFDGHPLD)LRUHQWLQDÉarly Music History 21, (2002): 175-221.

33
9LFHQWLQR¶VSKUDVHKHUHIRULPSURYLVHGPXVLFMusica alla mente, contrasts it with cantare super librum, meaning
WR VLQJ FRPSRVHG PXVLF ,W LV IUHTXHQWO\ PLVWUDQVODWHG DV ³PHPRUL]HG PXVLF´ EXW VHH (UQVW )HUDQG, Die
Improvisation in der Musik (Zurich: Rhein-9HUODJ &KDSWHU 9 5RGROIR %DURQFLQL ³$ PHQWH H DOLEUR´LQ
$UWLVDQRHVRQDGRUIRUPD]LRQHVWDWXVHFRPSHWHQ]HGHOORVWUXPHQWLVWDGHO¶, ed. Mauro Odorizzi and Maurizio
11
way as to imitate the accents and effects of the different parts of the oration. If an Orator
would attempt to make a beautiful oration without [adopting] the rules of its accents,
pronunciations, words delivered now quickly or slowly, some softly, some loudly, the
effect will not move the listeners. It must be the same in Music because if the orator is to
move the listeners with the abovementioned rules, so much better the Music recited with
34
WKHVDPHUXOHVDFFRPSDQLHGE\ZHOORUGHUHGKDUPRQ\LWZLOOEHIDUPRUHHIIHFWLYH´

Gioseffo Zarlino, in his Sopplimenti Musicali of 1588, goes even further, making it clear
that there is a difference between the two kinds of repertory²written song and improvised song.
According to Zarlino, the extremes of rhetorical practices are to be applied only when
performing in the improvised style, but they can only be used in moderation when singing
composed songV,W LV LQWHUHVWLQJWRRWKDWKH PDNHVDFOHDUGLVWLQFWLRQ EHWZHHQ ³DVLQJHUZKHQ
VLQJLQJ´DQG³DVLQJHUZKHQUHFLWLQJ´ 35

³Therefore, just as it is allowed that in reciting, according to the material that he
draws upon, an Orator sometimes does not just speak, but when he would wish to convey
fear and terror he explains his concept with a loud and horrible voice, yelling and
exclaiming;; and when he wishes to provoke commiseration [he speaks] with a subdued
and lowered voice. Thus is it not inappropriate to a musician to use similar devices²high
and low, now loud and now subdued, when reciting his compositions? Our scholars
perhaps would say, that it is one thing to sing and another to orate or to harangue, and
that it is not good for a Musician when singing to adopt these devices that an Orator uses
in his Orations. Very well, I too have said as much above: I do not say that a singer while
singing should yell or roar, because such a thing would have neither proportion nor
dignity, but I say that it is allowed to him [when he functions] as a reciter, in that case

Tomasi (Trento: Comune di Trento, 1996), 9-DQG,PRJHQH+RUVOH\³,PSURYLVDWLRQ,,:HVWHUQ$UW0XVLF´LQ
The New Grove Dictionary (London: MacMillan, Publishers, 1980), XII:99.

Nicola Vicentino, /¶DQWLFDPXVLFDULGRWWDDOODPRGHUQDSUDWWLFD³/DHVSHULHQ]DGHOO¶2UDWRUHO¶LQVHJQD
FKH VL YHGH LO PRGR FKH WLHQH QHOO¶2UDWLRQH FKH KRUD GLFH IRUWH KRUD SLDQR SL WDrdo, & più presto, e con
TXHVWRPXRYHDVVDLJO¶RGLWRUL TXHVWRPRGRGLPXRYHUHODPLVXUDIjHIIHWWRDVVDLQHOO¶DQLPR SHUWDOUDJLRQHVL
FDQWHUjOD 0XVLFDDOODPHQWH SHULPLWDU JOLDFFHQWL HIHWWL GHOOH SDUWL GHOO¶RUDWLRQH FKH HIIHWWR IDULD O¶2UDtore
FKHUHFLWDVVH XQD EHOOD RUDWLRQH VHQ]DO¶RUGLQH GH L VXRL DFFHQWL SURQXQWLH PRWL YHORFL WDUGL FRQLO GLU
piano IRUWHTXHOORQRQPXRYHULDJO¶RGLWRUL,OVLPLOHGqHVVHUHQHOOD0XVLFDSHUFKHVHO¶RUDWRUHPXRYHJOLRGLWRUL
FRQJO¶RUGLQLVRSUDGHWWLTXDQWRPDJJLRUPHQWHOD0XVLFDUHFLWDWDFRQLPHGHVLPLRUGLQLDFFRPSDJQDWLGDOO¶$UPRQLD
EHQXQLWDIDUjPROWRSLHIIHWWR´7UDQVODWLRQPLQH

35
The difficulty of finding a word that correctly describes the oratorical-based singing style has caused enormous
amounts of confusion, usually resulting in the erroneous translation of the Italian word recitare DV³UHFLWH´²speak.
Instead, it should be translated in some way to reflect that it is a chant-like musical rendering, later adopted in
operatic peUIRUPDQFH DV ³UHFLWDWLYR´ 6HH GLVFXVVLRQ RI WKLV SRLQW LQ 7LPRWK\ - 0F*HH ³'LQQHU 0XVLF IRU WKH
Florentine Signoria 1350-´Speculum 74 (1999): 95-114, at 96-8.

12
ZKDWHYHULVDOORZHGWRDUHFLWHURI7UDJHG\DQG&RPHG\«WKXVLIWKHUHFLWHULVSHUPLWWHG
these things for the enjoyment of his listeners, so must the singer be allowed to use some
36
of them in singing´

What is being discussed by both writers is the insertion of dramatic elements into an
oration in order to underline the emotion of the text²that is, its affect²and that the singer
should choose from these same techniques for the same purpose;; exactly what Caccini was
describing in his statement about understanding affect and variety of affect. 37 =DUOLQR¶V
distinction between the recitativo style of delivery and the cantare style is instructive from a
number of points of view. It tells us that a dramatic singing style was well established prior to
any sixteenth-century importation from Rome and Naples;; that it was closely related to the
dramatic style of orators;; and that well before Caccini and the southern dramatic style traveled
north, there was alreDG\ D FOHDU GLVWLQFWLRQ EHWZHHQ D ³VLQJLQJ´ VW\OH DQG D PRUH GUDPDWLF
³UHFLWLQJ´VW\OHDOWKRXJKWKHZULWHUVDJUHHWKDW³VLQJLQJ´VKRXOGLQFOXGHLQPRGHUDWLRQVRPHRI
the dramatic ingredients of the other.38 That these dramatic, oratorical elements were present in
the Roman reciting style in the late fifteenth century is recorded in a 1489 letter from Angelo
3ROL]LDQR WR 3LFR GHOOD 0LUDQGROD GHVFULELQJ D SHUIRUPDQFH E\ )DELR 2UVLQL DW KLV IDWKHU¶V
palace in Rome:

³+H ILOOHG RXU HDUV RU UDWKHU RXU KHDUWV ZLWK D YRLFH VR VZHHW WKDW«, ZDV
DOPRVW WUDQVSRUWHG RXW RI P\ VHQVHV« +LV YRLFH ZDV QRW HQWLUHO\ WKDW RI VRPHRQH
reading, nor entirely that of someone singing: both could be heard, and yet neither

36
Gioseffo Zarlino, Sopplimenti Musicali 9HQLFH ³3HUFLRFKH VL FRPH DOO¶2UDWRUH nel recitar è concesso,
secondo le materie che tratta tallora, non dirò palare;; ma con alta voce & horribile, gridando & esclamando,
esprimere il suo concetto;; & questo quando parla di cose, con lequali egli voglia indur spavento & terrore;; & tallor
con voFHVRPPHVVD EDVVDTXDQGRYXROHLQGXUFRPPLVHUDWLRQHFRVLQRQqFRVDGLVFRQYHQHYROHDO0XVLFRG¶XVDU
VLPLOL DWJWLRQL QHOO¶DFXWR QHO JUDYH KRUD FRQ YRFH DOWD KRUD FRQ YRFH VRPPHVVD UHFLWDQGR OH VXH
Compositioni. Dirrano forse questi nostri SapiHQWLFK¶DOWUDFRVDqLO&DQWDUH DOWUDqO¶2UDUHz5LQJDUH FKHQRQ
VWjEHQHDO0XVLFRQHOFDQWDUHFK¶HLXVLTXHLPRGLFKHXVDO¶2UDWRUHQHOODVXDVXD2UDWLRQH6WjEHQHTXHVWRKz
GHWWRDQFK¶LRGLVRSUDRQGHQRQGLFRFKH¶O&DQWRUHFDQWDQGRGHEEDQe gridare, ne far strepito: percioche non è cosa
KDEELDQHSURSRUWLRQHQHGHFRURPDGLFRFKHjOXLqFRQFHVVRFRPHUHFLWDWRUHLQTXHOO¶DWWRTXHOORFKHVLFRQFHGHj
L5HFLWDWRULGHOOH7UDJHGLH &RPHGLH«FRVLVHTXHVWRVLSHUPHWWHDO5HFLWDQWHSHULOFommodo de gli Ascoltanti;; si
SHUPHWWHUjDQFRDO&DQWRUHDOFXQHDWWLRQLQHO&DQWDUH´7UDQVODWLRQPLQH

37
$ FRPSDULVRQ RI PXVLFDO SHUIRUPDQFH ZLWK RUDWLRQDOVR DSSHDUVDV &RXQW %DUGL¶V SDUW RI WKH GLDORJXH LQ ZKDW
Claude Palisca considered to be the most influential music treatise of the period, see Vincenzo Galilei, Dialogue on
Ancient and Modern Music, trans. Claude V. Palisca (New Haven: Yale 2003), 350-1. Michael Praetorius also
discusses the Italian singing style in terms of oration, and continues on to cite the publications of Giulio Caccini and
Giovanni Battista Bovicelli;; see the quote in MacClintock, Readings, 163-70.

38
Mersenne, in his Harmonie universelle, also associates the dramatic style of singing with oration. See translation
in MacClintock, Readings, 163-70.

13
separated one from the other;; it was, in any case, even or modulated, and changed as
required by the passage. Now it was varied, now sustained, now exalted and now
restrained, now calm and now vehement, now slowing down and now quickening its
pace, but always it was precise, always clear and always pleasant;; and his gestures were
39
QRWLQGLIIHUHQWRUVOXJJLVKEXWQRWSRVWXULQJRUDIIHFWHGHLWKHU´

Given the long history and widespread popularity of the FDQWDUHDOO¶LPSURYYLVR tradition
and its relationship to oration techniques, it can be seen that a model for dramatic singing
performance had long been established throughout Italy. Its continuing popularity into the
seventeenth century can be seen in the duel between Francesca Caccini and Adriana Basile who
were improvising music to poetry, and although Adriana was judged to have the superior voice,
it was Francesca who was better at representing the particular affects of the poem.

Since we are aware of the steady exchange of singers among the most prominent northern
courts and both Rome and Naples, we might wRQGHU ZKDW UHDOO\ ZDV &DFFLQL¶V FODLP WR
performance fame;; what was it that he incorporated into his performances that garnered so much
praise for himself and his students.40 7KURXJKRXWPXFKRIWKLVGLVFXVVLRQ,KDYHWUHDWHG&DFFLQL¶V
style and the Neapolitan/Roman recitative style as more or less the same, but this certainly was
not entirely true. While the basic dramatic elements appear to have been the same, Caccini
undoubtedly developed a very singular style which was different enough from the southern
tUDGLWLRQ WKDW LQ WZR RI &DUGLQDO 0RQWDOWR¶V VLQJHUV ,SROLWD 5HFXSLWR DQG 0HOFKLRU
Palontrotti, were sent from Rome to Florence for three months to study the recitative style with
Caccini. 41 Apparently what they wanted to learn was neither a part of their previous training nor
available in Rome at the time. And if we recall that Caccini also was credited with teaching
Vittoria Archilei as well as other prominent Roman-trained singers, it is clear that his style must
have differed from the southern monodic style in significant details. 42

,I ZH WDNH RXU FXH IURP &DFFLQL¶V SXEOLFDWLRQV WZR HOHPHQWV VHHP WR EH HPSKDVL]HG

39
Nino Pirrotta and Elena Povoledo, Li due Orfei: da Poliziano a Monteverdi (Torino: Edizioni RAI, 1969), 46;;
English translation by Karen Hales, Music and Theatre from Poliziano to Monteverdi (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1982), 36. I am indebted to Allan Atlas for passing on this reference.

40
6HH7LP&DUWHU¶VTXHVWLRQDVWR³WKHH[WHQWWRZKLFK&DFFLQL¶VVW\OHGHSDUWVIURPHVWDEOLVKHGSUDFWLFH´ LQ³2Q
WKH&RPSRVLWLRQDQG3HUIRUPDQFHRI&DFFLQL¶V/HQXRYHPXVLFKHÉarly Music 12, (1984): 209;; reprinted in
Carter, Monteverdi and his Contemporaries, Variorum collected studies series (Burlington: Ashgate, 2000).

41
See Tim Carter, ³$)ORUHQWLQH:HGGLQJRIÁcta musicologica 55 (1983): 101.

42
Although it would not seem to be a factor with reference to the singers named here, John Walter Hill points out
that many of the Roman singers trained in the monodic style could not read music, whereas those who could read,
ZHUH WUDLQHG LQ WKH SRO\SKRQLF WUDGLWLRQ ³7UDLQLQJ D 6LQger for Musica Recitativa in Early Seventeenth-Century
,WDO\ WKH &DVH RI %DOGDVVDUH´ Musicologia humana: Studies in honor of Warren and Ursula Kirkendale, eds.
Siegried Gmeinwieser, David Hiley and Jörg Riedlbaur (Florence: L.S. Olschki, 1994), 345-57.
14
first of all, there are the written-out irregular rhythmic patterns: the jagged, stuttering, emotional
rhythms that he directs the singers to execute exactly as written and which, if coupled with
appropriate oratorical devices, would have a very dramatic effect. And the second element is
sprezzatura, described as sudden activity, a basic element in oratorical delivery that also was
present in the FDQWDUH DOO¶LPSURYYLVR tradition, and which Caccini claims to have adopted into
his performances. In fact, Giustiniani tells us this in his Discorso when he describes the style
XVHG LQ 5RPDQ UHSUHVHQWDWLRQV DV ³UHFLWDWLYH´ DQG FUHGLWV &DFFLQL DV one of the singers who
³ZHUHDOPRVWWKHLQYHQWRUVRIWKHVW\OH´ 43 &DFFLQL¶VVW\OHFDQEHGHVFULEHGDVRQHEDVHGRQWKH
dramatic monodic style of Naples and Rome, combined with other recitative elements present in
the cantare DOO¶LPSURYYLVR tradition and the dramatic devices present in rhetorical oration. From
all accounts, it must have been a highly ornate and emotional delivery.

At the end of the sixteenth century, therefore, there were two separate styles of
ornamentation, which I would like to refer to as passaggi and dramatic delivery. Passaggi, which
DOVR LQFOXGHG JUDFHV ZDV SUDFWLFHG LQ ZKDW WKH WKHRULVWV UHIHUUHG WR DV WKH ³VLQJLQJ´ VW\OH
PHDQLQJ PXVLF , GHVFULEHG HDUOLHU DV ³UHJXODU´ LQ LWV FRQVWUXFWLRQ 7KH GUDPDWLF VW\OH ZDV
practiced in monody where the irregular pace and construction would allow application of some
of the techniques of oration. To complicate matters, the monodic, dramatic style also included
passaggi and graces, and there is evidence that some of the elements of the dramatic style were
WUDQVIHUUHGWRWKH³VLQJLQJ´VW\OHDVZHOOLQFOXGLQJHQVHPEOHSHUIRUPDQFH

As for how the two styles of ornamentation were learned, we have direct statements that
both could be learned without a teacher: the passaggi instruction manuals claim that all that the
singers and instrumentalists needed to do was to methodically practice and memorize the riffs,
ZKLFKFRXOGWKHQEHWUDQVIHUUHGWRDQ\WKLQJWKH\ZHUHSHUIRUPLQJDQGDOWKRXJKWKH\GLGQ¶WJLYH
similar exercises for learning graces, those ornaments were described very generally in prose and
VDLGWREHHDVLO\ LQVHUWHG$QGRIFRXUVHZH KDYH&DFFLQL¶VVWDWHPHQWWKDWE\ PHUHO\REH\LQJ
exactly what he had written in his two publications and recalling oration techniques, a singer
would haYH HYHU\WKLQJ QHFHVVDU\WRUHSURGXFHWKDWVW\OH2I KLV ³WKUHHHVVHQWLDO HOHPHQWV´ IRU
graceful performance, affect, and variety of affect probably could be adopted from a knowledge
of oratorical practices, but there is no mention of how anyone could learn sprezzatura.

There is substantial reason for us to seriously doubt some of the printed claims about
learning ornamentation without a teacher²HVSHFLDOO\ ZLWK UHIHUHQFH WR &DFFLQL¶V VW\OH *LYHQ
the non-specific nature of the passaggi-type ornamentation, it is definitely possible that
instrumentalists could have learned quite a bit from the manuals;; it is probable that the
memorized riff approach was exactly what would have been learned from a teacher. But however
easy this might have been for instrumentalists, it is clear that not all singers were capable of
spontaneously inventing their own ornamentation. Even the highly praised and highly talented
members of the concerto delle donne of Ferrara who sang from memory, had all of their

43
Giustiniani, Discorso, trans. MacClintock, 77.

15
ornaments written out, a fact reported in a 1584 letter from Alessandro Striggio. 44 (Presumably
these were mostly passaggi-type, although they undoubtedly also included some of the new
GUDPDWLFRUQDPHQWVWKDWWKH\KDGOHDUQHGIURP&DFFLQL¶VILUVWYLVLWDIHZPRQWKVHDUOLHU) This is
supported by the quote above from Giustiniani that Luzzaschi and Wert were writing out
ornaments for the donne in both Ferrara and Mantua. And as positive as were some of the
authors of the various manuals as to the ease of learning ornamentation from their publications,
even Marin Mersenne, while promoting his book as a source of learning ornamentation, admitted
that the trillo could not be learned without a teacher.45

There is no doubt that for singers certain elements could be transferred from rhetoric, and
that the ubiquitous examples of the FDQWDUHDOO¶LPSURYYLVR singers in the piazzas would also have
provided models for the irregularity of recitative delivery. But it would certainly seem unrealistic
to think that one could develop an understanding of how to transfer these rhetorical models to a
specific song without a long period of training with an expert teacher. It would even have been
possible for a singer to independently learn the individual dramatic techniques associated with
this kind of delivery as well as the other vocal ornaments, but to associate the many vocal
nuances correctly with the appropriate oratorical gesture in recitative ornamentation would have
taken long hours of study and direct contact with someone who knew how to apply them. 46 I am
inclined to agree with the statement of Cesare Marotta, composer for Cardinal Montalto and
husband of singer Ippolita Recupito, who explained in a letter of 1614 that the reason he taught
singing by rote was that there were too many elements of the monodic style that could not be
notated.47

There is evidence that instrumentalists also ornamented in the dramatic style. Francesco
5RJQRQL LQ KLV PDQXDO RI DGYRFDWHV WKDW LQVWUXPHQWDOLVWV DGRSW &DFFLQL¶V WHFKQLTXHV LQ
their solo playing,48 DOWKRXJKH[DFWO\KRZWKLVZDVGRQHLVGLIILFXOWWRXQGHUVWDQGVLQFH&DFFLQL¶V
ornamentations were intended to be direct expressions of the text. Nevertheless, there are extant
examples of instrumental ornamentations from the early seventeenth century that would appear
to include some of the dramatic gestures discussed above: irregular and jagged rhythms;; sudden
bursts of movement that just as suddenly cease;; a style quite different from the continuous-

44
Alessandro Striggio in a letter of 29 July 1584. ASF: Mediceo 768, fol. 44. Published in Newcomb, The Madrigal
as document 57 and translated on p. 54.

45
Mersenne, Harmonie universelle, translated in MacClintock, Readings, 170.

46
On the subject of rhetorical gestures in English lute songs and their performance see Robert Toft, Tune Thy
Musicke To Thy Hart (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993).

47
The letter is reproduced and discussed in Hill, Monody, 128-9.

48
6HH 6WHZDUW &DUWHU ³)UDQFHVFR 5RJQRQL¶V 6HOYD GL YDULL SDVVDJJL )UHVK 'HWDLOV &RQFHUQLQJ (DUO\
%DURTXH9RFDO2UQDPHQWDWLRQ´Performance Practice Review 2 (1989): 5-33.

16
motion passaggi.49

As the various anecdotal accounts have pointed out, and in direct contradiction of
published claims, at the end of the sixteenth century the most common method of learning
ornamentation would seem to have been contact with an expert teacher. This was especially true
for singers, including even those who were professionals, could read music, and who also played
instruments. It is not difficult to understand why this was so for the dramatic monodic style with
its complex text-related affects, but surprisingly, it would also seem to have been true for the
passaggi-type ornaments. Singers were far more reliant than instrumentalists on external
assistance for all types of ornamentation. For instrumentalists the situation appears to have been
somewhat different, with self-instruction by way of published manuals playing a much larger
role, perhaps because of the predominance of the passaggi style in instrumental ornamentation.

Throughout the sixteenth century and on into the seventeenth, writers continued to
criticize the excessive use of both styles of ornamentation, complaining bitterly about the
meaningless passaggi that obscured the melody and/or text, as well as the distraction of overly
dramatic delivery, but the argument was always about quantity;; the basic idea of the importance
of ornamentation remained intact. A singer or instrumentalist who wished to receive the
admiration of the audience knew that one way or another, expertise in ornamentation had to be
learned. For the majority of them that meant finding an expert teacher.50

49
Comparative examples of these can be found in Richard Erig, with Vironika Gutmann, Italian Diminutions
(Zurich: Amadeus Press, 1979).

50
A version of this paper was read at the conference Pedagogy of the Renaissance at Johns Hopkins University in
June 2005.

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Volume 13 | Number 1 Article 6