Abstracts of issue 16 (2002)

Melodic Instruments: Role and Profile at Vocal Compositions in the Books of Concertato Secular Music Printed in Italy (1605-1640)

Through the comparison of representative music examples, this article aims to explore the profile and the structural role assigned to the melodic instruments in various vocal compositions included in books of secular music during the period 1605-1640, printed in Italy. A careful study concerning the features of their participation in those books in the first place leads us to accept the fact that they depended much on a more general subjection to the two prevailing idioms of the period, namely, the Italian and/or the Austrian. Soon after 1619, but mainly during the next two decades, a greater and continuously intensive exchange of morphological characteristics between the two stylistic mainstreams takes place, concerning instrumental parts as well, whether independent or not.

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