{"id":247,"date":"2015-06-02T16:21:06","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T16:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/musicx15xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=247"},"modified":"2015-07-10T21:42:24","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T21:42:24","slug":"monody","status":"web-only","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/odessa-musicapp-medievaltomodern\/chapter\/monody\/","title":{"raw":"Monody","rendered":"Monody"},"content":{"raw":"One of the aims of the scholars in the Florentine Camerata was to make the music serve the text. They objected to the obscuring of the text and its meaning that was common in late Renaissance polyphony, and they sought to create a new musical style that would be more expressive and reflective of the text. To do this, they looked back to the traditions of ancient Greek drama\u2014or at least to their limited understanding of those traditions. The result of their efforts was the singing style we refer to as monody. Though monody in its strictest form did not remain in use very long, it had enormous influence on the emerging vocal genres of opera, cantata, and oratorio.\r\n

Introduction<\/h2>\r\nIn music, the term\u00a0monody<\/strong>\u00a0refers to a solo vocal style distinguished by having a single\u00a0melodic\u00a0line and instrumental accompaniment. More specifically it applies to Italian\u00a0song of the early seventeenth\u00a0century, particularly the period from about 1600 to 1640. The term itself is a recent invention of scholars: no composer of the seventeenth\u00a0century ever called a piece a monody. In the Baroque, compositions in monodic style were labeled madrigals, motets, or even\u00a0concertos\u00a0(in the earlier sense of \"concertato,\" meaning \"with instruments\").\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_265\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"270\"]\"Figure Figure 1. Caccini, Le Nuove musiche, 1601, title page[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn monody, which developed out of an attempt by the\u00a0Florentine Camerata\u00a0in the 1580s to restore\u00a0ancient Greek\u00a0ideas of melody and declamation (probably with little historical accuracy), a solo voice sings a rhythmically free melodic line in a declamatory style. Early Baroque composer\u2019s primary goal in monodic composition was to have the music conform to the natural rhythm and meaning of the text. This was a reaction to the complex polyphony of late Renaissance choral music in which the text was often obscured by the independence of the various lines. This vocal melody was sparsely accompanied by the bass line and improvised chords of basso continuo instrument pair. The development of monody was one of the defining characteristics of early\u00a0Baroque\u00a0practice, as opposed to late\u00a0Renaissance\u00a0style, in which groups of voices sang independently and with a greater balance between parts.\r\n\r\nExisting musical genres which adopted the style of monody were the madrigal and the motet, both of which developed into solo forms after 1600.\r\n\r\nContrasting passages in monodies could be more melodic or more declamatory: these two styles of presentation eventually developed into the\u00a0aria\u00a0and the\u00a0recitative, and the overall form merged with the\u00a0cantata\u00a0by about 1635.\r\n\r\nAn important early treatise on monody is contained in\u00a0Giulio Caccini's song collection,\u00a0Le nuove musiche<\/em>\u00a0(Florence, 1601).\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

One of the aims of the scholars in the Florentine Camerata was to make the music serve the text. They objected to the obscuring of the text and its meaning that was common in late Renaissance polyphony, and they sought to create a new musical style that would be more expressive and reflective of the text. To do this, they looked back to the traditions of ancient Greek drama\u2014or at least to their limited understanding of those traditions. The result of their efforts was the singing style we refer to as monody. Though monody in its strictest form did not remain in use very long, it had enormous influence on the emerging vocal genres of opera, cantata, and oratorio.<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

In music, the term\u00a0monody<\/strong>\u00a0refers to a solo vocal style distinguished by having a single\u00a0melodic\u00a0line and instrumental accompaniment. More specifically it applies to Italian\u00a0song of the early seventeenth\u00a0century, particularly the period from about 1600 to 1640. The term itself is a recent invention of scholars: no composer of the seventeenth\u00a0century ever called a piece a monody. In the Baroque, compositions in monodic style were labeled madrigals, motets, or even\u00a0concertos\u00a0(in the earlier sense of “concertato,” meaning “with instruments”).<\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/p>\n

Figure 1. Caccini, Le Nuove musiche, 1601, title page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In monody, which developed out of an attempt by the\u00a0Florentine Camerata\u00a0in the 1580s to restore\u00a0ancient Greek\u00a0ideas of melody and declamation (probably with little historical accuracy), a solo voice sings a rhythmically free melodic line in a declamatory style. Early Baroque composer\u2019s primary goal in monodic composition was to have the music conform to the natural rhythm and meaning of the text. This was a reaction to the complex polyphony of late Renaissance choral music in which the text was often obscured by the independence of the various lines. This vocal melody was sparsely accompanied by the bass line and improvised chords of basso continuo instrument pair. The development of monody was one of the defining characteristics of early\u00a0Baroque\u00a0practice, as opposed to late\u00a0Renaissance\u00a0style, in which groups of voices sang independently and with a greater balance between parts.<\/p>\n

Existing musical genres which adopted the style of monody were the madrigal and the motet, both of which developed into solo forms after 1600.<\/p>\n

Contrasting passages in monodies could be more melodic or more declamatory: these two styles of presentation eventually developed into the\u00a0aria\u00a0and the\u00a0recitative, and the overall form merged with the\u00a0cantata\u00a0by about 1635.<\/p>\n

An important early treatise on monody is contained in\u00a0Giulio Caccini’s song collection,\u00a0Le nuove musiche<\/em>\u00a0(Florence, 1601).<\/p>\n

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