A.Banchieri - Gemelli Armonici & Metamorfosi Musicale

The idea of uniting two brief works so that each is the complement of the other is not only an alternative to an otherwise “pedantic presentation”; it strives above all to be a “tribute” to the element of variety evoked earlier. The interaction between the two collections offers a wide array of music which varies in both form and content, but is homogeneous in style and intent.
The idea of uniting two brief works so that each is the complement of the other is not only an alternative to an otherwise “pedantic presentation”; it strives above all to be a “tribute” to the element of variety evoked earlier. The interaction between the two collections offers a wide array of music which varies in both form and content, but is homogeneous in style and intent. The juxtaposition underscores the versatility of a composer who takes pleasure in passing easily from cultivated to popular styles and tastes. Yet his music never lacks in original solutions or friendly references, all of which he exploits to exemplify his considered reasoning, as set down in the Cartella. In keeping with this same attention to historical authenticity, this program precedes the metamorphosis of Marenzio’s madrigal (from which Banchieri’s secular collection takes its name) with a passage from a “serious” variation of the same madrigal: a version for lute in tablature of Liquide perle, composed by the lutenist Giovanni Antonio Terzi of Bergamo, who published two books of arias in tablature at the end of the 16th century. The readings of the verses by Tasso over the version by Terzi is completed by an excerpt (for voice and instruments) of the original madrigal by Luca Marenzio. The parody pronounced by the doctor is read instead over the metamorphosis by Banchieri, played on the lute after a vocal and instrumental introduction. The interpretation of the numerous dialogues (sung by a single singer using different vocal timbres according to the character impersonated) has helped to evoke the personages from the commedia dell’arte and thus reproduce the stereotypes of the original masked comedy. Albeit in total respect for historical performance practice, the original material leaves a great deal of room for “experimentation”, both in entrusting the text to a single singer and in the careful search for appropriate timbres, as reflected in the choice of instrumentation. Following the indications of the author in his notes to La Prudenza Giovenile, a voice reads the introductory verses of every scene “accompanied by the grace of the musicians who concertize a pleasant melody of their choosing.”