Moresche
Encyclopedia
Moresche is the plural of moresca
, meaning Moorish thing, or Moorish girl in Italian. Both the singular and plural can refer to both a 15th~16th Century dance genre or to a 15th~16th Century song genre. This article concerns the genre of moresche, polyphonic "moorish" songs. For the dance, see moresca
.
Moresche musically have no common heritage with the moresca
dance form. Instead moresche are related to villanelle
and villanescas, stylized village songs for 3 to 5 voices. The significant difference relates to their texts - parodying the Italian spoken by African workers in Italy. A related genre are greghesche, madrigal
s imitating Italian spoken by Greeks in Italy. The texts of moresche are often near untranslatable, due either to obscenity and double entendre
, or nonsense language, or both.
The French singer and printer Antonio Barrè can claim the distinction of publishing the first known examples of moresche as partsongs in his Secondo libro delle muse a tre voci: canzoni moresche di diversi autori (Rome 1555). The Neapolitan moresca à 3 appeared only "after the canzone villanesca alla napolitana à 3 had gained a secure foothold" and can be considered a development of the villanesca from bucolic to more raucous subject matter; in text, language and musical idiom. Chronologically moresche belong the last years of renaissance polyphonic song before monody and baroque polyphony, and also on the cusp of change from the dominance in Italy of Flemish masters such as Willaert to native Italians such as Andrea Gabrieli
.
Moresca
Moresca or Mauresque is a 15th/16th century pantomime dance in which the executants wore Moorish costumes. One such is the concluding music of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo...
, meaning Moorish thing, or Moorish girl in Italian. Both the singular and plural can refer to both a 15th~16th Century dance genre or to a 15th~16th Century song genre. This article concerns the genre of moresche, polyphonic "moorish" songs. For the dance, see moresca
Moresca
Moresca or Mauresque is a 15th/16th century pantomime dance in which the executants wore Moorish costumes. One such is the concluding music of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo...
.
Moresche musically have no common heritage with the moresca
Moresca
Moresca or Mauresque is a 15th/16th century pantomime dance in which the executants wore Moorish costumes. One such is the concluding music of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo...
dance form. Instead moresche are related to villanelle
Villanelle
A villanelle is a poetic form that entered English-language poetry in the 19th century from the imitation of French models. The word derives from the Italian villanella from Latin villanus . A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds...
and villanescas, stylized village songs for 3 to 5 voices. The significant difference relates to their texts - parodying the Italian spoken by African workers in Italy. A related genre are greghesche, madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
s imitating Italian spoken by Greeks in Italy. The texts of moresche are often near untranslatable, due either to obscenity and double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
, or nonsense language, or both.
The French singer and printer Antonio Barrè can claim the distinction of publishing the first known examples of moresche as partsongs in his Secondo libro delle muse a tre voci: canzoni moresche di diversi autori (Rome 1555). The Neapolitan moresca à 3 appeared only "after the canzone villanesca alla napolitana à 3 had gained a secure foothold" and can be considered a development of the villanesca from bucolic to more raucous subject matter; in text, language and musical idiom. Chronologically moresche belong the last years of renaissance polyphonic song before monody and baroque polyphony, and also on the cusp of change from the dominance in Italy of Flemish masters such as Willaert to native Italians such as Andrea Gabrieli
Andrea Gabrieli
Andrea Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned member of the Venetian School of composers, and was extremely influential in spreading the Venetian style in Italy as...
.
Composers of moresche
- Lassus: Libro de villanelle, moresche, et altre canzoni. 4–8vv (1582)
- Giaches de WertGiaches de WertGiaches de Wert was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, active in Italy. Intimately connected with the progressive musical center of Ferrara, he was one of the leaders in developing the style of the late Renaissance madrigal...
- Adrian WillaertAdrian WillaertAdrian Willaert was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers who moved to Italy and transplanted the polyphonic Franco-Flemish style there....
- Baldassare DonatoBaldassare DonatoBaldassare Donato was an Italian composer and singer of the Venetian school of the late Renaissance. He was maestro di cappella of the prestigious St...