Orazio Vecchi (1550-1605)
Le veglie di Siena
La Compagnia del Madrigale
rec. 2023, Chiesa della B. V. Maria del Monte Carmelo al Colletto, Roletto, Italy
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as a 16-bit / 44.1 kHz download
Glossa GCD922812 [111]

Orazio Vecchi is one of the better-known Italian composers from around 1600, but almost exclusively for just one work: his madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso. In his own time, he was famous for his secular works, such as his canzonettas but he also wrote sacred music, and tried to become more widely known as a composer of ‘serious music’, such as masses and motets. His sacred oeuvre shows an influence of the Venetian style, and William R. Martin, in the article on Vecchi in New Grove, notes that “a seemingly endless variety of the latest contrapuntal techniques with the skilful use of homorhythmic passages for contrast and text reinforcement. Word-painting, triple-metre sections and the use of note values approximating those of the canzonetta and madrigal give his sacred works an extraordinary sense of drama, movement and variety.” This part of Vecchi’s oeuvre is hardly known today, and certainly deserves more attention.

However, he will almost certainly continue to be famous for his secular works, of which he produced a lot. Between 1580 and 1597, he published ten collections of madrigals, canzonettas and other secular pieces, as well as the above-mentioned madrigal comedy (1597), and Le veglie di Siena (1604), which is the subject of the recording by La Compagnia del Madrigale to be reviewed here.

The complete title of this work is Le veglie di Siena overo i varii humori della musica moderna, in English: “The night-time gatherings of Siena, or the diverse humours (affects) of modern music”. From 1571 to 1574, Vecchi sang as a tenor in the capella of the Duomo in Siena. In those years he experienced cultural life in the city and came into contact with the poet Girolamo Bargagli, best-known as the author of the play La Pellegrina, written at the occasion of the marriage of Ferdinand I de’ Medici, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, with Christina of Lorraine, granddaughter of the former queen-mother of France, Catherine de’ Medici, in 1589 (three years after Bargagli’s death). In 1572 Bargagli had published his Dialogo de’ giuochi che nelle vegghie sanesi si usano di fare (Dialogue of the games that are frequently played at the Sienese gatherings). It is notable that women were allowed to participate in these gatherings, which were divided into two parts: “piacevole e grave” (pleasant and serious). This is also the feature of Vecchi’s Le veglie di Siena.

The first part consists of two veglie. The prima veglia is called Il gioco delle imitationi – the game of imitations. Some of the participants are asked to mimic the manner of speaking of Italians and foreigners. The first is a Sicilian, then come a country girl, a German, a Spaniard, a Frenchman, a Venetian and lastly a group of Jews. These pieces have the form of a canzonetta – called proposta (proposal) – for three or four voices. Each opens with a title, intended to be read aloud. Then follows the invitation to a particular participant; this is sung by the ensemble. In the first we hear: “Please, Mr. Stordito, you may begin. Imitate a Sicilian driven mad from love. How gallant he is, how gentle and charming he is, so full of ridicule and entertainment that just by mentioning it joy arises in us and sorrow departs.” Then follows the ‘Imitation of a Sicilian’. The proposal is closed with applauso, in which the imitation is commented.

One of the features of these imitations is that parts of the text are in mangled Italian, for instance in the imitation of the German. The translators have done a brilliant job here in trying to give an impression of his mistreatment of Italian: “I kan be a gut kompanion, ja! I kan be a gut Tscherman, ja! I am wery gut at killing tschickens, and kalves too, ja!” The Frenchman, expressing his love, says: “Rather than raconter le cause de mon dèathe, may this illnèsse redouble son strèngthe for one must dîe and dîe encore under the empîre of the Amour!”

The seconda veglia is called La caccia d’Amore – The Hunt for Love, which consists of five madrigals. In the first dogs are used to chase Love, and here we find imitations of dogs: “Tuh, woof”. One is reminded of the chansons of Clément Janequin. In the fourth madrigal “[the] players realize that Love does not have a body, but is a little spirit who has fun going around tricking everyone”. In the next madrigal “[the] chagrined players plot their revenge against Love and start playing a quarrel game.” Part of it is a tongue twister: “Al pozzo de messer Pazzin de’ Pazzi / v’era una pazza che gran pezza / mangiava pizza, lavando pezze; / ma sopragiunse Pazzin de’ Pazzi, / prese la pazza, la pizza e le pezze / e le gittò nel pozzo”. At the end of the game, the Principe – the leader of the game – allows the participants to withdraw, which is the end of the gathering.

The second part of Le veglie di Siena represents the grave element. It is called Gli humori della musica moderna – The affects of modern music. The word humour refers to a common idea at the time, which had its roots in “an Ancient Greek doctrine identifying the four liquid substances assumed to be present in the body: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. It was thought that mankind’s physical and mental health depended on the equilibrium of these and, therefore, the humours were equally responsible for a person’s character and for his or her temporary moods.” In fourteen madrigals on existing texts or texts of his own pen, Vecchi illustrates the various humours. Among the poets whose texts he uses are Giovanni Battista Guarini, Giovanbattista Marino and Petrarca. The latter’s Or che ‘l ciel e la terra is one of his most famous poems.

Some humours are easy to portray, such as “the grave affect”, “the merry affect” and “the sorrowful affect”. The contrasts between them are not hard to identify, even if one does not understand the text. The madrigal portraying “the vivacious affect” mainly consists of short sentences, sung in a fast tempo. The same is the case in “the enthusiastic affect”. Others are harder to illustrate in music; in some cases the modern listener may wonder what they are about. What exactly is a “flattering affect” or a “mixed affect”. In the latter case Vecchi illustrates the ‘mixed’ element by mingling parts of madrigals by various composers.

Apparently Vecchi considered Le veglie di Siena as his artistic testament, as Marco Bizzarini states in his liner-notes. That can be concluded from the preface to this work, which Vecchi dedicated to King Christian IV of Denmark – and this recording makes crystal clear that – in its genre – it is a masterpiece. The first part may not be meant as ‘serious’, but it represents an important part of renaissance music. It is probably not easy to appreciate in our time and is also not easy to perform. La Compagnia del Madrigale does it brilliantly: the humorous (in the modern sense of the word) character of these pieces comes off to the full, but they avoid exaggeration, playing to the gallery. It is easier to appreciate the second part, which includes the serious madrigals. These are very fine pieces, which show that in setting a text Vecchi was second to none. Here, La Compagnia del Madrigale is at its very best, maintaining the high level we have come to expect from this Italian ensemble which has already given us so many outstanding recordings.

With this recording Vecchi is elevated to a composer who has more to offer than just a single madrigal comedy. It is to be hoped that it will result in more recordings of his oeuvre, both in the sacred and the secular department.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen

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Contents
Prima veglia (Il gioco delle imitationi)
Prima proposta. Imitatione del Siciliano: Hor che la vegghia è numerosa
Seconda proposta. Imitatione della Villanella: E voi, Signora Laura
Terza proposta. Imitatione del Tedesco: Non ha il miglior di voi questa corona
Quarta proposta. Imitatione dello Spagnuolo: Voi, Signor Sodo
Quinta proposta. Imitatione del Francese: Signora Emilia, voi che siete vaga
Sesta proposta. Imitatione del Veneziano: Levatevi su in piè, Signor Giocoso
Chiusa dei gioco. Imitatione delli Ebrei: Signora Giulia, dove alberga Amore

Seconda veglia (La caccia d’Amore)
Tal fu il piacer
Facciam muggir col corno
E dov’è questo ribello?
Miseri noi, s’è di novo smarrito
Su vegliatori, hor vi destate!
A chi di voi dà il core
Licenza del Prencipe ai Vegliatori: Hor che la luna

Seconda parte delle veglie (Gli humori della musica moderna)
Proemio: Fate silenzio
L’humor grave: Si grave è il mio dolore
L’humor allegro: Liete piagge e gradite
L’humor universale: Fra mille fiamme
L’humor misto: La mia cara Licori
L’humor licenzioso: Di marmo sete voi
L’humor dolente: Or che ‘l ciel e la terra. Seconda parte: Così sol d’una chiara
L’humor lusinghiero: Alma gentil ben nata
L’humor malenconico: Le mie lagrime amare
L’humor gentile: Vieni Flora gentil
L’humor affettuoso: Era l’anima mia
L’humor perfidioso: Ritrosetta Amarilli
L’humor sincero: Copri il candido seno
L’humor svegghiato: Viva la gioia e l’allegrezza
L’humor balzano: Hor che lieta stagion. Seconda parte: Mirate alme gentil
Complimenti del Prencipe ai Vegliatori: Qual honor, qual degna lode
Horatio Vecchi ai Lettori (reading)