Lamento della Ninfa by Claudio Monteverdi
As you may recall, the character of the madrigal changed over the course of Monteverdi's long career, these changes largely initiated and prodded along by the Venetian maestro himself. In the place of madrigal books filled with five-voice a cappella pieces, we have increasingly a dizzying array of voicings, styles, lengths, instrumentations, subjects and effects.
'Lamento della Ninfa' is provided with its own peculiar set of performers: A mezzo-soprano soloist; two sympathetic tenors and a bass (no less sympathetic); and basso continuo, a section which could consist of a keyboard or lute, or both,
plus a bass instrument such as a viola da gamba or cello and/or even a bass.
The topic is love, and it has not been going well. A certain no-good excuse for a man has deserted our protagonist, and she's taking it in high dudgeon, to say the least. Stomping out into the open, slashing at the poor unoffending flowers along the way, she sings and shouts out her grief, reminding us of that love-sick protagonist in 'Sfogava con le stelle' who pours out his troubles to the very stars as they run in their courses.
One difference here is that our protagonist here is a girl; another is that she's being observed by these three nice guys who tell us her story, and who interject their distress at her grief throughout her aria; and a third, very pronounced difference is that she renders up the ravings of her soul over a 'lamento bass', a descending scale which moves incessantly down from from A to E (seventeen times) in long, low, lugubrious notes, driving home the relentless, pounding character of love gone dreadfully awry.
It's really something. Check out the warm sympathetic tone which Monteverdi imparts to his three guys; you can almost see their brows furrow as they sing their interjections between her outcries. The soloist is provided with a vast vocabulary with which to express herself over the bass, including rising and falling lines, biting chromaticism, sudden outcries, strange leaps, syncopation and more. It's a regular glossary of how to embody scorned passion in musical form.
I'm attaching a score, a really good recording, and a very nice text-translation which clarifies who's speaking when. Even if you're a guy, try out the solo line. Maybe go into the garage or the basement or a closet, put on your headphones, and howl out your Covid-misery to the heavens! It's much cheaper than therapy, and at least as effective.
Sending lots of love (in addition to music)
As you may recall, the character of the madrigal changed over the course of Monteverdi's long career, these changes largely initiated and prodded along by the Venetian maestro himself. In the place of madrigal books filled with five-voice a cappella pieces, we have increasingly a dizzying array of voicings, styles, lengths, instrumentations, subjects and effects.
'Lamento della Ninfa' is provided with its own peculiar set of performers: A mezzo-soprano soloist; two sympathetic tenors and a bass (no less sympathetic); and basso continuo, a section which could consist of a keyboard or lute, or both,
plus a bass instrument such as a viola da gamba or cello and/or even a bass.
The topic is love, and it has not been going well. A certain no-good excuse for a man has deserted our protagonist, and she's taking it in high dudgeon, to say the least. Stomping out into the open, slashing at the poor unoffending flowers along the way, she sings and shouts out her grief, reminding us of that love-sick protagonist in 'Sfogava con le stelle' who pours out his troubles to the very stars as they run in their courses.
One difference here is that our protagonist here is a girl; another is that she's being observed by these three nice guys who tell us her story, and who interject their distress at her grief throughout her aria; and a third, very pronounced difference is that she renders up the ravings of her soul over a 'lamento bass', a descending scale which moves incessantly down from from A to E (seventeen times) in long, low, lugubrious notes, driving home the relentless, pounding character of love gone dreadfully awry.
It's really something. Check out the warm sympathetic tone which Monteverdi imparts to his three guys; you can almost see their brows furrow as they sing their interjections between her outcries. The soloist is provided with a vast vocabulary with which to express herself over the bass, including rising and falling lines, biting chromaticism, sudden outcries, strange leaps, syncopation and more. It's a regular glossary of how to embody scorned passion in musical form.
I'm attaching a score, a really good recording, and a very nice text-translation which clarifies who's speaking when. Even if you're a guy, try out the solo line. Maybe go into the garage or the basement or a closet, put on your headphones, and howl out your Covid-misery to the heavens! It's much cheaper than therapy, and at least as effective.
Sending lots of love (in addition to music)