YEARBOOK OF THE ALAMIRE FOUNDATION
YEARBOOK OF THE ALAMIRE FOUNDATION YEARBOOK OF THE ALAMIRE FOUNDATION
142 DONNA G. CARDAMONE JACKSON The texts of villanelle given to Lasso are all characterized by rhetorical tendencies to amplification and metaphor, a kind of discourse that invites the expressive hand gestures traditionally associated with Neapolitans. 33 That Lasso was capable of creating poems calling for semantic completion through visible bodily action is implied in a letter he wrote to Wilhelm of Bavaria in 1574, describing how he entertained his companions on a journey to Italy: ‘I have been reciting jokes, proverbs, and strambotti with lots of farcical and bawdy humor’. 34 Clearly by this time he had built up the same stock of gestural materials that villanella poets habitually exploited for comical effects. Lasso’s predilection for ribald gestic humor finds a parallel in no. 15, wherein sexually suggestive descriptions of playing instruments are juxtaposed with droll punning on solmization syllables that signify love-making. 35 No. 18 is a pertinent example of how Lasso might load his memory with matter relevant to his favorite dell’arte character – a lascivious old man baffled and frustrated by women (see Example 5). Here the speaker identifies himself as Pasquarello, an emerging vecchio mask of Neapolitan origin, 36 whose stage personality was similar to that of Pantalone, the senile Venetian merchant that Lasso portrayed in a comedy staged in 1568 for the Bavarian court. Pasquarello’s language is inherently theatrical and obviously contrived to be completed by correlative gestures, both mimetic and musical. At the beginning of each stanza he greets an attractive signora with a rhythmically animated tune that rises sequentially, then slows as it sinks to the cadence. The shaping of the phrase allows the singer to express with his face or hands the desire that devours Pasquarello and even to bow down in an exaggerated manner – assuming that the villanella was rendered soloistically with lute accompaniment, a common practice. The tune reaches its highest peak in the recurrent refrain and then descends in urgent leaps as Pasquarello begs in vain for the signora’s hand, again suggesting performative gestures. It is not clear if the signora is a lady of doubtful reputation or an aristocrat obliged to maintain a haughty demeanor. Nonetheless, her silent disdain invites the singer to put his hands, head, and eyes into motion to amplify Pasquarello’s frustrated desire for the audience. Emerging dell’arte masks were introduced to Rome at mid-century by itinerant comedians from the Veneto, offering Lasso the opportunity to observe the antics of Pantalone and his servant Zanni, also known for singing canzoni to lute accompaniment. 37 33 A. DE JORIO, Gesture in Naples and Gesture in Classical Antiquity, trans. A. KENDON, Bloomington, 2000. 34 Quoted in P. WELLER, Lasso, Man of the Theatre, in I. BOSSUYT, E. SCHREURS and A. WOUTERS eds., Orlandus Lassus and His Time, (Yearbook of the Alamire Foundation, 1), Peer, 1995, p. 90. 35 For an edition of this villanella, see CARDAMONE, The Salon as Marketplace, pp. 72–74. It proved to be the most popular villanella in Dorico’s anthology, having been arranged by six composers (see Table 2). 36 A. NICOLL, Masks Mimes and Miracles. Studies in the Popular Theatre, New York, 1963, p. 260. 37 F. CRUCIANI, Teatro nel rinascimento. Roma 1450–1550, Rome, 1983, pp. 623–627.
(1) Bona sera como stai core mio bello? Dal’autro giorno non t’aggio veduta. Io t’aggio conosciuto da lontano, Adio signora toccami la mano. (2) Bona sera non conosci Pasquarello? Fami carisse et non star come muta. Io t’aggio conosciuto da lontano, Adio signora toccami la mano. (3) Bona sera io conosco ch’ai martiello, Tu non ci vedi et stai come storduta. Io t’aggio conosciuto da lontano, Adio signora toccami la mano. (4) Bona sera che lo mare è in fortuna, Haggio spigliat’a mal punto la luna. Io t’aggio conosciuto da lontano, Adio signora toccami la mano. ORLANDO DI LASSO ET AL.: A NEW READING OF THE ROMAN VILLANELLA BOOK (1555) Good evening, how are you my gentle heart? I haven’t seen you since the other day. I’ve known you from afar, farewell lady, take my hand. Good evening, don’t you know Pasquarello? Caress me and don’t be silent, I’ve known you from afar, farewell lady, take my hand. Good evening, I know that you’re tormented, you can’t see and you’re in a daze. I’ve known you from afar, farewell lady, take my hand. Good evening, since the sea is stormy, I’ve thrown the moon into an adverse phase. I’ve known you from afar, farewell lady, take my hand. Example 5. Bona sera como stai core mio bello, Cantus, 1555 30 ; Tenor, 1558 16 . 143
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(1) Bona sera como stai core mio bello?<br />
Dal’autro giorno non t’aggio veduta.<br />
Io t’aggio conosciuto da lontano,<br />
Adio signora toccami la mano.<br />
(2) Bona sera non conosci Pasquarello?<br />
Fami carisse et non star come muta.<br />
Io t’aggio conosciuto da lontano,<br />
Adio signora toccami la mano.<br />
(3) Bona sera io conosco ch’ai martiello,<br />
Tu non ci vedi et stai come storduta.<br />
Io t’aggio conosciuto da lontano,<br />
Adio signora toccami la mano.<br />
(4) Bona sera che lo mare è in fortuna,<br />
Haggio spigliat’a mal punto la luna.<br />
Io t’aggio conosciuto da lontano,<br />
Adio signora toccami la mano.<br />
ORLANDO DI LASSO ET AL.: A NEW READING <strong>OF</strong> <strong>THE</strong> ROMAN VILLANELLA BOOK (1555)<br />
Good evening, how are you my gentle heart?<br />
I haven’t seen you since the other day.<br />
I’ve known you from afar,<br />
farewell lady, take my hand.<br />
Good evening, don’t you know Pasquarello?<br />
Caress me and don’t be silent,<br />
I’ve known you from afar,<br />
farewell lady, take my hand.<br />
Good evening, I know that you’re tormented,<br />
you can’t see and you’re in a daze.<br />
I’ve known you from afar,<br />
farewell lady, take my hand.<br />
Good evening, since the sea is stormy,<br />
I’ve thrown the moon into an adverse phase.<br />
I’ve known you from afar,<br />
farewell lady, take my hand.<br />
Example 5. Bona sera como stai core mio bello, Cantus, 1555 30 ; Tenor, 1558 16 .<br />
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