Abstracts of issue 17 (2003)

Monteverdi’s “stile concitato”: Some Later Indications

In spite of Monteverdi’s declaration concerning the invention of the “new” style, in his Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi (1638) it seems that the paternity of its rhythmic expression does not belong to him. According to newly discovered material, the famous pattern of the sixteen successive semi-quavers preexists, wholly or partly, in works by Giovanni Valentini. The presence of many concitato elements found in Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (1624), in Valentini’s madrigals Tocchin le Trombe of 1619 and Guerra, guerra tu brami (1616) is due to the aggressive religious policy of the Emperor Ferdinand II Habsburg, which resulted in the eruption of the Thirty-Year War.

The warlike spirit and the grandeur of Ferdinand’s Court was highly reinforced by the use of the trumpet and its military repertoire, as it appears in Cesare Bendinelli’s (1614) and Girolamo Fantini’s (1638) playing methods of the instrument, where we can trace pieces that almost certainly form the source of inspiration for Valentini’s “motivi”. It is possible that Monteverdi might have heard Valentini’s compositions, as well as that he already knew Gabrieli’s instrumental pieces and the military signals of the trumpet. His decision to imitate them is probably connected to his ambitions concerning his professional and financial status. However, the existence of the madrigal Non più guerra in Valentini’s book of 1621 proves that Monteverdi was the first to occupy himself with the problematic of the passions, which rule the warrior’s soul in battle and their expression in terms of music.

© Musicology