Giovanni Battista De Vecchis and the theory of melodic accent from Zarlino to Zingarelli

Baragwanath, Nicholas (2014) Giovanni Battista De Vecchis and the theory of melodic accent from Zarlino to Zingarelli. Music and Letters, 95 (2). pp. 157-182. ISSN 0027-4224

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Abstract

This article investigates Niccolo' Zingarelli’s method of text-setting, as documented in Giovanni Battista De Vecchis’s Compendio of Neapolitan teachings (1850). It contextualizes De Vecchis’s instructions by tracing the genealogy of the concept of ‘accent’ as understood by early nineteenth-century composers through successive reinterpretations of an Italian theory of qualitative rhythmopoeia established in the sixteenth century, which accounted for rhythm, metre, and pitch through a threefold division of accent. The article explores its origins, its treatment by Zarlino, its significance in writings by nineteenth-century Italian musicians, and the confusing alternative terminology circulated by Rousseau (1768).The Neapolitan doctrine of text-setting presents a historical example of a ‘drastic’ approach to conceptualizing music, recognizing the priority of unruly human performance over abstract rationalization, in contrast to the ‘gnostic’ theories of Sulzer and Koch, with their emphasis on notated melodies and their subordination of rhythm (as spoken, sung, or played) to quantifiable metric grids.

Item Type: Article
RIS ID: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/729376
Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Music and Letters following peer review. The version of record: Baragwanath, N. (2014) Giovanni Battista De Vecchis and the theory of melodic accent from Zarlino to Zingarelli. Music and Letters, 95 (2). pp. 157-182. is available online at: http://ml.oxfordjournals.org/content/95/2/157.full.pdf
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Arts > School of Humanities > Department of Music
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/gcu010
Depositing User: Eprints, Support
Date Deposited: 09 Jun 2016 15:13
Last Modified: 04 May 2020 16:48
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/33846

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