Giovanni Battista Doni and his Vision of Performing Poetry 

Authors

  • Elena Abramov-van Rijk Author

Keywords:

Giovan Battista Doni, performance of poetry, epic poetry, musical drama

Abstract

Giovanni Battista Doni (1595 – 1647) may be seen as one of the first historians and critics of music in the modern sense. His excellent education in different fields of knowledge and his meticulous approach to research make his writings a true treasury of information, including on contemporary music and poetry. While analyzing the new tendencies in the performing practice and, above all, the new genre of musical drama, he gave great attention to its literary component. Significantly, even in the 1630-40s he regarded the genre of opera as first and foremost the presentation of poetry. In this article examine some of his critiques, always well-reasoned, of the contemporary practice of performance of poetry within different musical contexts and consider Doni’s vision of an ideal practice of performing poetry, based on his deep knowledge both of ancient theories of poetics and music and of recent developments in this field.

Author Biography

  • Elena Abramov-van Rijk

    Elena Abramov-van Rijk is an independent scholar. Her main interest is Italian music from the Trecento to the Cinquecento, especially the forms of musical poetry and metrics. She is the author of two monographs: Parlar cantando: The Practice of Reciting Verses in Italy from 1300 to 1600 , Bern: Peter Lang (2009) and Singing Dante: The Literary Origins of Cinquecento Monody, Ashgate (2014, RMA Monographs, 26, and a number of articles published in musicological journals.

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Published

2024-04-23

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Section

Articles