English Language / Tecnica

Singing, In Style, Renaissance Vocal Music

Renaissance vocal music does not seem to be an integral and faithful derivation of polymnia, but rather appears to have progressed logically out of the medieval trends. More evolutionary than revolutionary, the […]

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English Language / Opinioni

The Lady in Black

Bach’s Chaconne! I had been going crazy for hours on the keys of my Estonia 225 to try to refine the 94-96 bars, those where Busoni, reversing the melodic passage, divides the […]

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English Language / Interviews

Romuald Twardowski: When the new and the old become original

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Romuald Twardowski was born in Vilnius in 1930. During years of occupation he studied the violin, after the war piano and organ. Between 1946-1950 he was an organist in various Vilnius churches. […]

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English Language / Interviews

The True History of the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin by Alessandro Grandi

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It was May 2nd, 1630, early morning, when the telephone rang in my country house on the first hills of Rimini. That annoying sound took me unprepared … Who could have been […]

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English Language / Technique

The Tempo in the Choral Music of the XVI Century

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I would like to consider how tempo was written about in the XVI century and attempts to estimate the speed of the standard tempo that musicians thought of as unexceptional. The sources […]

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English Language / Interviews

Tõnu Kaljuste at the mirror

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I met Tõnu Kaljuste in one of the best pizzerias in Rimini, where we had dinner together after spending a long, hard day at the Cesena Conservatory of Music, where, from February […]

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English Language / Interviews

Interview with Ēriks Esenvalds

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AA: When did your career as a composer start? And later, in the course of your studies, did you realize that music was the path you would follow? EE: I was born […]

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English Language / Technique

Medieval and Renaissance Polyphony

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In Medieval and Renaissance Polyphony falsetto singing played an important part, probably long before the technique was specifically described.  Jerome of Moravia’s 13th-century treatise Discantus positio vulgaris mentions three voice registers: vox […]

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English Language / Technique

Dossier on the Renaissance Choral Music

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Dossier: The Renaissance in music occurred between 1450 and 1600. (Some historians place the beginning of the Renaissance as early as 1400.) As in the other arts, the horizons of music were greatly expanded. […]

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English Language / Technique

The Twelve Old Modes

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The first eight modes were designated in the medieval era, as a way to classify pre-existing Gregorian chants. The next four were added by Glareanus in 1547. This gave way to our […]

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English Language / Technique

Italian Latin for choirs

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Italian Latin for Choirs. The Latin language developed as one of the dialects of the Italian Peninsula, in the area around Rome, in pre-Classical times. The other “Italic” dialects died out, but […]

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English Language / Technique

Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli

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The story behind the composition of Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli is one of the most famous – and least proven – in music history. As the story goes, the liturgical politics of […]

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English Language / Opinions

Singing together is a medicine for our heart

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Whoever is part of a choir will probably know this already: singing together can be a positive experience, not only from a psychological point of view, but also from a physical one. […]

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English Language / Technique

Performance Practice of the Renaissance Music

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Basic Assumptions Not only one way to perform music of this period; much freedom is allowed. Little or no distinction is found between instrumental and vocal styles; they are usually interchangeable. Need […]

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English Language / Opinions

Falsettists, Castratos and Sopranos…

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Falsettists, Castratos and Sopranos…The falsetto technique played a vital part in early polyphonic music, having appeared long before it was described in formal treatises or employed in Renaissance musical performances. As far […]

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English Language / Opinions / Technique

G.P. Da Palestrina: Missa Brevis

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The Missa Brevis first appeared in G.P. da Palestrina Third Book of Masses (1570) and in all probability was written about the year 1558. The thematic origin of this mass is not […]

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English Language / Technique

Transcription and Analysis of Willaert’s Ave Maria

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The period 1550-1560 was a one of incomparable prosperity for Venice and her merchants. The economic boom benefited the publishing sector, bringing a rapid increase in the number of printing businesses. This […]

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English Language / Technique

Clemens: Ego flos campi!

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Jacobus Clemens Non Papa’s Marian motet ‘Ego flos campi’ (I am the flower of the field) can confidently be dated to autumn 1550. Clemens was employed for a few months during the autumn of […]

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English Language / Opinions

The story of ‘Spem in Alium’, a 40 parts motet by Thomas Tallis

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In 1567, the city of London welcomed the visiting Italian musician and nobleman Alessandro Striggio. He stunned the London musical scene with a performance of his motet Ecce Beatam Lucem, written for the […]

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English Language / Opinions

Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa (1566-1613)….

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This year marks the four hundredth anniversary of the death of Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa (1566-1613), better known as Gesualdo da Venosa, that excellent composer of madrigals and sacred music. He […]

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Pescespada Mediterraneo

Leave a Comment on Pescespada Mediterraneo

Il pescespada del Mediterraneo è un pesce azzurro dal sapore abbastanza forte, basta però trovare la ricetta giusta per cucinarlo e renderlo molto delicato. Quella che vi propongo di seguito, fidatevi lo […]

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English Language / Tecnica

Singing, In Style, Renaissance Vocal Music

Renaissance vocal music does not seem to be an integral and faithful derivation of polymnia, but rather appears to have progressed logically out of the medieval trends. More evolutionary than revolutionary, the […]

READ MORE

English Language / Technique

Clemens: Ego flos campi!

Tagged ,

Jacobus Clemens Non Papa’s Marian motet ‘Ego flos campi’ (I am the flower of the field) can confidently be dated to autumn 1550. Clemens was employed for a few months during the autumn of […]

READ MORE

English Language / Technique

Performance Practice of the Renaissance Music

Tagged ,

Basic Assumptions Not only one way to perform music of this period; much freedom is allowed. Little or no distinction is found between instrumental and vocal styles; they are usually interchangeable. Need […]

READ MORE