Books by Giorgio Sanguinetti
Schenker's theory has its roots in the theoretical traditions of the eighteenth century, specific... more Schenker's theory has its roots in the theoretical traditions of the eighteenth century, specifically in species counterpoint and in the practice of thoroughbass: for him, these disciplines formed the basis of the "true theory, as opposed to the "false" theory that was based on nineteenth-century harmony and form. Species counterpoint and thoroughbass did indeed constitute an indispensable theoretical foundation for Schenker's concept of musical structure, but they were not sufficient to explain the nature of tonal music: two other principles were required. The first was Schenker's own theory of harmonic structural degree (Stufen) progression. The second principle was diminution, a technique used in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, consisting of substituting for a melody in long notes a passage of notes of shorter values: in itself, diminution implies a generative process from simple to complex figurations. All four of these elements contributed to the final stage of Schenker's theory as formulated in Der freie Satz: counterpoint and harmony are synthesized in the horizontal (Urlinie) and vertical (Baßbrechung) components of the Ursatz: the principle of diminution is an essential component of the idea of structural levels, and thoroughbass supplies the basis for many techniques of prolongation. For two of these four constituents of Schenker's mature theory-species counterpoint and general bass-he referred to a specific teaching tradition: Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum and its legacy on one hand, and the thoroughbass treatises, exemplified in C. P. E. Bach's Versuch, on the other 2 Giorgio Sanguinetti (the Versuch was also the principal source for his idea of improvisation). 1 Harmony, in Schenker's conception, was rooted in Rameau's idea of fundamental scale degrees and Viennese harmonic tradition, but had no equivalent in teaching practice: for Schenker, harmony was an abstract, spiritual idea, and he considered the traditional pedagogy of harmony deplorable. 2 Regarding the sources for his idea of diminution, Schenker did not mention any specific historical treatise, nor any teaching tradition. 3 In § 251 of Der freie Satz, Schenker admits that Italians created the idea of diminution, but, he adds that their art has been always confined to vocal and vocal-derived music: they could not create "genuine" instrumental diminution because "only diminution generated by the word was in the blood of the Italians"; and "the Italian musicians lacked training in absolute diminution." 4 The only Italian composer who escaped Schenker's deprecation-a judgment grounded on a very partial (to say the least) historical knowledge of Italian music-and who he saw as creating authentic instrumental diminution was Domenico Scarlatti, whom Schenker placed in his personal pantheon alongside the great German masters. 5 However, he did not explain how Scarlatti's art could have flourished in such an infertile soil. In the next paragraph of the same work ( § 252) Schenker further clarifies the difference between Italian (nonorganic) and German (organic) diminution. Apart from a fleeting mention of C. P. E. Bach's Versuch in relation to performance, the place of diminution in composition pedagogy is left unanswered. For Schenker, diminution, being related to improvisation and instinct, was the most intimate part of music as an art, and could not be transmitted through formal teaching: here lied the secret of artistic creation.
Papers by Giorgio Sanguinetti
The octatonic pitch collection has first been described by the Italian theorist and composer Vito... more The octatonic pitch collection has first been described by the Italian theorist and composer Vito Frazzi (1929). This article examines the Florentine cultural milieu where Frazzi's research took place.
Discusses the reception history of Beethoven's first symphony as a not-yet-fully Beethovenian... more Discusses the reception history of Beethoven's first symphony as a not-yet-fully Beethovenian work. Shows that this work was conceived by Beethoven as a deliberate attempt to secure himself as a successor of Mozart in the Viennese musical world.
Discusses some instances of the galant scheme called (after Gjerdingen) Quiescenza in nineteenth-... more Discusses some instances of the galant scheme called (after Gjerdingen) Quiescenza in nineteenth-century music.
Questi due lavori contribuiscono a gettare luce su un campo sempre più indagato negli ultimi dece... more Questi due lavori contribuiscono a gettare luce su un campo sempre più indagato negli ultimi decenni: quello della pedagogia musicale a Napoli nel Settecento. Il volume di Cafiero raccoglie una silloge dei suoi lavori, di carattere prevalentemente storico, scritti in circa tre decenni di ricerche e che hanno costituito il punto di partenza per l'attuale riscoperta della teoria napoletana. Il volume di Baragwanath va a completare il terzo, e finora più trascurato, pilastro della teoria settecentesca napoletana: il solfeggio (gli altri sono il partimento e il contrappunto) ricostruendo una complessa prassi che dalla solmisazione esacordale porta fino alle elaborate diminuzioni create dai castrati sulla notazione delle arie d'opera.
Il Gradus ad Parnassum di Fedele Fenaroli, 2011
Das flüchtige Werk. Pianistische Improvisation der Beethovenzeit, 2019
; †Naples 1824) was a prolific, albeit not tremendously successful, opera composer. In his remark... more ; †Naples 1824) was a prolific, albeit not tremendously successful, opera composer. In his remarkably long life, he wrote more than fifty operas, mostly comic operas-a lesser genre in late eighteenth-century Naples. Today, his operatic output is remembered mainly because of Il convitato di pietra, a comic opera staged at the Teatro de' Fiorentini in Naples in 1783, five years earlier than Mozart's Don Giovanni. 1 Tritto's opera, on a libretto by Giovanbattista Lorenzi, is a fine example of the comic side of the Don Giovanni myth and has been recently restaged at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa in the season 2015/16. Tritto was also one of the most influential Neapolitan teachers of his age. When the two surviving conservatories of the original four, Sant'Onofrio and the Pietà dei Turchini, merged in 1806 into a new Collegio di Musica, instead of a single director, Giuseppe Bonaparte chose Tritto along with Fedele Fenaroli and Giovanni Paisiello to form the so-called Triumvirato-a board of governors-that lasted until 1813, when Niccolò Zingarelli became the sole governor. Tritto achieved the highest honour through all the stages of his long career. He entered the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in 1746, where he was a student of Pasquale Cafaro and Nicola Sala. 2 In 1759 he became "maestrino" (teaching assistant) of Cafaro and in 1785 "secondo maestro straordinario" in the same Conservatorio, where in 1799 he became full professor of counterpoint and composition. 3 1 The position of Tritto's opera as a precursor of Mozart's Don Giovanni has attracted a considerable size of musicological attention. See Stefan Kunze:
Discusses the form and structure of Bellini's Casta diva from Norma, particularly its double ... more Discusses the form and structure of Bellini's Casta diva from Norma, particularly its double climax, one of which is melodic, the other structural. Suggests that the melodic structure of Casta diva depends on a sophisticated use of dissonances.
Partimento and Continuo Playing in Theory and in Practice, 2010
This volume is a collection of essays based on lectures given at the 4 th International Orpheus A... more This volume is a collection of essays based on lectures given at the 4 th International Orpheus Academy for Music Theory in 2006. The theme of this Academy was Music and Theory: Thoroughbass in Practice, Theory, and Improvisation. Hence the point of departure was not 'Music Theory' as such, but the interaction between music theory, music history, performance practice, aesthetics and related sciences. This multidisciplinary approach, with the accent on the interplay between music performance and music theory is reflected in the contributions to this book. Thomas Christensen, in his contribution, shows how the development of tonal harmonic theory went hand in hand with the practice of thorough bass. Both Robert Gjerdingen and Giorgio Sanguinetti focus on the Neapolitan tradition of partimento. Gjerdingen addresses the relation between the realization of partimenti and contrapuntal thinking, illustrated by examples of contrapuntal imitation and combination in partimenti, leading to the 'partimentofugue'. Sanguinetti elaborates on the history of this partimentofugue from the early 18 th until the late 19 th century. Rudolf Lutz, finally, presents his use of partimenti in educational practice, giving examples of how reviving this old practice can give new insights to composers, conductors and musicians.
Studi Pergolesiani- Pergolesi Studies
Analitica Rivista Online Di Studi Musicali, 2000
L'aspetto piu difficile e sfuggente dell'esecuzione musicale e forse quello della scelta ... more L'aspetto piu difficile e sfuggente dell'esecuzione musicale e forse quello della scelta del tempo e delle sue variazioni. Qual e il tempo giusto per una composizione, e come va stabilito? E poi, una volta deciso il tempo generale, questo va osservato strettamente o l'esecutore puo concedersi accelerandi e rallentandi occasionali, o addirittura cambiare il tempo in una data parte della composizione, per poi riprendere successivamente il tempo principale? In cosa consiste il rubato, e dove questa pratica trova legittimita? E giustificato introdurre una variazione agogica anche dove il compositore non l'ha prescritta? Domande di questo genere si pongono continuamente agli esecutori, e le risposte ovviamente dipendono da una gran quantita di fattori, prima di tutto dal contesto storico e stilistico nel quale il pezzo e originato, e dalla conoscenza della prassi esecutiva relativa alla sua epoca e alla sua tradizione locale.
Formal Functions in Perspective, 2015
Discusses some instances in Classical or Romantic sonata forms when the onset of the recapitulati... more Discusses some instances in Classical or Romantic sonata forms when the onset of the recapitulation occurs gradually, without any obvious sign, making impossible for the listener to discern an exact point of reprise. This recapitulatory strategy is labelled "Ongoing reprise", and its emergence is possibly related to the Homeric vogue in Europe in the eighteenth century.
Beethoven Studies 4, 2020
Music Theory and Analysis (MTA)
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Books by Giorgio Sanguinetti
Papers by Giorgio Sanguinetti