Monteverdi: Ohim, se tanto amate

Monteverdi

Claudio Monteverdi
Born in 1567 (Italy)
Died in 1643 (Venice)
Was the most important Italian composer of his generation, with a
key part in the transition between the Renaissance to Baroque

Background to the
Piece

music.
Based in Mantua

Published in Venice, 1603

In Il quarto libro di madrigali (The fourth book of Madgridals)
Probably performed at the Mantuan court by professional singers
Based on a poem by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612)
Monteverdi set a number of texts bt Guarini, who had close ties

with Mantua.
The performers would have performed from a part-book rather

than a score.
The 1615 edition typically had no bar lines, and some parts still

used C clef.
This piece is an example of the new seconda pratica.
Its emotional intensity must have made it very shocking and
modern to the people accustomed with the prima pratica (e.g.
Palistrina).

Forces

Monteverdi wrote in 5 parts, almost certainly expecting

performance by 5 soloists rather than a choir.

This was a secular piece, and was almost certainly sung by a mixed

Texture

ensemble of women and men.

5 voices:
- Canto (song); soprano range, middle C to G a 12th above
- Quinto (fifth); more second soprano
- Alto (almost certainly a high tenor)
- Tenor (baritone rather than a genuine tenor)
- Bass

Often 5 voices sing together, but there are passages for various

three-part groupings
Antiphony early in the final section (canto, quinto, bass; then alto,

tenor, bass)
Four-part writing is little used
Often all voices share the same rhythm (i.e. chordal or

Tonality

homorhythmic texture; e.g. first hearing of se tanto amate)

Sometimes parts have different rhythms simultaneously

(employing a freer homophonic style)

Occasional counterpoint
Little imitation (e.g. ma se cor mio)

Ohime, se tanto amate predates the type of functional tonality

which emerged in the late Baroque. The latter was based on:
diatonic scales (major and minor), use of primary chords (tonic and

dominant), systematic use of modulations.

Moteverdi used several types of diatonic scales, but in the late

Renaissance these were modes.

In Ohime, we can identify the Dorian mode transposed to G with

key signature of 1 flat.

But, as was customary, the composer blurred the mode by often
altering E naturals to E flats, F naturals to F sharps. In section 3,
this counts for a number of false relations which were avoided in

many later styles.

Ohime, like much other music composed in the c.1600, used:
- Tonic and dominant notes (G and D) these are sometimes
-

emphasised, such as the bass pedals in section 3

Chords I (G minor) and V (D major) are important especially

at cadential points
Neither tonic or dominant notes or chords have the tonal force

and power that they were to enjoy in later music.

Monteverdi was also aware of the value of tonal contrast. The
music sometimes cadences away from G (notably D at the end of
section 1 and on a B flat soon after the start of section 3).

Harmony

Melody

Monteverdis harmony consists principally of:

- Root position triads
- First-inversion triads
Dissonant notes are sometimes plentiful.
Each voice has:
- Much conjunct (stepwise) movement
- Plenty of repeated notes, especially near the end
- Small leaps, in particular descending 3rds (the word ohime is
widely characterised by a melancholy descending 3rd (bars 6-7)
Monteverdi also has leaps of 4ths and 5ths (notably 5ths where
the bass outlines perfect cadences and other chord successions
with roots a 5th apart)

Rhythm

Occasional larger leaps (normally between phrases, notably

descending minor 7ths)

Melodic outlines are sometimes more adventurous than those of

such composers as Palestrina.

Plentiful stepwise movement and small leaps are common.

Ohime, se tanto amate is rhythmically very diverse. How different

from the usually smooth rhythmic style of the prima pratica.

Some passages are slow moving, with minim chords or with of with

few if any notes shorter than a crotchet (e.g. section 2)

Some passages are rapid, with repeated quavers, no notes longer

than a crotchet, and perhaps a few semiquavers

Slow-moving and rapid passages may occur in close proximity
Diversity also means that while some phrases are very varied

rhythmically, others rely heavily on strings of equal notes

Accented syllables normally come on a strong beat
Unaccented syllables normally come on a weak beat
Syncopation is not widespread but does feature in more
contrapuntal passages. Generally Monteverdi wants rhythms with
an obvious beat.

Structure

Where a poem has several stanzas, a composer may use the same

music for each this is strophic setting.

Monteverdi uses a single stanza and does not repeat note-for-note

entire passages of music. His setting is through-composed.

It might be appropriate to think of the madrigal as having 3

sections.
Textural change is a major part of articulating the structure.
Section 1: ohime...morire. Bars 1-19. Texture builds up, 3-part

(with antiphony), briefly 4-part, full 5-part.

Section 2: sio moro...sentire. Bars 20-38. Two equal sub-sections,
each with the same texture; the second is varied and transposed

repeat (down a 5th).

Section 3: ma se cor mio... mille doci ohime. Bars 39-67. Texture:
much is 5-part, but with some 3-part passages involving varied

repetition of a passage featuring parallel 3rds.

Section 2 is not as long as section 1 despite shorter texture,
partly because of the internal repeat, but also because of the

fairly slow treatment prompted by the words languido e doloroso

Section 3 begins with rapid word-setting, probably in response to

vita (life).
The last 6 words are treated at greater length, with much

repetition to fit with mille mille (thousands and thousands).