Partimento formulas and musical meaning in Bellini’s compositional praxis: an analytical approach
Marco Pollaci
Abstract
In the early twentieth century, Stravinsky offered a well-known assessment of Bellini, saying that «Bellini received the melody without even bothering to ask for it as if heaven had told him “I’ll give you just what Beethoven lacks”». This quote highlights a prominent aspect of the praise afforded Bellini’s musical language even today; namely, a focus upon ease and inspiration (especially in composing melodies), born from his creative genius. It also reflects a frequent mistaken conviction that Bellini’s musical language relies on long, simple melodies, a conviction that pays inadequate attention to the significance of Bellini’s training, as reflected in his compositional praxis. However, the overlooked compositional aspects of these so-called ‘simple melodies’ shine through under a recently rediscovered critical lens: the ongoing revaluation of past pedagogic traditions, such as the partimento method and other rules of the Neapolitan school. The present article demonstrates not only the constant presence and re-use of compositional patterns from the legacy of the composer’s studies, but also why and how the composer elaborated and quoted these formulas to express dramaturgical content. The article explores how reuse of such musical patterns can be read as a constitutive aspect of Bellini’s melodies as musical tòpoi, to recall a specific dramaturgical atmosphere, a tinta or a musical colour.
Keywords
Vincenzo Bellini’s training – Neapolitan School – Nicola Antonio Zingarelli – Giacomo Tritto – Music Pedagogy in early 19th century – partimento tradition and legacy – Compositional theory and practice – Romanesca scheme – Do-Re-Mi scheme – The Meyer scheme – Rule of the Octave
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