[Theme music begins]
Welcome to Harmonia … I’m Angela Mariani. This hour, we begin to explore the wonderful art of intabulation. Intabulation was the process of creating instrumental music from existing pieces, such as adapting a vocal chanson for the lute or arranging a Vivaldi concerto for the organ. Generations of musicians from the Middle Ages to the classical period made music for their instruments this way, embellishing the source material to create something completely new. Later in the hour, our featured recording comes from harpsichordist Federica Bianchi.
[Theme music fades]
MUSIC TRACK
Cabezón Glosas
Glen Wilson
Naxos | 8.572477 (2013)
Hernando de Cabazon
Tr.17 Susanne un jour (4:26)
Glen Wilson played a keyboard arrangement of the chanson “Susanne un jour,” by Orlando Lasso. The piece we heard was intabulated for the keyboard by Antonio de Cabezón and originally appeared in a collection called Obras de musica published in 1578. / The Obras included almost 300 pieces intabulated and composed for the keyboard, harp, and vihuela. / It is one of the most important collections of renaissance music found in Spain.
The chanson “Susanne un jour” tells the biblical story of Susanna and the Elders from the book of Daniel. It was one of Orlando Lasso’s most popular chansons, and he used it as a model for a Mass and a Magnificat setting later in his life. “Susanne un jour” was also a popular source of intabulation for instrumentalists in the Renaissance, with numerous settings arranged and embellished for lute, vihuela, keyboard, and organ. The Leipzig organist Elias Ammerbach intabulated a version of Lasso’s chanson in his first book of tablature, published in 1571. We’ll listen to Lasso’s original chanson sung by the Lausanne ensemble, followed by a keyboard arrangement by Elias Ammerbach.
MUSIC TRACK
Chansons and Madrigals
Lausanne Vocal Ensemble
Erato | 5054197670985 (2023)
Orlando Lassus
Tr. 8 Susanne un jour (2:15)
MUSIC TRACK
Ammerbach: Harpsichord works from the Tabulaturbuch
Glen Wilson
Naxos | 8.570335 (2007)
Elias Nikolaus Ammerbach
Tr. 6 Fantasia on Lassus’s Sussanna se videns (Susanne un jour) (6:04)
First, we heard the Lausanne Vocal ensemble sing the chanson “Susanne un jour” by Orlando Lasso. Then, Glen Wilson played a keyboard fantasia by Elias Ammerbach based on Lasso’s chanson.
The famous chanson “Mille regretz” first appeared in a collection published in 1533. The title translates to “a thousand regrets” and the poem expresses the anguish felt at the end of a love affair. It was a common source of intabulation and adaptation, possibly because of its simplicity and popularity. The piece has historically been attributed to the composer Josquin des Prez, [though this has been a point of debate in recent scholarship]. We’ll hear the Scholars of London sing the original chanson.
MUSIC TRACK
French Chansons
Scholars of London
Naxos | 8.550880 (1994)
Tr. 2 Mille regretz (1:51)
The chanson “Mille regretz,” attributed to Josquin des Prez, sung by the Scholars of London.
In the 1520s, Spanish composer Luis de Narváez intabulated Josquin’s “Mille regretz” for the vihuela. The vihuela was a plucked and fretted string instrument that was popular in the Renaissance, mostly found in Spain and Portugal. It had six pairs of strings and was tuned like a lute, not a guitar, giving it a unique sound. The bulk of lute and vihuela repertoire in the Renaissance was created by intabulating vocal works, both sacred and secular. Narváez called the piece “Canción del Emperador” because it was a favorite of Emperor Charles V.
MUSIC TRACK
La Vihuela
Joachim Gassmann
Musicaphon | M56928 (2011)
Narvaez
Tr. 11 Canción del Emperador (2:25)
Joachim Gassmann plays “Cancion del Emperador” on the vihuela. This piece is Luis de Narvaez’s arrangement of the chanson “Mille Regretz” attributed Josquin des Prez.
[Theme music begins]
Early music can mean a lot of things. What does it mean to you? Let us know your thoughts and ideas. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org, where you’ll also find playlists and an archive of past shows.
You’re listening to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.
[Theme music fades]
MUSIC TRACK
Ammerbach: Harpsichord works from the Tabulaturbuch
Glen Wilson
Naxos | 8.570335 (2007)
Elias Nikolaus Ammerbach
Tr. 8 Galliard, “La royne d’escosse” (1:05)
Welcome back to Harmonia. This hour, we’re exploring how musicians created solo pieces for their instruments through the art of intabulation. So far, we’ve heard how vocal music became pieces for the keyboard and vihuela. However, a composer could intabulate any type of music for their instrument, not just songs.
One of the ways Johann Sebastian Bach, and many musicians in the eighteenth century, learned to compose was by copying out the music of other composers. As he matured, Bach would often take this one step further and intabulate the pieces he copied for new instruments and ensembles. In many cases, Bach would create an entirely new work, sometimes barely preserving the themes and structure of the model.
Bach encountered Antonio Vivaldi’s music in the early 1700s and began incorporating elements of Vivaldi’s style into all aspects of his own music. For example, many of Bach’s fugue subjects emulate Vivaldi’s method for creating musical themes in his concertos. But he didn’t stop there; Bach arranged several of Vivaldi’s concertos for keyboard instruments. Our example this hour is Vivaldi’s concerto for 2 violins, which comes from a set of twelve concertos called L’estro Harmonico, or “Harmonic inspiration.” In the first and last movements, the two solo violins exchange intense and rapid figuration back and forth. The middle movement is slower, as expected, but among the most expressive and lyrical melodies in Vivaldi’s output. We’ll hear all three movements performed by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.
MUSIC TRACK
Vivaldi – Dvorak – Schönberg
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
Mediaphon | 0848033060857 (2016)
Antonio Vivaldi
Tracks 1-3 Concerto for 2 Violins in A Minor, Op. 3, No. 8, RV 522 (10:49)
[Tr. 1 (3:43); Tr. 2 (3:56); Tr. 3 (3:10)]
The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra played Vivaldi’s Concerto for 2 Violins in A Minor.
In creating his organ arrangement of Vivaldi’s concerto, Bach distinguishes between the solo violins and the full orchestra by cleverly using the manuals of the organ. In sections where the violin soloists would play, Bach tells the organist to play on the positive, which contains the softer stops of the organ. In sections where the full orchestra would play, Bach instructs the organist to move to the great – the loudest manual on the organ. This is one of the many ways that Bach adapts the effects of a string concerto for the organ. We’ll hear the concerto played on the Silbermann organ in Dresden, Germany.
MUSIC TRACK
Orgelkonzerte
Johannes-Ernst Köhler
Berlin Classics | 0090472B (1973)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Tracks 4-6 Organ Concerto in A minor, BWV 593 (11:25)
Johannes-Ernst Köhler played Johann Sebastian Bach’s organ arrangement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in A minor.
Our featured release this hour is the album Aquila Altera released in 2022 on the Passacaille label. It features harpsichordist and organist Federica Bianchi performing Italian keyboard works from the Renaissance. Federica is a world-renowned harpsichordist and organist who has studied in Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands. She actively performs solo recitals and with ensembles across North America and Europe.
We’ll hear Federica Bianchi play three pieces from a keyboard collection called Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, which means “Frottoles intabulated for organ performance.” Published in 1517 by Andrea Antico, the Frottole intabulate was the first collection of keyboard music ever published in Italy. It contains 26 frottolas by well-known composers that have been arranged for performance on a keyboard instrument. A frottola was a type of secular Italian song and a precursor to the madrigal. Most frottolas were composed for three or four voices, though many were performed by one singer with lute accompaniment. Usually, frottolas were homophonic and avoided the denser counterpoint found in Italian madrigals and French chansons. Because of this, they make up a significant part of the intabulation practice in Italy. The collection published by Andrea Antico was only the first of many intabulated songs for keyboard instruments. The pieces on our featured release recording were originally written by the composers Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Marchetto Cara. It’s likely that the printer Andrea Antico arranged the frottolas himself for this collection.
MUSIC TRACK
Aquila Altera
Federica Bianchi
Passacaille | 5425004841117 (2022)
Andrea Antico, publisher
Tr. 2 Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, Book 1: Per dolor Mi bagno el viso (3:45)
Tr. 8 Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, Book 1: Ochi miei lassi (3:28)
Tr. 14 Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, Book 1: La non Vol esser (1:00)
[extra: Tr. 11 Antico: Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, Book 1: Animoso mio desire (excerpt of 2:00]
Federica Bianchi played three keyboard frottolas from Andrea Antico’s collection Frottole intabulate da sonare organi. First, we heard “Per dolor mi bagno el viso,” by Marchetto Cara, followed by “Ochi miei lassi,” and “La non Vol esser,” both by Bartolomeo Tromboncino.
[Fade in theme music]
Harmonia is a production of WFIU and part of the educational mission of Indiana University.
Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that advocates and supports the historical performance of music of the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched by it. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.
Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
We welcome your thoughts about any part of this program, or about early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. You can follow us on Facebook by searching for Harmonia Early Music.
The writer for this edition of Harmonia is Travis Whaley.
Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Aaron Cain, and John Bailey. I’m Angela Mariani, inviting you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.
[Theme music concludes]
Welcome to Harmonia … I’m Angela Mariani. This hour, we begin to explore the wonderful art of intabulation. Intabulation was the process of creating instrumental music from existing pieces, such as adapting a vocal chanson for the lute or arranging a Vivaldi concerto for the organ. Generations of musicians from the Middle Ages to the classical period made music for their instruments this way, embellishing the source material to create something completely new. Later in the hour, our featured recording comes from harpsichordist Federica Bianchi.
[Theme music fades]
MUSIC TRACK
Cabezón Glosas
Glen Wilson
Naxos | 8.572477 (2013)
Hernando de Cabazon
Tr.17 Susanne un jour (4:26)
Glen Wilson played a keyboard arrangement of the chanson “Susanne un jour,” by Orlando Lasso. The piece we heard was intabulated for the keyboard by Antonio de Cabezón and originally appeared in a collection called Obras de musica published in 1578. / The Obras included almost 300 pieces intabulated and composed for the keyboard, harp, and vihuela. / It is one of the most important collections of renaissance music found in Spain.
The chanson “Susanne un jour” tells the biblical story of Susanna and the Elders from the book of Daniel. It was one of Orlando Lasso’s most popular chansons, and he used it as a model for a Mass and a Magnificat setting later in his life. “Susanne un jour” was also a popular source of intabulation for instrumentalists in the Renaissance, with numerous settings arranged and embellished for lute, vihuela, keyboard, and organ. The Leipzig organist Elias Ammerbach intabulated a version of Lasso’s chanson in his first book of tablature, published in 1571. We’ll listen to Lasso’s original chanson sung by the Lausanne ensemble, followed by a keyboard arrangement by Elias Ammerbach.
MUSIC TRACK
Chansons and Madrigals
Lausanne Vocal Ensemble
Erato | 5054197670985 (2023)
Orlando Lassus
Tr. 8 Susanne un jour (2:15)
MUSIC TRACK
Ammerbach: Harpsichord works from the Tabulaturbuch
Glen Wilson
Naxos | 8.570335 (2007)
Elias Nikolaus Ammerbach
Tr. 6 Fantasia on Lassus’s Sussanna se videns (Susanne un jour) (6:04)
First, we heard the Lausanne Vocal ensemble sing the chanson “Susanne un jour” by Orlando Lasso. Then, Glen Wilson played a keyboard fantasia by Elias Ammerbach based on Lasso’s chanson.
The famous chanson “Mille regretz” first appeared in a collection published in 1533. The title translates to “a thousand regrets” and the poem expresses the anguish felt at the end of a love affair. It was a common source of intabulation and adaptation, possibly because of its simplicity and popularity. The piece has historically been attributed to the composer Josquin des Prez, [though this has been a point of debate in recent scholarship]. We’ll hear the Scholars of London sing the original chanson.
MUSIC TRACK
French Chansons
Scholars of London
Naxos | 8.550880 (1994)
Tr. 2 Mille regretz (1:51)
The chanson “Mille regretz,” attributed to Josquin des Prez, sung by the Scholars of London.
In the 1520s, Spanish composer Luis de Narváez intabulated Josquin’s “Mille regretz” for the vihuela. The vihuela was a plucked and fretted string instrument that was popular in the Renaissance, mostly found in Spain and Portugal. It had six pairs of strings and was tuned like a lute, not a guitar, giving it a unique sound. The bulk of lute and vihuela repertoire in the Renaissance was created by intabulating vocal works, both sacred and secular. Narváez called the piece “Canción del Emperador” because it was a favorite of Emperor Charles V.
MUSIC TRACK
La Vihuela
Joachim Gassmann
Musicaphon | M56928 (2011)
Narvaez
Tr. 11 Canción del Emperador (2:25)
Joachim Gassmann plays “Cancion del Emperador” on the vihuela. This piece is Luis de Narvaez’s arrangement of the chanson “Mille Regretz” attributed Josquin des Prez.
[Theme music begins]
Early music can mean a lot of things. What does it mean to you? Let us know your thoughts and ideas. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org, where you’ll also find playlists and an archive of past shows.
You’re listening to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.
[Theme music fades]
MUSIC TRACK
Ammerbach: Harpsichord works from the Tabulaturbuch
Glen Wilson
Naxos | 8.570335 (2007)
Elias Nikolaus Ammerbach
Tr. 8 Galliard, “La royne d’escosse” (1:05)
Welcome back to Harmonia. This hour, we’re exploring how musicians created solo pieces for their instruments through the art of intabulation. So far, we’ve heard how vocal music became pieces for the keyboard and vihuela. However, a composer could intabulate any type of music for their instrument, not just songs.
One of the ways Johann Sebastian Bach, and many musicians in the eighteenth century, learned to compose was by copying out the music of other composers. As he matured, Bach would often take this one step further and intabulate the pieces he copied for new instruments and ensembles. In many cases, Bach would create an entirely new work, sometimes barely preserving the themes and structure of the model.
Bach encountered Antonio Vivaldi’s music in the early 1700s and began incorporating elements of Vivaldi’s style into all aspects of his own music. For example, many of Bach’s fugue subjects emulate Vivaldi’s method for creating musical themes in his concertos. But he didn’t stop there; Bach arranged several of Vivaldi’s concertos for keyboard instruments. Our example this hour is Vivaldi’s concerto for 2 violins, which comes from a set of twelve concertos called L’estro Harmonico, or “Harmonic inspiration.” In the first and last movements, the two solo violins exchange intense and rapid figuration back and forth. The middle movement is slower, as expected, but among the most expressive and lyrical melodies in Vivaldi’s output. We’ll hear all three movements performed by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.
MUSIC TRACK
Vivaldi – Dvorak – Schönberg
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
Mediaphon | 0848033060857 (2016)
Antonio Vivaldi
Tracks 1-3 Concerto for 2 Violins in A Minor, Op. 3, No. 8, RV 522 (10:49)
[Tr. 1 (3:43); Tr. 2 (3:56); Tr. 3 (3:10)]
The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra played Vivaldi’s Concerto for 2 Violins in A Minor.
In creating his organ arrangement of Vivaldi’s concerto, Bach distinguishes between the solo violins and the full orchestra by cleverly using the manuals of the organ. In sections where the violin soloists would play, Bach tells the organist to play on the positive, which contains the softer stops of the organ. In sections where the full orchestra would play, Bach instructs the organist to move to the great – the loudest manual on the organ. This is one of the many ways that Bach adapts the effects of a string concerto for the organ. We’ll hear the concerto played on the Silbermann organ in Dresden, Germany.
MUSIC TRACK
Orgelkonzerte
Johannes-Ernst Köhler
Berlin Classics | 0090472B (1973)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Tracks 4-6 Organ Concerto in A minor, BWV 593 (11:25)
Johannes-Ernst Köhler played Johann Sebastian Bach’s organ arrangement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in A minor.
Our featured release this hour is the album Aquila Altera released in 2022 on the Passacaille label. It features harpsichordist and organist Federica Bianchi performing Italian keyboard works from the Renaissance. Federica is a world-renowned harpsichordist and organist who has studied in Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands. She actively performs solo recitals and with ensembles across North America and Europe.
We’ll hear Federica Bianchi play three pieces from a keyboard collection called Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, which means “Frottoles intabulated for organ performance.” Published in 1517 by Andrea Antico, the Frottole intabulate was the first collection of keyboard music ever published in Italy. It contains 26 frottolas by well-known composers that have been arranged for performance on a keyboard instrument. A frottola was a type of secular Italian song and a precursor to the madrigal. Most frottolas were composed for three or four voices, though many were performed by one singer with lute accompaniment. Usually, frottolas were homophonic and avoided the denser counterpoint found in Italian madrigals and French chansons. Because of this, they make up a significant part of the intabulation practice in Italy. The collection published by Andrea Antico was only the first of many intabulated songs for keyboard instruments. The pieces on our featured release recording were originally written by the composers Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Marchetto Cara. It’s likely that the printer Andrea Antico arranged the frottolas himself for this collection.
MUSIC TRACK
Aquila Altera
Federica Bianchi
Passacaille | 5425004841117 (2022)
Andrea Antico, publisher
Tr. 2 Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, Book 1: Per dolor Mi bagno el viso (3:45)
Tr. 8 Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, Book 1: Ochi miei lassi (3:28)
Tr. 14 Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, Book 1: La non Vol esser (1:00)
[extra: Tr. 11 Antico: Frottole intabulate da sonare organi, Book 1: Animoso mio desire (excerpt of 2:00]
Federica Bianchi played three keyboard frottolas from Andrea Antico’s collection Frottole intabulate da sonare organi. First, we heard “Per dolor mi bagno el viso,” by Marchetto Cara, followed by “Ochi miei lassi,” and “La non Vol esser,” both by Bartolomeo Tromboncino.
[Fade in theme music]
Harmonia is a production of WFIU and part of the educational mission of Indiana University.
Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that advocates and supports the historical performance of music of the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched by it. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.
Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
We welcome your thoughts about any part of this program, or about early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. You can follow us on Facebook by searching for Harmonia Early Music.
The writer for this edition of Harmonia is Travis Whaley.
Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Aaron Cain, and John Bailey. I’m Angela Mariani, inviting you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.
[Theme music concludes]
