Ricercare a Due Voci no. 12, Francesco Guami, 1588

[aulos43]

This form was also known as a bicinium -- "duet," usually with a didactic intent.

The Guami brothers (Francesco and Gioseffo) were active in what is now Germany and Italy in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Stumbled across the music of one of them in the 70's, probably on a recording, as I don't recall playing any of their music at that time. I was attracted to the free imitation and the transitional harmonic palette -- between modal and tonal -- a pleasant example of the incipient sound-world of the early baroque.

I've added breath marks, per my taste. All notes between rests or after a rest and before a breath mark are intended to be taken in one breath.

This is playable as a duet by intermediate-level recorder players (N.B. m. 26). I've edited it as soprano (the original "canto" part) and alto ("tenore").

Walt

Notes:
-- The original midi file, IMSLP271551-PMLP440104-Guami_12.mid, is from IMSLP and I've included full attribution in the "Song title and authors. . ." secton of the .not file.
-- The filename ending in a03p is intended for printing -- the other one has a pick-up measure to set tempo for soprano practice.
-- If I get time, I may follow up with a version showing suggested ornaments.

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[herbert]

Hi Walt,

Was this music originally written for two flutes? Are there other versions? I am always on the lookout for little known music with substance, for re-use elsewhere.

IMSLP is a good source of classical sheet music. I have used this site occasionally. I generally don’t download midi files, because they are often not true to the original music. Though this may not be a problem with IMSLP.


Cheers,

Herbert

[Sherry C]

Hi Walt,

Thanks for sharing this!

Originally Posted by aulos43

-- The filename ending in a03p is intended for printing -- the other one has a pick-up measure to set tempo for soprano practice.

Actually you don't need to do that Musician and Composer both have a "Pickup measure" feature that will play a metronome for however many pickup measures you specify before a song starts playing. You can find that in Perform/Record...Pickup Beat Options.

-- If I get time, I may follow up with a version showing suggested ornaments.

Ornaments and grace notes will actually playback during the performance as well, so you can hear what it should sound like when playing the file. That will be fun to hear - looking forward to it

ttfn,
Sherry

[Sherry C]

Hi Walt,

Forgot to mention that this is a beautiful piece! I really enjoy the interplay of rhythm and harmony. I don't play flute, but I do play tinwhistle, and this will be a fun one to practice with

ttfn,
Sherry

[aulos43]

Hello Herbert,

Thank you for your interest.

As is typical of the period, no specification is made for instrumentation (see ...title.pdf, attached). My understanding of these sorts of pieces is that they were used in training vocalists in choral organizations. Note that the presentation (see attachments) is as a part book -- this would have been the normal mode, as a reliance on scores was not yet established.

If produced in modern tuning, the as-written canto part falls in a soprano range and the tenore part, in a tenor or contralto range. Keep in mind that tunings in this era varied widely and ranged from two semitones higher to four semitones lower, approximately. In Venice, a choir may have sounded a semitone higher than modern tuning.

I also understand that vocal music was regularly appropriated for use by, as the English might have said, "divers musicall instruments," so performance on any melody instrument would seem appropriate.

The midi transcription appears faithful to the part book. M. Marc lanoiselee seems to have done a good job in this. Performance, however, would have included obligatory ornamentation at the cadences, not normally written down. I grabbed the original midi file out of laziness -- I have on other occasions posted files wholly transcribed and edited by me.

Best regards

Walt

P.S. Please use the rotate feature in the view option of the reader to see the pdf's in proper orientation, if needed.

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[aulos43]

Hi Sherry,

Two thoughts I had immediately AFTER posting the thread were:
-- There is a pickup option in the Perform -> Practice Setup, why haven't I been using that? It would save the hassle of creating two files!
-- Will anyone on this forum care for this arcane, antique sound?

I revisited the Practice Setup. I will need to tinker a bit to get it to do what I would expect -- setting the sounds for the various beat divisions in particular, but it would seem to be preferable to having two files.

And I'm so glad you appreciate the music. I love the purity of the counterpoint, the meticulous treatment of consonance and dissonance -- it seems so innocent. And the rhythmic freedom -- this is clearly from a time before the tyranny of the downbeat (especially from a post-tyranny-of-the-downbeat perspective).

BTW. I categorize the tin whistle as a fipple flute -- same family as the recorder. I own several myself.

Ciao

Walt

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[dj]

Hi, Walt:

Well, as for arcane, antique sounds, I'm a bit of an arcane antique myself, so . . .

An interesting example of a later ricercare. Are there lyrics for this? I hear it being sung in a cathedral, with lots of reverb.

Also nice use of Midi CC's to alter the standard GM voices and create new sounds from the stock ones. Outside the box thinking!

David