(It.: ‘jest’).
Of the different verse forms set by frottola composers, the barzelletta appears to have been the most popular, especially in earlier publications (until about 1510). Whereas the term ‘frottola’ is generic, referring to a variety of prosodic types, in its specific meaning it is usually synonymous with the barzelletta, as suggested by Petrucci’s fourth book, Strambotti, ode, frottole [= barzellette], sonetti (RISM 15055), or Antico’s third book, Canzoni, sonetti, strambotti et frottole [= barzellette] (15131). The barzelletta normally scans in trochaic metre, with eight syllables per line (trochaic ottonario), and consists of two sections: ripresa, four lines that rhyme as abba or abab; and stanza, six or eight lines in the order of two mutazioni or piedi (pairs of lines with identical rhymes) and a volta (a couplet or quatrain, whose last line generally rhymes with the first of the ripresa). A six-line stanza is likely to rhyme as cdcdda and an eight-line one as cdcddeea. Anticipated in the connecting rhyme or concatenazione, the ripresa as a whole or, more often, in part (two lines) recurs before successive stanzas (which number anywhere from two to five or more) and after the last one. Some barzellette are sung to two musical units (AB), others to four (ABCD) or more, depending on how many phrases of the ripresa are incorporated into the stanza. A two-unit structure may consist of AB for the ripresa, AA for the piedi, B for the volta and A for the ripresa. When new material appears in the stanza, it may be arranged as CC for the piedi and D for the volta. Musical phrases are often equal in length, grouping symmetrically into units of three or four measures. With its trochaic metre, the barzelletta tends to be lively and dance-like, with heavy downbeats and accents at the cadence (since Italian usually has stresses on the penultimate, the result is a sequence of strong–weak beats, leading to the so-called ‘feminine’ cadence, corresponding to a verso piano). In this respect it differs from the more languid strambotto, with 11 syllables in iambic verse (and the last syllable falling on a downbeat). The barzelletta relates, in prosody, to the ballata (and the French virelai), the lauda (of which many examples were barzellette supplied with sacred texts) and the Spanish cantiga or villancico. An etymological connection with the bergerette (a monostrophic virelai) may be assumed. See Frottola.
DON HARRÁN