Lauren Theodore

Apr. 25, 1997

Renaissance Texts

**insert CD 1778, Haverford College Music Library:

Monteverdi's "Il terzo libro de Madrigali" by the Consort of Musicke

"Go then, cruel man, with that same peace that you leave with me," begins the text of the song, "Vattene pur crudel", by Monteverdi. And thus begins Monteverdi's interpretation of a most impassioned and incredibly moving text. The three stanzas of the song are taken from the sixteenth canto of Tasso's, Gerusalemme Liberata. This work is an epic poem and is an interesting mix of narrative, poetry and drama. The three stanzas chosen by Monteverdi allow him create almost a "mini-opera". He separates the three stanzas into three separate "acts", each with its own themes and each conveying a new twist in the plot of the story. Moreover, the nature of "Liberata", its unique poetic-drama narrative form, along with the somewhat surreal and mythical chivalric figures, lends itself to Monteverdi's great ability to "bring to life" in the form of "realistic" music the images presented in texts and yet still create a unified song. Brown says of Monteverdi, "One of the things genuinely new in Monteverdi's works is the constructive and combinative way he worked with his brief motives." (364)

Brief motives are found throughout Renaissance music and perhaps appear later on in such forms as the idea fixe of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique. However, in Renaissance music brief motives are found often times in conjunction with a text. A musical motive might imitate a state or concept described in the text. A word such as "running" will be expressed and imitated in the music with lots of fast notes. The difficulty for the interpreter of Renaissance music that makes use of the brief motif technique is to determine whether or not the piece is simply a conglomeration of brief motives- a word for word "translation" of the poem into music- or if there is some unifying glue or connecting thread that creates and maintains a "seam" throughout the "garment" of the song.

Monteverdi has indeed formed a "glue" that holds the three sections of this song together. However, more than simply his ability to manipulate of musical motives, the subtlety, abstract emotion and lyrical qualities of the text help to cement the "glue" of the song. The three stanzas chosen by Monteverdi are tortuous in their emotional power. And before delving into the musical treatment of the text by Monteverdi, it is worthwhile to examine the chosen stanzas and their context within the larger poem.

Obviously, it is not an efficient use of time, paper, or computer screen space to retell the entire narrative of Gerusalemme Liberata or even to tell the entire story of Rinaldo and Armida, the two lovers with whom Monteverdi's song is concerned. However, a short synopsis of canto sixteen is feasible. This canto begins with the description of Armida and Rinaldo in the garden of Armida's palace. The garden is located in a center of a maze of hedges. In this paradise land, Armida and Rinaldo have been spending their days and nights engaged in rapturous admiration of each other. The graphic details are left up to the imagination of the reader. However, unbeknownst to the lovers, two of Rinaldo's comrades have killed the palace guard, crept through the maze of bushes and with great enjoyment are observing the two lovers. When Armida departs from Rinaldo for a short time in order to tend to her duties in the palace, the two soldiers seize their chance and confront Rinaldo, entreating him to return to the wars.

Come, soldier of destiny,

and let the enterprise so well begun be brought to completion; and wicked sect

that you have already shaken fall to earth perished beneath your inevitable sword. . .

and to the blushing of his face succeeded a new

flame that blazes stronger and boils more, he ripped off his idle trims. . .

and hastened his departure and issued forth from the tortuous confusion of the labyrinth.

Armida, of course, takes little time in discovering Rinaldo's plan and she chases after him through the labyrinth speaking "as many syllables profane as ever Thessalian sorceress muttered with un-clean mouth; that which can halt the wheels of Heaven and draw up the shades from their deep prison, she knew them all."

Armida is no "wimpy" woman, and she does indeed catch up with Rinaldo. She rails him for leaving with ferocious bitterness. She also begs him to let her accompany him in his travels. She offers herself as a slave to him, and he refuses. And it is at this point that Monteverdi excerpts his three stanzas from the text. The first two stanzas of "Vattene pur crudel" appear consecutively in the text as stanzas 59 and 60. However, Monteverdi has spliced stanzas 61 and 62 out of the poem and the third stanza of the song is actually stanza 63 of the text.

A possible reason for this excision is the subject matter of the two stanzas, 61 and 62. In stanzas 59, Armida confronts and threatens revenge on Rinaldo. She then, in stanza 60, faints, as if dead. In Monteverdi's song, the next turn of events is her awakening in stanza 63 to find herself alone. However, the two interim stanzas of Liberata describes a fairly sympathetic Rinaldo who is torn as to whether he should stay with her on the shore or leave with the soldiers. Stanza 62 reads,

Courtesy restrains him, Pity bridles him, harsh Necessity drags him along with her. he leaves, and gentle breezes fill the hair of Her who acts as his guide. The golden sail flies over the open sea: he looks to the shore, and lo, the shore is hidden.

This stanza conveys a suffering on the part of Rinaldo that, if not equal to Armida's, evokes a good deal of sympathy from the audience. Stanza 61 as well paints an endearing picture of Rinaldo.

Oh if you [Armida] could have heard, how sweetly the sound of his sighs would have softened you!

Monteverdi avoids both stanzas which present Rinaldo's perspective on the whole leave-taking. It is not possible to determine precisely why Monteverdi did this. However, there are some reasonable guesses. To keep Rinaldo in the song would force Monteverdi into trying convey another character in the music. As said earlier, the song is in many ways a "mini-drama", but a song as short as this might not be able to stay "glued" together with another character. Adding the character of Rinaldo might create a need for an entirely new set of brief motives. Moreover, it is interesting to consider the audience's interpretation of the song without Rinaldo. Simply given the stanzas presented by Monteverdi, it is not certain in the song that Armida is speaking to anyone at all. There is no response to all of her cries, and thus the audience imagines her deserted at the beginning of the song. It is only in reading the complete text that the reader sees that this woman is not alone at the start of the song.

In excising the two stanzas as he did, Monteverdi makes a very fascinating dramatic and musical ploy, greatly manipulating the text in the process. Monteverdi, in the song, puts the audience entirely in the perspective of Armida. Tasso's audience may feel for Armida, but at the same time, understands Rinaldo's position and is told, by the narrative all of the actions that Armida is unaware of in her unconsciousness. Armida, in Tasso's poem does not have any idea of what went on while she was passed out, though the audience does. However, in Monteverdi's song, neither the audience nor Armida understand what went on during her fainting spell. This is a subtle and magnificently executed manipulation on the part of Monteverdi.

In limiting the text in this way, Monteverdi, firstly, gives himself fewer literary ideas to express in music, and moreover, changes the focus of the text itself. The song, as it will now be discussed, is not the story of Armida and Rinaldo parting, but rather is the story of a woman, Armida, who has been, as far as the audience can tell, left for dead on the beach.

Analyzing Monteverdi's possible literary motives for cutting and pasting the Tasso text is a fascinating task. However, the profound addition/adjustment that Monteverdi made to the Tasso poem (even more profound than chopping up the text) was to set the three stanzas to music. In studying the music of the song and its relation to the text, not only can Monteverdi's infamous "brief motives" be spotted, but also an argument can be made that Monteverdi has essentially created a new story, a new drama by splicing a text and interpreting it musically.

And Monteverdi uses an array of musical devices other than that of "brief motives" throughout this song, which all contribute to the overall "glue" of the piece. Already, the "glue" has started to form with the excising of the Rinaldo stanzas that could make the song too scattered. Monteverdi also uses passages of parallel thirds throughout the settings of the three stanzas; he uses recitative as well. And, in addition to the use of brief motives, the note `a' plays a very important role in the song.

Thirds, a typically emotional and expressive interval, are used throughout the song. In the setting of the first stanza, parallel thirds are used on the line, "tanto t'agitero quanto t'amai," (I will terrorize you as much as I once loved you), and also on the line, "if you are destined to make it out of the sea." Most importantly, thirds are used in the line, "Me tosto ignudo spirto, ombra seguace," (Soon enough will you have me inescapably at your back. . .). These thirds, more than being a very "emotional" interval, are used at points in the text where the threat of action is being expressed. Armida is on the beach threatening Rinaldo with all she can muster.

In the second "song", thirds are used almost immediately- on the second "idea" of the stanza, "mi pagherai le pene" (you will pay me my penalties). There are two "brief motives" that then appear in this stanza, but after they are finished the thirds return, finishing the description of Armida's faint. For the third stanza, thirds are used almost entirely throughout the musical setting. There is not a poetic line in which they are not used. The climax of the entire song occurs in this third stanza on the line, "and sit me down to weep along this shore, yet unavenged." And this line is sung in thirds. Thus, in the beginning of the song, the thirds emphasize the dramatic and powerful threats of action that Armida makes against Rinaldo. But by the end of the song, these thirds emphasize the fact that her threats of revenge have not yet been carried out, and express the suffering that accompanies Armida's humiliation and her inability to exact revenge. The thirds perhaps can be considered the `tension-builder' component of the musical glue that holds the piece together.

Recitative is another musical device that Monteverdi uses in the settings of all three stanzas. The passages of recitative are used, as in the start of the piece, as an imitation of the human speaking voice. The first line of the song, "be gone cruel one" , begins on a recitative `a' and then rises, on the last note, to an `f', the way in which a woman's voice would rise if she was speaking while very upset. However, as opposed to recitative in an opera, the recitative lines in this song are imitated throughout the five parts, creating an overwhelming effect- especially when used together with thirds, such as the line mentioned earlier, "I will torment you as much as I once loved you." In the last stanza, the recitative pattern of the beginning returns, except this time, the soprano who begins the pattern does not jump the sixth up to `f', but rather, goes up a third to `c'. This stanza, of course describes Armida's awakening. Not only are parallel thirds are used throughout the opening of this stanza, but the music, in all of the vocal lines, becomes simply a series of short recitatives strung together that "fall" down the scale. The soprano starts this recitative scale on `b' on the word "deserto" (deserted); she sings all on `b', then on the word "mirar" (see) she drops to `a', and then she drops to `g'. The alto takes the falling line from there down to `f'. The tenor then picks up the line on `e' and takes it down to `a'. The fairly conventional recitative of the first stanza, by the third stanza is transformed into a new kind of recitative. There are many other examples of recitative in the song, but let us move on to discussion of the brief motives and the note `a'. These musical devices, individually, are not nearly as intriguing as the way in which they work together in order to form an intensely rich and subtle musical structure in the song.

The brief motives used throughout the piece are wonderfully created and great fun. In the first song, the striking brief motif used is on the line "as you make your way out of the sea." In all five vocal parts at this point in the text appear falling eighth notes. These undulating, sea-like movements are staggered throughout the five parts and create the effect of a tumbling sea. In the second song, Monteverdi composes a brief motive on the line, "you will call Armida by name". In the music, again scattered throughout the parts, are short musical lines which jump an entire octave, imitating the rise of the human voice when calling for someone who is either not listening or very far away. Also, in the second stanza, is the brief motif that is Armida's faint. Her faint is expressed in a "falling" chromatic scale that overlaps in all the parts and is very slow. She seems almost to faint in slow motion. This fainting is perhaps reflected later in the piece in the falling recitative line discussed earlier. Also, on the line, "she did not utter completely this last speech", the music becomes very quiet and fades away on long whole notes.

In the third song, Armida speaks again and her speech becomes another brief motive. "Ito se n'e pur, -disse- ed ha potuto," (Is he gone then, she said). This line is then taken up by the rest of the parts and repeated over and over again, until finally, the line mentioned earlier, "and sit me down to weep along this shore, yet unavenged" returns. This line, which integrates the thirds and the recitative devices, does through this combination, itself become a brief motive. This line also makes use of the note `a' about to be discussed.

The note `a' is, perhaps, the most important musical "device" that Monteverdi uses in the entire song. And it is within the note `a' that all of the devices previously mentioned come together, forming the "glue" of the piece. The note `a' might very well be referred to as Armida's note- interesting that her name begins with an `a', no? The first recitative- the first line of the piece- begins on `a'. Moreover, throughout the piece, the music attempts to rise from the `a' above middle `c' to one octave above this note. In the first song, Armida does hit the high `a', but only briefly on the words "ombra" and "nova" (a NEW fury). Both times, the high `a' is hit off of a jump from the `e' below it. On the line "I will terrorize you", the tenors hit what is a high `a' for them, but this, of course, is still only the `a' above middle `c'. The sopranos also hit a high `a' on this line, building up more gradually to the note, rather than jumping to it. In the text of this stanza, remember, Armida is throwing threat after threat at Rinaldo. Her verbs are all action oriented. She tells him to go. She is going to chase him like a Fury; she will get him if the sea does not first. However, keep in mind that she is still on the beach.

In the second song, the high `a' is reached almost immediately, approached this time by the `f' below it (a third!). The `a' is sung on the word "blood" and again on the word `pene' (penalties). Then, in the brief motive mentioned earlier, "You will call Armida by name", there are quick movements up to the high `a' from the octave below, again reinforcing the association of Armida herself with the note `a'. The high `a' is reached once more in the second soprano part during the "fainting" motive in the song. But after that, Armida has fainted and the high `a' is no more.

The presence of this high `a' increases from each stanza to the next, and is most climactic in the setting of the last stanza. Armida hits the `a' during her speech, "Is he then gone?". And then on the line mentioned a number of times before, the "on the shore" line. The high `a' is reached, but this time the music sits on that `a', using the device of recitative, and with the second soprano singing on the third below. The `a' recitative on this line occurs in all the parts, in three different octaves. The `a's are completely overpowering. The thirds are everywhere. The sorrow and the extreme languish of this woman left alone are fierce and biting.

So, the interaction of all of these musical devices, the recitative, the thirds, the brief motives and the `a', come together and intertwine throughout the piece, climaxing in the last song when Armida realizes that her threats have done no good, and that she is still alone. But what does all of this interaction mean? Sure, Monteverdi uses the same devices in all three stanzas. Sure, he builds these devices up to imitate the emotional climax of the literature. But are these similarities the only glue of the piece? The struggle to reach the high `a', possibly, is the final component to the glue, and, when added to the entire mixture, transforms the glue from, to use a corny analogy, `Elmer's' to cement.

In the first stanza, the high `a' is used in conjunction with all of Armida's threats. It is the octave movement from `a' to `a' for which she strives. She wants drastic action to be taken. This is no mean revenge she is seeking. She speaks as though an immortal she will chase after Rinaldo. Armida wants action, and this action is expressed in her hopeful movement up to the high `a'- which, after all, is the most drastic musical jump one can make (disregarding compound intervals of course). In the second song, Armida's faint is represented musically as a fall from the high `a'. She is in a state of intense emotion, she is the high `a', and then she faints and, therefore, falls from this state of high activity. And in the final stanza, Armida hits the high `a' and stays up there. She has made the jump. She has hit the note. She has achieved her goal! But, then again, she has not achieved her goal. Armida wanted revenge. She finally reaches the high `a' in the final stanza, only to find that she still is unavenged and alone.

And it is now that the unadulterated pain of this song, of this text, appears. Armida has fought, through the entire song, for action. She wants to take action. But in the end, she is still on the shore. She is immobile and unable to do anything. Rinaldo has sailed away. In the second stanza she imagineses a role reversal in which Rinaldo, like her, was stranded and alone, left for dead. But the truth is that at the end of the song there has been no role reversal. Armida has fought to reach the high `a', but, truthfully speaking, though the octave is the most drastic and distant interval, an `a' is still an `a'. Armida has jumped an entire octave only to realize perhaps the harshest of all truths: that she is exactly where she began- on `a'.

Armida has not gone anywhere throughout the whole piece. Literally, she has been on the beach the entire time. Musically, she remains on `a'. Her threats were simply words; her imagined role reversal only words. The deep irony of this song is heart-wrenching. And music, perhaps, shares in this irony. Music is all motion and action, and yet, it is intangible and immaterial. Music is the appearance and the assumption of motion and action. However, music also, in the case of this song, both represents the absence of action on the part of Armida and also becomes Armida's action. For though she cannot take action against Rinaldo himself, her song, as Monteverdi composes it, is the action she can take. She can sing her song. Thus, the music is both activity and inactivity.

Monteverdi, in this song, does not merely express the words of the poem (the sea, desertion etc.) imitating them with music, but also expresses the literary concept of irony. And here is the real glue of the piece. For any author may use devices such as direct symbolism, foreshadowing and onomatopoeia to "thread" a story. Any plot will have underlying themes such as Monteverdi's brief motives, use of thirds and recitative. However, the literary and human concepts such as irony that underlie even these underlying "threads" are extraordinarily difficult to manipulate and convey. Expressing irony is perhaps one of the greatest challenges for any author. It is doubly impressive that Monteverdi then, is able to express what is typically a literary characteristic in music. Of course, Monteverdi does have the support of the text. And therefore it is apparent that the attention Monteverdi paid to the excision of two stanzas was critical to his ability to successfully make his music ironic. The care that Monteverdi took with both the text and the music in this song most definitely is worthwhile. For the genuine emotion of the song does not arise from the way in which Monteverdi has the parts sing in thirds, or the way in which he makes the word `sea' sound like the sea. Rather, the passion of the song- Armida's passion- is transmigrated into the audience through the irony of her situation. Monteverdi places the audience solely in Armida's perspective. He allows the audience to feel and share her rage, her hope for revenge, and her frustrated love. And then he jolts both Armida and the audience back into the inescapable futility of Armida's situation. The shock felt by the audience when Armida finally reaches the high `a' is profound, and deep-rooted. "And do I love him yet, and sit me down to weep along this shore, yet unavenged," she asks. Both the audience and Armida at this point know the answer to this question: yes.