Dixon (1980) - G. F. Anerio (1567-1630) and The Roman School
Dixon (1980) - G. F. Anerio (1567-1630) and The Roman School
Dixon (1980) - G. F. Anerio (1567-1630) and The Roman School
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G. F. Anerio (1567-1630) and the Roman School
Graham Dixon
A. AI IVrI
liturgical publications representative of various facets of
his output. T. v
Anerio's musical training as a putto cantore under B. b-
Palestrina in the Cappella Giulia between 1575 and 1579 Et in ter-ra pax ho- m
indicates that from an early age he was familiar with the
polyphonic ecclesiastical style of the day. He seldom chose
to employ this idiom in his own works, but his reverence
for Palestrina can be seen in the publication of 1619,3 in
which he added continuo parts to three Palestrina masses.
He arranged one of these, the Missa Papae Marcelli, for of the mass, whil
four voices to bring it into line with the preferred scoring sists of smoothly
of the day.4 His own masses for four to six voices' were ad unisonum' of
published in 1614 and show the reluctance of Roman After leaving t
composers to write masses in anything but the traditional strong links wi
polyphonic style. Though published with a 'Bassus ad religious orders
organum' part these masses are traditional; based on pre- ted to the minor
existing material, save for the Missa brevis, they are the diaconate an
unified by means of head-motifs (each movement opening number of impor
with similar material) and observe the convention of apparently succ
reduced sections at the 'Christe', 'Crucifixus' and Lateran in 1603,
'Benedictus'. The large-scale Missa 'In te Domine speravi'Verona in 1608, w
Verona he publish
of 1609. In its inclusion of motets for one to three voices
'For biographical studies of G.F. Anerio see Grove 5 (1954), MGG (1949 - 51) and he shows a whole-hearted adoption of the small-scale
Dizionario biografico degli italiani (1961)
medium as pioneered by Viadana at the beginning of the
2Music in the Baroque Era (New York, 1947), 68
3Messe a quattro voci (Rome, 1619: RISM 1619')
4ed. in Two Settings of Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, ed. Busch (Madison,
Wisc., 1973) 'Rome, Biblioteca Casatenense, Mus. 286
mMissarum . . . liber primus (Rome, 1614) 'Messe a quattro voci (1619)
366
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century. Though weighted in favour of two-part writing, Anerio's next publica
it was the first Roman publication to include solo motets Rome as maestro of t
among other music. Its outstandingly progressive idiom That year saw the pub
could be partly attributed to his presence in Verona where most important featu
he could have met Stefano Bernardi, a native of the town litanies themselves,
and a composer well versed in the expressive styles of the Domini Dei (a 8), the e
Veneto. Dulcis amor Iesu for soprano and bass, though not concertato. This histor
representative of the volume, shows a very advanced succession of equal-voice duets, which lead into a
response to an affective text. In setting this series of polychoral concluding section, 'ave sancta virgo'. Its
Christ-directed sentiments he used abrupt, rather man- 'Bassus ad organum' part is essential for its provision of a
nered changes of mood: while the opening phrase is long foundation for the reduced sections. Though the term
and drawn-out, 'sagittis tuis' moves forward in rising 'concertato' is not used in his other publication of 1611,
quaver runs, and 'Ah mi Iesu' is a protracted sigh, ex- Motectorum liber secundus, this contains many motets
pressed by means of poignant diminished 4ths (ex.2). which include a selection of vocal groupings, mainly in
Ex. 2 response to personification within the text. For instance,
S, in Dixerunt discipuli (a 5), which describes the appearance
te) I Ah ni le - - - - su tra
of Christ to Thomas, Christ's words are set as a soprano
Cte)
duet and Thomas's as a tenor solo. A more developed use
B.
of this idiom is found in his Ghirlanda di sacre rose of
Ah ni le -- -- -- . .su tra 1619; many of its items are sectionalized, some with as
many as six short movements. One of the most extended is
B.C. ..- Hostes Herodes (a 5) for the Epiphany which includes two
solos, a duet and sections for four and five voices, all with
(be) continuo.
In 1613 Anerio became the maestro of the small Jesuit
church of S Maria dei Monti in Rome.8 In the year of his
(he)
A,
appointment he published a further volume of mainly
small-scale motets;9 a volume of stile antico motets with
'Bassus ad organum';10 and, displaying his concern for
Clearly Anerio refused to be bound bythe convention
liturgy, a setand
of Vesper antiphons for the entire
sought rather to step forward into a new liturgical
sphereyear,of musical
Antiphonae seu sacrae cantiones.
expression far removed from that of the 1614record
A diarist's masses.
of Anerio's first sung Mass, celebrated
Even the more conservative Tres pueri for three sopranos
in the Gesfi after his ordination in 1616, indicates that
from the same volume is progressive in its usestyle
another of of
anwriting
ABB was current in Rome besides the
structure and in its chordal, vertically conceived texture.
small-scale and the concertato idioms: 1
The solo motets of the 1609 volume owe much to the style
On 7 August Giovanni Francesco Anerio celebrated his first
of the polyphonic motet. When it was reprinted
sung Mass inin
the1620
Church of Gesti ... An infinite number of
Anerio had realized his failure to exploit
peoplefully theall the musicians of Rome divided into
came to hear.
possibilities of the solo voice and rewrote all the
eight solo
choirs items
in that church; this was without a doubt a thing
in a more idiomatic style, with ornamentationnever heard
and before.
a more
Apart from
decisive use of rhythm, as in the Cantabo the eight
Domino forlitanies of 1611, Anerio himself
published nothing
soprano solo (ex.3). In spite of such innovatory writing for polychoral forces. There remains
however in manuscript
Anerio was no enfant terrible; he continually enjoyeda 12-part mass, in which Anerio
patronage from the most respectable offoreshadows the large-scale
ecclesiastical in- music of the 'colossal Baro-
stitutions. que'. Entitled Missa Constantini, 1 it clearly dates from
Ex. 3 his period at the Polish court between 1624 and 1630,
(a) i6o9 version
where he served Zygmunt III (whose wife was called
Konstancja). It is polychorally conceived with some con-
trapuntal movement in the choirs during the sections with
B.C.
Can- ta . bo Do-mi-no i can less extended texts. Reduced sections also occur, such as
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the 'Crucifixus' and the 'Benedictus' for SSAT, marked 'a tion of his works forces us to abandon the notion that
voci pari'. The basso continuo knits together the large Rome was impervious to progressive stylistic techniques
number of voices, by providing them with a firm basis. after Palestrina's death and to accept that, while Palestrina
Anerio died in Graz on his return journey from Poland was greatly revered, the idiom in which composers chose
to Italy, and was buried there on 12 June 1630.13 He was to write was no mere imitation of the ecclesiastical style of
no isolated character among his Roman contemporaries; the previous generation. It is surely time, as we note the
in fact his use of small-scale, concertato and polychoral 350th anniversary of Anerio's death, to rediscover his
writing was typical of his age, as was his retrospective use works and those of the other Roman contemporaries of
of the prima prattica for mass composition. An examina- Monteverdi, which have long been overlooked and whose
'3H. Federhofer: 'Ein Beitrag zur Biographie von G.F. Anerio', Die historical position scholars and performers alike have
Musikforschung, ii (1949), 210 misinterpreted.
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