Italy was an important cultural center since the times of the Roman Empire. However, it wasn’t until the Renaissance movement that Italy became widely known for its arts, and more importantly, its music. The Renaissance movement, which originated in Florence in the 14th century, expanded throughout Europe, carrying Italian traditions and notation standards with it.
The most famous of Italy’s musical developments during the renaissance was the creation of Opera*. After its development, Italian Opera became widely popular throughout Europe, as did its composers and performers. One such Italian composer was Claudio Monteverdi (1576-1643). His operas used varying dynamics and dissonance to create expressive tones and to engage early opera listeners in the emotions of the performers. Monteverdi’s most famous (and earliest) opera was L’Orfeo, which told the tale of the Greek musician named Orpheus, who failed to bring his dead love back from the Underworld.
However, Opera was not the only form of music evolving in Italy during that period. Many instruments were invented and developed thanks to the wide use of music in religious and aristocratic life. Flutes, reed pipes, string instruments, and the organ were all created during the Renaissance thanks to their high demand and advances in technology which made them easier to manufacture.
With these new instruments came the need for proper musical notation. The earliest form of notation was in Neumes. These symbols indicated changes in pitch and tempo in music, but not the actual pitches of the individual notes. Those distinct pitches were decided by performers, but it was later made consistent by the creation of the staff*. Below is an early form of music notation. All the notes had the same general shape, so in order to figure its length and pitch, you needed to look at the length of the spaces between other notes and their relative placement vertically above the lyrics.
Famous Italian Musicians and Composers who Innovated Music Notation:
Hucbald of Flanders (840-930) – One of the first to improve on musical notation by introducing the earliest form of the staff system (lines and the spaces).
Guido of Arezzo (995 – 1050) – Made himself famous in Italy when he invented the staff system of notation. He standardized music, making it easier to write and interpret for composers and performers. He also invented the “Guidonian Hand", seen below. Each section of the hand represented a different note, and by gesturing to a certain section, he could teach singers their notes.
Franco d'Cologne (mid-13th Century) – Was the first to suggest that notes of different lengths of time should be given different shapes to reflect that given length. This new system was called Franconian notation. The image below shows what notes from that time period would have looked like.
The practices of these composers were exploited widely through Italy and Europe, seeding the deep roots for further musical developments.
Definitions:
Opera: a complex form of music, if which instrumentation and strong vocals are combined to create a complex story line.
Staff: a set of five lines and four spaces that is used to define a notes pitch. It is also known as a stave.
Related Links:
Baroque Music Origins - http://www.baroque.org/baroque/whatis.htm
Claudio Monteverdi Biography – http://www.naxos.com/person/Claudio_Monteverdi/24641.htm
Guido d’Arezzo (biography) –http://www.longwood.edu/staff/swansoncl/Sightsinging/GUIDO%20AREZZO.htm
History of Notation – http://neilhawes.com/sstheory/theory22.htm
Italian Musical Terms - http://www.musictheory.org.uk/res-musical-terms/italian-musical-terms.php
NPR - Monteverdi's Pioneering ‘Vespers’ – http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/120992666/monteverdis-pioneering-vespers
Medieval Music –http://ejournal.eduprojects.net/virtual-slot2/index.php?action%5B%5D=IArticleShow::showArticle('35389')
Opera in Early Italian Renaissance –
The Instruments of Renaissance Music – http://www.tapiasgold.com/instruments.html
The Origins of Music (with Italian terms)- http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa092700b.htm
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