Bonifacio Giacomo Baroffio, Italian Liturgical Manuscripts: Research, Study, Cataloguing. IV (1980-1991)

The fourth in this series of bibliographic contributions to the study of Italian liturgical manuscripts provides an opportunity to draw some overall conclusions on developments in this field of research: improvements in the quality of facsimile editions, the lack of efficient reference tools and new editions of entire manuscripts, the necessity for systematic cataloguing of the sources on several levels of detail. There is a general crisis in the quality and quantity of new research and publications; this, in Italy, can be attributed to a limited interest on the part of young researchers, themselves little encouraged by the shortage of specialized instruction in Italian universities. It is to be hoped that the development of interdisciplinary studies and works of synthesis will lead to the greater availability of editions and transcriptions, as also studies in performance practice. There is a general lack of interest in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sources which, despite their lateness as documentation of plainchant traditions, can nevertheless supply important information. The author proposes, with musical examples, a set of criteria for the transcription of plainchant materials in a way which respects their melodic structure and outlines their main characteristics. In conclusion, the author provides a description of 462 recent studies of Italian liturgical manuscripts, divided among the following categories: facsimile editions; chants and sources of the Mass; tropes and sequences; chants and sources of the liturgical Hours; tonaries; liturgies in the Milanese, Beneventan and Norman areas; pontificals, ritualia, lectionaries, calendars, necrologies; palaeographic and semantic studies; studies on decorations; centre of production; use and conservation; various. There is also an index of manuscripts and index of authors and editors.

Fabiana Licciardi, The «Gazzetta del teatro» as a Reflection of Contemporary Theatrical Life

The «Gazzetta del teatro» (carneval 1802 - carneval 1806) offers a multiform picture of the complex theatrical world of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This picture emerges through examination of the characteristic language of contemporary theatrical practice, as also from remarks on emerging dramaturgical forms, the means of diffusion of the repertory (in which the role of music appears progressively more integrated with prose theatre and dance), transformations of the interpretative roles of the singers (who are frequently described as «actors» and «actresses», contemporary aestethic tendencies towards subjects and situations of romantic orientation (the rise of a «national» music, plots based on tragic conjugal actions, etc.). A number of interesting editorial strategies emerge. With due regard to the declared European dimension of the publication, the channels of information are decidedly 'Roman'. The publisher, Giacomo Puccinelli, is among the last representatives of what was one of the most active printing firms in eighteenth-century Rome, and dedicates particular attention to local theatrical life: indeed, many issues bear the title «Giornale dei teatri di Roma» or «Notizie dei teatri di Roma». The other issues consist of assemblages of information derived from loose sheets in non-Roman periodicals or materials supplied by the various theatrical companies. The result is a characteristic panorama of a city whose erudite and highly informed elite of intellectual academics participates actively in the judgement of theatrical life. Particularly severe are the criticisms of comic actors in their interpretations of Metastasio, whose undisputed masterpiece is still represesented by Didone. Notable reservations are expressed with regard to the tragedies of Alfieri, masks, the larmoyant style; the presence, on a massive scale, of amateur institutions has the effect of dwarfing information on the temporary presence of professional artists. As a result, local composers are frequently led to reset the subjects of known operas, as also to adopt accusatory attitudes towards the use of female sopranos. Only the ever increasing presence of male and female comic singers and their greater economic prestige might seem to betray a certain opening of backward aristocratic mentalities to contemporary theatrical innovations. Materials reproduced in summary form in the present contribution regard the numerical order of the various articles, the companies or individual singers active in the course of the various seasons or single performances, criticisms of the performances themselves or interesting extracts from letters, academic conversations, etc. (respectively, A, B and C).

Violetta Rizzo, The works of Gaetano Greco (1657 ca. - 1728). Proposal for a Thematic Catalogue

Gaetano Greco has always enjoyed a reputation as one of the most significant figures at the beginnings of the «Neapolitan school»; in particular, his large keyboard output places him among the most notable exponents of the period before Domenico Scarlatti. This thematic catalogue of his 359 keyboard works and a small nucleus of sacred vocal compositions, together with a number of doubtful or anonymous works, is intended as both a methodological contribution and a first step in the recovery and systematic study of the early Neapolitan repertory, in particular the output of a composer who contributed in no small degree to the formation of a generation of musicians (Durante, D. Scarlatti, Vinci, Pergolesi, etc.) whose output was decisive in spreading the fame of Neaples throughout Europe.

Fiamma Nicolodi - Paolo Trovato, The «Dictionary of Italian Musical Criticism» («Lessico della critica musicale italiana»), 1600-1960

The need for a comprehensive dictionary of musical criticism arises from the inadequacy of present tools of research: on the one and, dictionaries of music and musicians (DEUMM, Grove, etc.), whose often excellent contributions on particular movementes or notios are inevitably selective vis-à-vis examination and documentation of critical vocabulary; on the other, historical dictionaries of the Italian language (Crusca, Tommaseo-Bellini, Grande dizionario della lingua italiana), in which the presence of musical literature is decidly modest. Eggebrecht's Handwörterbuch der musikalischen Terminologie is characterized by a greater attention for linguistic usage, but the index of quotations shows a preference for Latin and German sources, with French following at some distance. The present project, here illustrated in the course of a series of examples, covers 350 years of musical terminology as empliyed by theorists, critics, composers, interpreters, philosophers, men of letters. «Musical terminology» is defined as including not only musical terms as such but also the broader language of musical criticism (hence, not only nouns and adjectives but also verbs and adverbs). The basic layout follows that of the great historical dictionaries: 1)definitions of the terms according to current usage; 2) etymological indications; 3) a wide coverage of historical examples. The articles concludes with a list of sources hitherto or shortly to be considered and a sample input entry.

David Bryant, For a Systematic Bibliography of Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Printed Sacred Musica. The Data-Base

The article provides an introduction to the structure of the data-base and the types of data available both separately and in combination. Program analysis and design was carried out by Douglas Scherer; a pilot version of the input screens is scheduled for completion by the end of 1993.