The span of time represented on this disc--the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries--was an intensely inventive period for music. The Renaissance was coming to a close and an exciting new era was beginning, full of creative vigor.
The new ideals of the Baroque era began in Italy, where the influence of the Humanist legacy of the Renaissance were strongest. The Humanist movement of the Renaissance looked back to Greek antiquity in an attempt to revive the strong powers of influence which music and poetry were said to possess. Composers in the Renaissance were meticulous in their efforts to achieve clarity and balance in the joining of music and poetry in order to gain influence over the emotions of listeners. Above all, the meaning of the text and its emotional impact was paramount to their artistic aims.
Instrumental music gained importance as well in the Renaissance as the number of fully notated pieces increased. Earlier music tended to be passed on by rote or improvised. Still an important requirement for Renaissance musicians, it is no wonder that many surviving treatises deal with the practice of controlled improvisation.
Vocal music was influenced by the highly ornamental style of instrumental music. Singers added embellishments to vocal lines, pushing vocal technique to its limits. In early seventeenth century Italy a new movement in the style and performance of song was developed. The leading proponent of this new style was Giulio Caccini. He felt that the existing song forms, heavy with imitative polyphony, and the highly embellished style of performance, was clouding the meaning and emotional impact of the text. He called for the simplification of text settings with a basic two-part texture consisting of the melody accompanied by a simple bass line with supporting harmony only. Caccini also developed a system of vocal ornaments designed to aid the interpretation of the text, and not simply for virtuousic display. Caccini’s book of songs and performance ideas, from which the song Amarilli mia bella is taken, was published in 1602 under the title Le Nuove Musiche.
The new singing style quickly spread through Italy and neighboring regions, though it was slower to reach northern countries like France and England. These two countries slowly absorbed elements of the new Italian ideals and utilized them in their own distinct, though far more conservative, ways.
LE NUOVE MUSICHE is an ensemble dedicated to bringing Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music to life. Formed in 1998, the group members have presented music of diverse composers and stylistic ranges, including: Hildegard of Bingen, Francesco Landini, troubadour and trouvère songs, Renaissance consort music, lute songs and all the major national styles of the Baroque literature. They have performed throughout the Puget Sound and in 2004 gave a well-received performance to a sold-out audience at the Berkeley Early Music on the Fringe Festival. In 2002 the group released their debut recording, Dolce Desio: The Birth of the Baroque in Italy, France and England More recent projects have included several performances throughout Washington of a program of music by women composers that spanned over 1000 years and included two newly commissioned works, as well as a concert and early music workshop for the Cascadia Sounds of Summer Festival and performance at Seattle’s City Hall for the “Seattle Presents” series.