(It.: ‘nocturnal duet’; Fr. duo nocturne).
A short, closed vocal piece in binary form characterized by vocal writing in 3rds and 6ths, usually for two accompanied voices (sopranos, or soprano and alto). It may have an unfigured instrumental bass line or written-out keyboard or orchestral accompaniment; the latter are most commonly for two horns, often with two flutes, clarinets, oboes or bassoons as well as strings. In the 18th century such terms as ‘notturno’, ‘notturnino’, ‘notturno a due voci’, ‘duettino italiano’ and ‘canzonetta’ were used interchangeably to designate the genre.
The duetto notturno is well represented in the second half of the 18th century and the early 19th: composers who wrote such pieces for two voices and bass (instrumental or vocal) with ‘Notturno’ or ‘Nocturne’ in the title include Boieldieu, Donizetti, Mozart, Paisiello, Rossini, Verdi and numerous lesser figures. Duetti notturni often convey a mood of introspection. Common tempo indications are larghetto, adagio and andantino; allegro maestoso, allegro spiritoso and tempo di minuetto appear less frequently. Characteristic descriptions such as affettuoso, amoroso and espressivo are common.
Most composers made some use of Metastasio’s Canzonette, Cantate and Strofe per musica, dating from between about 1733 and 1749. Short strophes are occasionally taken from such Metastasian operas as Ciro riconosciuto, L’olimpiade, Siroe re di Persia and Attilio Regolo. The female figures Nice and Irene appear frequently, and some poems have a cynical dimension that colours the tradition. Sets of duetti notturni (usually six or a multiple of six) exclusively to Metastasian texts are rare: verse by other writers inspired by such texts accounts for a sizable proportion. Hundreds of works based on the same Metastasian texts with the essential features of duetti notturni are not entitled ‘Notturno’ yet form part of the tradition: J.C. Bach’s Duetti (?c1760) and Canzonettas t259/1 and 260/2, and Beethoven’s Ne’ giorni tuoi felici woo93 are noteworthy examples. English publications in particular contain many examples not designated ‘Notturno’.
In Mozart’s works the instrumental bass line was transformed into a third vocal part, thereby creating a vocal terzett (see Terzet); nowhere is this procedure (which was followed by other composers including Verdi) better exemplified than in the terzettino ‘Soave sia il vento’ from Così fan tutte. Other works by Mozart for three voices in the duetto notturno mould are the notturni k436–9 and k346/439a and the canzonetta Più non si trovano k549; and orchestral sketches survive for a further work, k532. The influence of the tradition can also be seen in the piano sonatas and elsewhere in Mozart’s work. Several singers who performed in his operas or were well acquainted with him, including Guglielmo d’Ettore, Giuseppe Tibaldi, Michael Kelly and Giuseppe Aprile, composed pieces of the duetto notturno type. Dated duetto notturno manuscripts from the 18th century are rare; the earliest datable works so titled are by Ettore, who in 1770 sang the title role in Mozart’s Mitridate. Since instrumental trios entitled ‘Notturno’ are known from as early as 1754, it is reasonable to suppose that composers borrowed the term duetto notturno from instrumental music.
In the late 18th century and the 19th the unfigured bass line was replaced by a piano or harp. Spontini, Asioli and Blangini wrote nocturnes setting Metastasian texts translated into French (Blangini wrote about 170). Chopin’s Nocturnes for piano display passages that reflect this tradition (op.9 no.1, bars 61–9; op.27 no.2, bars 10–18, 33ff; and op.72 no.1, bars 4–9, 18–25).
MGG2 (‘Notturno’, §I; H. Schneider)
C. von Blumröder: ‘Notturno/Nocturne’ (1982–3), HMT
H.J. Wignall: ‘Mozart and the “duetto notturno” Tradition’, MJb 1993, 145–61
HARRISON JAMES WIGNALL