Abstract
Arcadelt's Bass for recorder quartet (2018) began life as a bass line seen in The International Museum and Library of Music of Bologna. I was visiting the museum in 2004, not long after it had opened, and amongst a particularly fine collection of musical instruments and portraits of composers, noticed a manuscript fragment. Dated 1539, Venice, the fragment was part of a bass line from a madrigal by Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer, Jacques Arcadelt (c.1507-1568). I copied the bass line fragment onto a piece of paper and thought it might form the basis of a composition in the future. When Peter Petocz from The Judgement of Paris asked for a piece for recorder quartet for a new project the group was planning, I immediately thought of the fragment and with the help of musicologist, Associate Professor Kathleen Nelson of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, tracked down the full score in Il Secondo Libro di Madrigali" madrigal 20 (Albertus Seay's 1967 edition), 'Desio perchè mi meni? Peter Petocz suggested the lower recorder quartet combination of bass, two tenors and alto for the piece. Arcadelt's Bass draws the bass line fragment into several contrapuntal moods, revolves around a minimalist mid-section, before moving back into counterpoint and ending with stretto entries. The piece is dedicated to Peter Petocz.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Armidale, N.S.W. |
| Publisher | Orpheus Music |
| Size | 1 Score and parts |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Research Statement
Arcadelt’s Bass – recorder quartet, Diana Blom – scorePublished by Orpheus Music OMP330 ISMN 979 0 720254 02 9
Research background (field, context, research question)
Music which draws in an existing musical fragment is a concept used in Renaissance music as a cantus firmus which underpins a longer contrapuntal composition. I found a fragment of manuscript dated 1539 Venice in a music museum in Bologna. The fragment was later identified in Sydney by Associate Professor Kathleen Nelson of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, as being a few bars of a bass line from a vocal motet by Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer, Jacques Arcadelt (c.1507-1568). This fragment from Il Secondo Libro di Madrigali – madrigal 20 (Albertus Seay’s 1967 edition), ‘Desio perchè mi meni? became the impetus for the recorder quartet Arcadelt’s Bass.
Research contribution (innovation, new knowledge)
Arcadelt’s Bass takes this idea of borrowing an existing fragment and uses it to begin and end a work for recorder quartet. The fragment is used contrapuntally by all instruments. The quartet has the less usual instrumentation of treble, two tenors, and bass resulting in a lower, rich recorder consort sound. The work also illustrates the music research required to work with a pre-existing musical fragment as a source of compositional flow.
Research significance (evidence of excellence)
Arcadelt’s Bass has been performed by recorder quartet, The Judgment of Paris, on 30 October, 2019, at the Recital Hall East, Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The score is published by Orpheus Music OMP330, and a CD recording of the work is released on Goddesses – The Judgment of Paris, was released in 2021 and is available on a number of online aggregators.