Il Ballo by Claudio Monteverdi
For this holiday, I'd like to share one of my very favorite pieces from Monteverdi's fabulous Eighth Book of Madrigals--the 'Madrigali guerrieri ed amorosi'. The piece is called simply 'Il Ballo' ('The Dance'). It is a tribute to the dedicatee of the book, the recently installed Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III.
The piece begins with an extended introduction for solo tenor and orchestra. As you can see in the attached score and text-translation, the tenor invites groups of dancers to join him in the celebration of the glories and achievements of Ferdinand. And then the piece begins in earnest.
It's a romp! Each little detail of the text is reflected enthusiastically in the music, and the textures and dynamics of the five-voice vocal ensemble and the orchestra are varied and super-imaginative. It is a lot of fun to listen to, and I can tell you from experience that it's even more fun to sing.
Sonoma Bach has performed the piece twice, in quite different circumstances. In May of 2011, the Bach Choir and LOBO sang an 80th Birthday Concert for Don Green in the then-unfinished Weill Hall which featured Carol Menke and Jenni Samuelson. 'Il Ballo' was the concert closer.
Then, in the fall of 2016, Green Mountain Consort (along with LOBO and soloists Lindsay McClennan and Chris Fritzsche) performed it in our Opening Recital, again as the closer. We LOVED singing the piece, and Paul Haile came up with a tradition which we all adopted: At the end of the piece, someone (or all of us) would say, loudly and enthusiastically:
'Il Ballo!'
So I invite you to listen and/or sing along to the recording attached--and at the end, if so inclined, don't be shy: Go ahead, shout it out, you'll see, it'll be good for you:
'Il Ballo!'
For this holiday, I'd like to share one of my very favorite pieces from Monteverdi's fabulous Eighth Book of Madrigals--the 'Madrigali guerrieri ed amorosi'. The piece is called simply 'Il Ballo' ('The Dance'). It is a tribute to the dedicatee of the book, the recently installed Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III.
The piece begins with an extended introduction for solo tenor and orchestra. As you can see in the attached score and text-translation, the tenor invites groups of dancers to join him in the celebration of the glories and achievements of Ferdinand. And then the piece begins in earnest.
It's a romp! Each little detail of the text is reflected enthusiastically in the music, and the textures and dynamics of the five-voice vocal ensemble and the orchestra are varied and super-imaginative. It is a lot of fun to listen to, and I can tell you from experience that it's even more fun to sing.
Sonoma Bach has performed the piece twice, in quite different circumstances. In May of 2011, the Bach Choir and LOBO sang an 80th Birthday Concert for Don Green in the then-unfinished Weill Hall which featured Carol Menke and Jenni Samuelson. 'Il Ballo' was the concert closer.
Then, in the fall of 2016, Green Mountain Consort (along with LOBO and soloists Lindsay McClennan and Chris Fritzsche) performed it in our Opening Recital, again as the closer. We LOVED singing the piece, and Paul Haile came up with a tradition which we all adopted: At the end of the piece, someone (or all of us) would say, loudly and enthusiastically:
'Il Ballo!'
So I invite you to listen and/or sing along to the recording attached--and at the end, if so inclined, don't be shy: Go ahead, shout it out, you'll see, it'll be good for you:
'Il Ballo!'