Transcribing and Editing Early Italian Madrigals with Sibelius Music Software
Presentation Type
Poster
Keywords
Music, Editing, Early music, Basso continuo, Francesco Turini
Department
Music
Major
Vocal Performance (Music)
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to transcribe and edit a madrigal from Francesco Turini’s first book of madrigals. Turini (b Prague, c1589; d Brescia, 1656), a well-known Italian composer and organist, was recognized by some as “one of the foremost men of Italy.” Charles Burney, one of the first writers of a music history text, considered Turini to be a “deep and learned contrapuntist and canonist.” Imminent musicologists such as James Griere in his The Critical Editing of Music, point to four principles when undertaking an editing project such as this: 1) editing is critical in nature; 2) criticism, including editing, is based on historical inquiry; 3) editing involves the critical evaluation of the semiotic import of the musical text; and 4) the final arbiter in the critical evaluation of the musical text is the editor’s conception of musical style. The first task in this project was the transcription of the notes into modern notation. Compositions written during the early 17th century often lacked bar lines, contained numerous abbreviations, and did not clearly display accidentals. Therefore, it is up to the transcriber/editor to make decisions about the correctness of notes based on an understanding of harmonic practice. The original manuscript is printed in part books with an unrealized basso continuo part and requires the transcriber/editor to bring all parts together in one score. The outcome of this study has been the creation of a modern performing edition of a madrigal from a major work by Francesco Turini.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Gary W. Cobb
Funding Source or Research Program
Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative
Transcribing and Editing Early Italian Madrigals with Sibelius Music Software
The purpose of this project was to transcribe and edit a madrigal from Francesco Turini’s first book of madrigals. Turini (b Prague, c1589; d Brescia, 1656), a well-known Italian composer and organist, was recognized by some as “one of the foremost men of Italy.” Charles Burney, one of the first writers of a music history text, considered Turini to be a “deep and learned contrapuntist and canonist.” Imminent musicologists such as James Griere in his The Critical Editing of Music, point to four principles when undertaking an editing project such as this: 1) editing is critical in nature; 2) criticism, including editing, is based on historical inquiry; 3) editing involves the critical evaluation of the semiotic import of the musical text; and 4) the final arbiter in the critical evaluation of the musical text is the editor’s conception of musical style. The first task in this project was the transcription of the notes into modern notation. Compositions written during the early 17th century often lacked bar lines, contained numerous abbreviations, and did not clearly display accidentals. Therefore, it is up to the transcriber/editor to make decisions about the correctness of notes based on an understanding of harmonic practice. The original manuscript is printed in part books with an unrealized basso continuo part and requires the transcriber/editor to bring all parts together in one score. The outcome of this study has been the creation of a modern performing edition of a madrigal from a major work by Francesco Turini.