Thus begins our timbral realisation of “Ma Che? Squallido e oscuro.”1 This song was composed by d’India, with lyrics by the poet Tasso, both of whom wrote for the concerto delle donna, and originally published as a collection of other vocal soli which specifically mentions the arpa doppia in the title (Le Musiche Di Sigismondo D'india, Nobile' Palermitano: Da Cantar Solo Nel Clavicordo, Chitarone, Arpa Doppia Et Altri Istromenti Simili). The protagonist is a woman who has longed for a man who loved another. In this first line, she finds him dead on the ground, and still desires him physically. She kisses him, he is restored to life and goes back to his true love, the singer contented with the one kiss. Like Preti’s poem, the subject matter is jarring, dark and twisted. This is in order to focus on the sharp timbral contrasts in each phrase and the madness of those contrast as described in word painting of the time, and also to shed the preciousness of idyllic harp tone in favour of the original lyre accompaniment of epic poetry Seconda Prattica sought to emulate.
It begins with the interjection, “But what!” While this would typically suggest a strong opening chord to imitate the shock of the singer, this initial shock is by no means the grittiest point of the phrase, we might want to start with something a bit more neutral, less defined. Medium height on the strings and medium contact with the finger, lessens this impact, but high speed creates the surprise.
The next chord moves from C major to C minor, and while the most direct translation o ‘squallido’ is dirty, the closer word etymologically speaking is ‘squalid,’ with its connotation of being both physically and morally disgusting. A squalid chord may be produced at the soundboard, low on the string, right on the tip of the finger, perhaps with the nails hooked into the string for extra bite, but with a slower speed, so the sound doesn’t go thin.
‘Oscuro’ can be pale, but related to the word obscure, the man is obscured by the veil of death, suggesting a more held sound, pale but a bit mysterious, so high on the string for less attack, low on the finger and then faster speed to thin out the sound.
‘Anco mi piaci’ contains a visceral rush of love, and the twist of the phrase, following the stress of the word, ‘’piaci’. This may be realised with a stronger, darker chord of wanting, and then something a bit more sickeningly sweet, beginning lower on the string for that darkness and tang, but higher on the finger. This requires a richer sound than ‘squallido’ as it is the desires of the living, and a fast attack to add to that impact. Following that is a chord very high on the string to make it properly saccharine, high on the finger to get control of a slow attack to milk all the sweetness out of the string.
“Pale lips and frozen kisses.” For the pale, dead lips, with low height, fast speed and high finger contact to create the driest, coldest sound. ‘Fredi’ (frozen) is given life in the wetness of the kiss, higher on the strings with medium speed.
“When you were warm, I hoped even to ravish you.” ‘Caldi’ (warm) has the heat of slow speed, medium finger contact and high placement. This not only for the word itself but for the image of the living man, removed from the character’s delusions and fantasies. ‘Hoped,’ requires an open rich sound, hope is a warm image to her, but the warmth of ‘caldi’ is the living man, is contrasted to the hollowness of her hope in the quickened speed. ‘Rapire’ (ravish) has a hard bitter sound with fast speed, high hard finger contact, low on the string, contrasting the slow resolution, attack removed with high placement, low finger placement, with low speed leaving some resonance.
“Remove the cause of death” To dramatically create the return of life to the man, a strong impulse chord is given greater attack and movement with high speed, high finger contact, with the drama of the low string placing. Morte is softened medium finger contact, medium height and slow speed for the gravity of the falling octave. “By kissing those lips” returns to the organ tone in the disparate hand placing, with the right high and the left low.
“If you find my tears odious and my desires audacious,” begins low on the string on the tip for added attack but slow speed to create the necessary resonance to support the soprano’s entry. This echoes the ‘squalid’ opening, but the placement of the text, and specifically ‘odi’ meaning odious, off the impulse note in the continuo, with the word sliding into the fourth crotchet beat of the bar, and cushioned with the sibilant ‘se’ (‘if’) seems to suggest a squeamishness on the part of the character. His disgust is secondary to ‘mio ‘pianto’, (‘my tears’), which melts into the tears, wet (in the high string placement and low finger contact) and cold (in the high speed). ‘Audacious desires’ have the visceral bite at the soundboard with medium finger contact to get a stronger grip on the strings, with high speed for a harsher, hollower sound.
“Pardon my furtive and temerarious boldness.” The plea for forgiveness uses medium height, medium finger contact and medium speed to create an orthodox sound, well articulated and neither robbed of body in the highs, or burdened with the earthy lows. ‘Furto’ or furtive becomes melancholic with the brittle dry cold of high speed and finger contact, with high body creating the illusive incorporeal shimmer. Temerarious boldness returns to the soundboard, tension of the cadence and hard ‘d’ consonant imitated with the slow attack gripped by medium finger contact, changin to the low contact, high speed, medium height resolution on the unemphasized syllable ‘re’.
Looking broader, within the first phrase, “Spirit Beautiful, if you are wandering around here,” there is less contrast from word to word, and more ornamentation in the vocal line. This may suggest a changing role in the continuo, prioritising supporting that melody with pitch, but does not exclude creating an interesting timbre. An organ may be imitated here through the use of a strong bass, left low on the strings but slow and low on the finger, right hand high on the string, on the tips with fast attack for a solid earthy bass and airy incorporeal treble.
“Bloodless and lifeless.” The repetition of the phrase can be given further tension starting low on the string with the grip of medium finger placement and slow speed, released in the final syllable of “smorte.” The tension builds again, with the final word given the organ tone resolved in with medium height, medium finger contact and medium speed.
The choice of colour can be informed by the meaning of the word, the sound of the words themselves, and the consonants contained in it, timbre informing this articulation. This may be used in correlation with the more standard chord breaking informed by consonance, (for example, a wider spread for rolled ‘r’s or curt damping for double ‘c’s), but it may be of some use to isolate the timbral articulation especially to master this.
This notation proves useful for developing awareness of the individual timbral elements, to ensure that no one element is unconsciously compensated for by another consistently. It is useful to create additions that modulate only one element to measure this, which also allows the harpist to find security in unexpected positions, develop control in new areas. In its meticulousness, it also encourages the same engagement with the text as is required by the singer, which brings the practice closer to original musicians accompanying themselves.
Figure 5.11—D'India, Sigismondo. “Ma Che? Squallido e oscuro.” Le Musiche Di Sigismondo D'india, Nobile' Palermitano: Da Cantar Solo Nel Clavicordo, Chitarone, Arpa Doppia Et Altri Istromenti Simili. Milano: Appresso l'herede di Simon Tini, & Filippo Lomazzo, compagni, 1609. Musical score. Digitised by the University of Michigan.
