Saracini, Claudio
(b Siena, ?1 July 1586; d Mirandola, 20 Sept 1630). Italian
composer. It is impossible to be certain which of the
several Claudio Saracinis born in Siena between 1570 and 1590 was the composer.
According to one source (of questionable reliability), Saracini published a Lettera
amorosa as early as 1600. His documented activities as a composer span the
decade 1614–24, when his extant monody books (nos.1–3, 5 and 6) were printed
(no.4, if it ever existed, is unknown). On their title-pages he is usually referred
to as ‘nobile senese’, and on the first three as ‘detto il Palusi’; whether
this latter appellation refers to his membership of an academy is uncertain. It
has been assumed that Saracini travelled widely in his youth: the dedications
of individual monodies to Monteverdi, Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici and
Catherine of Brunswick suggest that he had connections in Venice, Florence and
even Germany.
Saracini's
entire output consists of monodies, except for three pieces for archlute at the
end of Le musiche and a short three-part section to conclude the lament Sospirava
e spargea [Lamento della madonna]. Including the lament, 133 solo
songs are extant and all of them except the Latin Stabat mater are
settings of Italian words, ranging from famous texts of the time such as Udite,
lagrimosi to simple little poems that are otherwise unknown and may have
been written specially for him. He embraced every kind of solo song of his day,
from long recitatives and ariosos (the Lamento della madonna, Stabat
mater and Lassa, chi mi consola) through madrigals, both chromatic (Cruda
mia Filli) and diatonic (O chiome erranti), and settings of sonnets
and ottavas to little strophic songs, both relatively serious (Crudel, tu
vuoi partire) and artlessly charming (Pallidetta qual viola). There
are excellent pieces in every group. He was a master of declamation, responding
at his best at once expressively and scrupulously to the text, and he supported
his flexible vocal line with bold harmony and a strong bass. Such music may
well owe something to Monteverdi; the madrigal dedicated to Monteverdi and the
three long recitatives, in which interest is sustained in masterly fashion, are
fine examples. Ex.1, from the opening of Cruda
mia Filli, demonstrates in extreme form Saracini's penchant for wayward
tonality, unusual intervals and surprising juxtapositions of chords (which are
not always obvious from the almost unfigured basses); the effect, as perhaps
here, is sometimes one of bizarre wilfulness betraying the hand of the
dilettante, but there can be no doubt in such passages of his intense response
to emotive words. Tu parti ahi lasso is another remarkable song of this
type, with no central tonality but with much detailed word-painting; a sense of
overall form is sacrificed to the expression of the individual moment. It is no
accident that the madrigal poet whom he set most often was Marino, whose erotic
and highly charged verses allowed him to indulge his evident passion for such
settings.
On
the other hand there can be no gainsaying the success and charm of several of
Saracini's strophic songs, which show a very different side of his talent: two
contrasting representative pieces are Più lieto il guardo, with its strong
tonal feeling and sense of form, and Pallidetta qual viola, which,
though barred in duple time, in effect consists simply of four symmetrical
phrases in 5/4 time.
Saracini
has been variously described as a radical monodist, as an experimental composer
and as an amateur who was less than proficient at notating his musical ideas.
His reputation as a composer dates entirely from after his death. Burney, in
1789, quoted a passage from Amorose dolcezze as an example of early
17th-century vocal ornamentation. After a further century of oblivion,
Leichtentritt and Riemann established him as one of the major representatives
of Italian monody. During the 20th century his works engaged the interest of
musicologists, and eventually of performers as well.
WORKS
all edited in Pintér (1992)
|
Le
musiche … madrigali & arie, 1–2vv, bc (Venice, 1614/R 1986 in ISS,
ii); also includes 3 pieces for archlute, ed. in Fabris (1987) [i]
|
|
Le
seconde musiche, 1v, bc (Venice, 1620/R) [ii]
|
|
Le
terze musische, 1v, bc (Venice, 1620) [iii]
|
|
Le
quarte musiche, lost/unpubd
|
|
Le
quinte musiche, 1v, bc (Venice, 1624) [v]
|
|
Le
seste musiche, 1v, bc (Venice, 1624/R 1986 in ISS, ii) [vi]
|
non-strophic songs
all for one voice and continuo
|
A
Dio, Lidia, a Dio (F. Hondedei), v; Ahi, che veggio, ahi, che sento
(Hondedei), vi; Ahi, chi mi fà languire, vi; Ahi, trista e dura sorte
(‘Ardito Accademico Felice’), vi; Alma afflitta, che fai (G. Marino), iii; Al
partir del mio sole, iii; Ama ch'i t'amo, ò Filli, iii; Amorose dolcezze, vi;
Andianne a premer latte (Marino), iii; Anime pellegrine che bramate, iii;
Ardo mia vita (Hondedei), vi; Aspra fu la ferita, ii
|
|
Ben
mio, dammi il tuo core, ii; Canto dolce e soave (P. Capello), i; Come esser
può, che senza vita, iii; Come viver poss'io, iii; Cor mio, deh non languire
(G.B. Guarini), ii; Cor mio, deh non piangete, ii; Crud'Amarilli (Guarini),
i; Cruda mia Filli, iii
|
|
Da
te parto, cor mio, ii; Deh, come invan chiedete (Guarini), i; Deh, rimirate,
amanti, vi; Dolce de miei desiri, v; Dolcissimo tesoro, ii; Dono, Licori, a
Batto, i; Ecco l'hora, v; Ecco misero core, vi; Egra langue colei, v
|
|
Ferite,
feritemi, donna (Hondedei), v; Feritevi, ferite, viperette mordaci, i; Ferma,
le piante, i; Filli, un bacio ti chiesi, vi; Fuggi, fuggi, ò mio core
(Marino), iii; Già mi rubasti il core, ii; Giunto è pur, Lidia (Marino), ii;
Habbi musica bella, v; Hor che morir ti miro, iii
|
|
In
quel gelato core (Marino), vi; Intenerite voi, donne e donzelle, ii; Io moro,
ecco ch'io moro (Marino), i; Io parto, ahi dipartita, v; Io parto, sì, ma
parte meco (Marino), vi; Io senza fede? Ah cruda, vi; Ite, amari sospiri, ii;
La mia donna, il mio sole (Hondedei), v; Lamento della madonna [see Sospirava
e spargea]; Langue al vostro languir (Guarini), v; Lassa, chi mi consola, v;
Lasso, perche mi fuggi, ii, transcr. in Haas; Legami il core, iii; Lidia, ti
lasso, iii
|
|
Messaggier
di speranza, i; Mi sento, oimè, morire, i; Mori, mi dice, v; O carta
avventurosa, iii; Occhi della mia vita, iii; Occhi specchi del core, v; O
chiome erranti (Marino), ii; O Laurinda, i; O quante volte, o quante, i; O
rimembranza amara (F. Rasi), i; O vita, ò cara vita, vi
|
|
Pallidetto
mio sole (Marino), vi; Pargoletta è colei ch'accende, i; Partire, oime,
partire, v; Parto ò non parto, i; Perche credi, ò mio core, iii; Per questa
vita giuro, iii; Poiche l'alma ne gita, vi; Poi che mori dicesti, v
|
|
Se
la doglia e'l martire (Marino), ii; Se tu mi lasci, perfida, iii; S'io non ti
toglio un bacio, vi; Sono rose e viole, v; Sospirava e spargea [Lamento della
Madonna], ii, with 3vv; Sospir che del bel petto (Marino), v; Spenta è la fè,
iii; Stabat mater, iii
|
|
Tacerò
si, ben mio, i; Tempesta di dolcezza (Marino), i; Tornate, o cari baci
(Marino), vi; Tornate, pur, tornate, v; Tra le pompe di morte, ii; Troppo è
ver che il mio cor, v; Tu brami, o bella Clori, v; Tu mi distrigni il core,
vi; Tu parti ahi lasso (Marino), vi, transcr. in Ambros (every f' in vocal line should
be f' ); Tu parti,
anima mia, i; Tu parti a pena giunto (Guarini), ii; Tutti à l'armi d'amore,
iii
|
|
Udite,
lagrimosi spiriti d'averno (Guarini), ii, transcr. in Haas; Udite, ò ninfe,
vi; Vita mia, di te privo, iii; Voi che l'anima mia, i
|
strophic songs
for one voice and continuo unless otherwise indicated
|
Ahi,
serpentella, iii; A la luce, a la mia candida Aurora, vi; Ama pur, ninfa
gradita, iii; Angioletta leggiadretta, v, transcr. in Ambros; Bellissima
Dori, ii; Care gioie, che le noie, ii; Cedea la notte ai matuttini albori, i;
Con guancia intenerita, iii; Correte voi, lacci e catene, vi; Crudel, tu vuoi
partire, ii
|
|
Damigella
tutta bella (G. Chiabrera) 2vv, bc, i; Dispiegate, guancie amate (A. Cebà),
2vv, bc, i; Gioite di mille tormenti, vi; Giovinetta vezzosetta, i; Hormai la
nott'in giro, ii; Ingrata, lusinghiera, v; Leggiadra pastorella, iii; Non
fuggir, Fillide bella, i; Non più strali pungenti, vi; Non vuoi ch'io t'ami
(A. Ginori), vi
|
|
O
donzella tutta bella, i; Pallidetta qual viola (G.F. Ferranti), vi; Perfido
amore, iii; Più lieto il guardo, v; Poiche vol'amor, vi; Questa mia Aurora,
2vv, bc, i; Quest'amore, ii; S'altr'in amar, vi; Se pietade in te, vi;
Sorgendo l'alba, iii; Sprezzami, bionda (Ferranti), v; Strane guise d'amar, iii
|
|
Tu
mi lasci, cruda (Bonardo), vi; Vaga e lucente, ii; Vaghi rai, lucenti stelle
(O. Rinuccini), i; Vezzosa pargoletta, ii, transcr. in Ambros; Voglio il mio
duol scoprir (Ferranti), v; Voi mi dite ch'io non v'ami, vi
|
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AmbrosGM
BurneyH
FotuneISS
R. Morrocchi: La musica in
Siena (Siena, 1886/R), 97
B. Szabolcsi: Benedetti
und Saracini: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Monodie
(diss., U. of Leipzig, 1923)
R. Haas: Die Musik
des Barocks (Potsdam, 1928), 50, 53ff
S.A. Luciani: ‘Claudio Saracini’, Musica
d'oggi, xv (1933), 348–51
S.A. Luciani: La musica in
Siena (Siena, 1942), 51ff
B. Szabolcsi: A melódia
története (Budapest, 1950, 2/1957; Eng. trans., 1965 as A History of
Melody), chap.5
N. Fortune: ‘Italian Secular Monody from 1600 to 1635: an Introductory Survey’, MQ, xxxix (1953), 171–95
J. Racek: Stilprobleme
der italienischen Monodie (Prague, 1965)
N. Fortune: ‘Solo Song and Cantata’, The Age of Humanism, 1540–1630, NOHM, iv (1968), 125–217, esp. 160, 175, 183, 201, 212
D. Arnold and N. Fortune, eds.: The
Monteverdi Companion (London, 1968, 2/1985 as The New Monteverdi Companion), 115–6, 184, 194
J. Racek: ‘Die dramatisierende Funktion der Pause in der italienischen Vokal- und
dramatischen Musik des 17. Jahrhunderts’, Musicae scientiae collectanea: Festschrift Karl Gustav Fellerer, ed. H. Hüschen (Cologne, 1973), 463–71
A. Mazzeo and P. Rigacci: Claudio
Saracini, compositore senese del Seicento (Siena, 1986)
D. Fabris: ‘Tre composizioni per liuto di Claudio Saracini e la tradizione del liuto
a Siena tra Cinque e Seicento’, Il
flauto dolce, no.16 (1987), 14–25
P. Laki: The
Madrigals of Giambattista Marino and their Settings for Solo Voice (1602–1640) (diss., U. of Pennsylvania, 1989)
P. Laki: ‘Claudio Saracini: Innovative or Incompetent?’,
IMSCR XIV: Bologna 1987, iii,
905–13
E. Pintér: Claudio
Saracini: Leben und Werk (Frankfurt, 1992)
NIGEL FORTUNE, PETER LAKI