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THE CANZONE VILLANESCA AND COMIC CULTURE: THE GENESIS AND EVOLUTION OF A MIXED GENRE (1537–1557)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2006

Donna G. Cardamone  and
Cesare Corsi
Donna G. Cardamone
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota and Conservatorio di Musica, Latina
Cesare Corsi
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota and Conservatorio di Musica, Latina
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Abstract

This study springs from the conviction that it is time to enlarge our understanding of the canzone villanesca's genesis and evolution by engaging concepts from two related approaches, namely, genre criticism and speech-act theory. Heretofore, when adopting the formalist approach to genre, I defined the villanesca in terms of its ‘outer form’ (metre and structure), thereby reinforcing claims by Gennaro Monti and Alfred Einstein that the canzone villanesca is essentially a strambotto (or ottava rima) transformed by the addition of a refrain after each hendecasyllabic couplet. However, it has become increasingly clear that when intrinsic qualities like attitude, tone and use-value are addressed, the result is a far more comprehensive view of the changes that the villanesca experienced during the initial phrase of its development (1537–57), when Neapolitan songwriters reproduced or varied the generic expectations of their audiences.

Type
Research Article
Information
Early Music History , Volume 25 , October 2006 , pp. 59 - 104
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The first section of this article was written by Cardamone and the second section by Corsi. We would like to express our gratitude to Leofranc Holford-Strevens for his expert translation of Corsi's section and his sensitivity to the comical content of villanesca texts.