The Development of Instrumental Style in Italy
The form of the instrumental canzona arose in the 16th century, particularly in Italy through Netherlands musicians living there, and was later extended not only formally but also in its sound by the Venetian circle around the two Gabrielis. If the first "ricercari”, as these canzonas were first called, such as those of Willaert and Palestrina were primarily recognizable as instrumental music through their lack of a text, being written in the fully imitatory style of the vocal music of that time, the masters associated with Gabrieli had already developed a large number of purely instrumental flourishes and motifs, a vocabulary of purely instrumental, textless dialogue that clearly distinguishes genuine instrumental music from vocal music. In the first years of the 17th century there are already works to be found with concrete, even if never binding suggestions for instrumentation, and one can already distinguish typical “wind” and “string” figures. The use of two or more choirs - a specially Venetian achievement in the handling of sound - through which the entire space of the church was clad in song from all sides as it were (living stereophony in
the 17th century!), was also applied in purely instrumental music. Instmmental canzonas were composed in which two or more groups made music together in dialogue style. These groups were separated spatially on the one hand, and on the other contrasted in their sound through their consisting of wind and strings respectively. - All these newly-discovered possibilities of instrumental music-making were incorporated into vocal music in great polychoral motets, in the first place by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli. It had already been the practice to let instruments occasionally double the vocal parts, it is true, but this was now something quite different: through the most manifold combinations of choirs and solo singers with instruments, the various groups were to bring a colourfulness and vanety into this spatial music that had never yet been heard.

Works of Art in Honour of the Virgin Mary
These were the latest achievements in church music when Monteverdi wrote his Vespers of the Blessed Virgin in Mantua. - Works of art in honour of the Mother of God had, from earliest times, occupied an exceptional place. In religious painting, musical instruments played by angels were already depicted at a time when they were by no means officially permitted in church. It is obvious, however that many of these pictures do not represent any truly possible “church concerts”, but are meant allegorically; very often it is the most usual instrumental combinations of secular music that are shown in these pictures. This is a genuine parallel to “Marian music”, for compositions in honour of Mary, settings of texts for the Song of Solomon and similar works had, from the earliest times, been more "secular", more passionate and more “modernly” laid out for their period than was church music in general, which was nearly always conservative in character. Even Palestrina, who had laid down the criteria for stylistically strict and officially prescribed church music a generation before Monteverdi, wrote in the preface to a collection of rnotets: “I have here turned my muse towards the poetry dedicated to the praise of the Holy Virgin, the Song of Solomon. In doing so, I have applied a more passionate style than in my other church music; this poetry seemed to me to demand this..." Thus it is surely no mere chance that it is precisely in Marian vespers that, for the first time in musical history, the accustomed limitations of style and of sound were burst in every conceivable direction. In this revolutionary work, the new achievements of the modem Venetian instrumental music and the new operatic style, as yet but a few years old and in the formation of which Monteverdi himself played a decisive role, were applied for the first time in a large-scale sacred vocal work.

Monteverdu's Vespers
Monteverdi was, as a matter of course, familiar with all the innovations in church music brought about by his colleagues in neighbouring Venice. He had been employed as a “Suonatore di Vivuola” by Vincenzo I Gonzago in Mantua since 1591, and had participated in many journeys undertaken by the ducal orchestra. Thus he had opportunity to compare for himself how music was performed elsewhere, and to receive new stimuli. His “Scherzi musicali” of 1607 are inspired by the French style; here he combines with the three voices three instruments (two violins and a chordal instrument), which play not only the “ritornelli” between the verses, but also “obligato” episodes during the singing. In Orfeo, his first opera (1607), he employs the iridescent palette of the Venetian canzona orchestra: the continuo group of organo di legno (a gentle-toned organ with pipes only of wood), harpsichord, regal, lute (chitarrone), harp and low string instruments, is joined by violins, viols, cometts, trombones and trumpets. It is interestingin this connexion to note that Monteverdi, perhaps because he was himselfa violinist, was the first to abandon the predominance of the wind instruments in the early baroque orchestra in favour of the strings.
It is exactly this orchestra (the trumpets excepted) that Monteverdi uses in his Vespers of the Blessed Virgin; what is more, he lets exactly the same independent Sonata be played by the instruments before the opening chorus “Domine ad adjuvandam me festina” as is played under the name Toccata at the beginning of Orfeo. Thus the parallel between the opera and the sacred work goes further than the fields of style and of sound; Monteverdi does not only introduce the operatic style in to the church for the first time, but the operatic orchestra is presented here in all its splendour too, and in the very first piece with a quotation from Orfeo!
This toccata from “Orfeo” is repeatedly referred to as the first opera overture, but it does not really have anything to do with opera as such - it is actually a fanfare, the “Gonzaga” Fanfare. The Dukes of Mantua had the right, like all princes of their time, to maintain trumpeters in their retinue, and, again like other princes, they had their own musical coat of arms as it were, a kind of dynastic signature tune. This was played at the beginning of the evening while the audience assembled in the hall. This fanfare in the opening movement of his Vespers, which Monteverdi dedicated to the Pope,was clearly intended to show that the work came from the Gonzaga court in Mantua.
In accordance with the practice of the age, the composer does not provide the interpreter with a full score ready for performance, neither can or will he do this, since it would restrict the variety of possibilities. On the one hand, every conductor, especially with a work published in print like the Marian Vespers, had to be able to adapt it to the prevailing local circumstances without violating the composer's intentions; on the other; a richly equipped ensemble had to be able to put its possibilities to the fullest possible use and, not least, the greatest possible scope had to be left for the creative imagination of the individual musician and singer. We should remember that practically every good musician of that time was also a composer, and that free improvisation, even of music in several parts, was cultivated almost as a sport. - Thus every performance of a large-scale work during that period would have had its own individual character.

Sound-Character and Instrumentation
The character of the sound of Monteverdi’s Marian Vespers and the tasks imposed by a realization of the work can only be understood and fulfilled in relation to its historical background. As a starting-point we rnust take Monteverdi’s own indications in the opening chorus, in the Sonata sopra “Sancta Maria ora pro nobis” and in the Magnificat, as well as the division into two spatially separated choirs that seems to be called for in certain parts of the work. In addition, contemporary descriptions give us accurate information on how such works were performed at the time and with what instruments, the utmost significance being attached to spatial positioning, particularly in such “theatrical” church music. The instrumentation selected for this performance of the work shall now be considered in detail. Monteverdi’s “Vespers” were not, when all is said and done, handed down to us in score, but in part books, the very titles of which (Cantus, Altus and Tenor have the rider “secundi chori”; only the Sextus and bassus are unspecified) imply that there was a physical separation. In addition the manner in which certain solo instruments are distributed among the various part books indicates that the soloists had to move around during the performance (e. g. the comett parts are, in No. l, written into the Cantus and Sextus, in the Sonata and Magnificat into the Tenor, Qunitus and Sextus). Much the same applies to the violins, trombones, violas, flutes etc. The choirs, vocal soloists and instrumentalists were positioned in accordance with this arrangement of the part books and the spatial characteristics of Graz Cathedral, changing places from one piece to another: thus the three terrors sang the “Duo Seraphim” to one another from three widely separated gallieris. The choirs and some of the instrumentalists also moved around.
In the three parts of the vespers mentioned above, the following instruments are expressly asked for: two violini da brazzo (violins), four viuole da brazzo (a collective term for various string instruments frorn the size of a modern viola a ’cello-like instrument, contrabasso da gamba (violone), three cornetti (cometts), two flauti (recorders), two piffari (descant shawms), three trombones, organ.
This ensemble forms the instrumental basis of our performance. We have supplemented it with a number of continuo instruments which were in common use at the time: a harpsichord and several lutes. A dulcian is used too - the most flexible bass wind instrument, the dulcian featured in every orchestra. These instruments are not specifed in the original printed edition, but they are self-evident in all but small orchestras. Althoug the stringed instruments are only mentioned in the singular, I am convinced that they have to be doubled in the chorusses in accordance with the size of the orchestra. Notwithstanding, “in particular it should be noted that it is most advisable, indeed almost essential to play the same basso continuo with a bass instrument - a basson, dulcian or trombone, or best of all, a bass violin - this embellishes the foundation excellently and helps to reinforce it”.
These instruments are not specifimlly named in the first edition, but it is cler that the string instruments must be doubled in the choruses to match the size of the choir; furthermore it is a well-known fact today that in such large works, particularly when laid out on a polychoral basis, a variety of continuo instruments had to be used, on the one hand in order to be able to place a foundation instrument with each choir, on the other in order to ensure the necessary contrast in tone. The many solos of monodic character demand a corresponding accompaniment; here the lute, being the instrument on which soloists accompanied themselves at that time, was almost of necessity the obvious choice in view of the rubato style of these monodies. In large-scale orchestrations with wind, corresponding wind instruments must also play the bass part with the organ and the harpsrchord, even if not specifically asked for by the composer. This is confirmed by Praetorius in hus Syntagma Musicum, 1618, which is almost entirely devoted to the perfonning practice of the Italian music modem at that time: “lt must be especially noted that it is very good, even almost necessary, to let the said thorough-bass be played additionally by a wind instrument, such as the bassoon, dulcian or trombone or, what is best of all, a bass violin, which splendidly adorns and helps to strengthen the foundation”. Since the instrumental parts are printed separately in the choral part-books wherever they deviate from the vocal parts, we can assume that the same musicians also doubled the vocal parts whenever this was required by the conductor of a particular performance. Evidence of this is to be found in various places, such as the instruments suddenly being left on their own in the “ritornelli” of “Dixit Dominus". Most of the choruses in the Vespers are laid out for a double choir; this means for the orchestra that its basic placing must support this double-choir character without the musicians having to change their places. Praetorius describes exactly how placing and perfonnance of these polychoral works were conceived at that time: “... When in a concert one choir is made up of cornets, the second of violins and the third of trombones, bassoons, flutes and similar instruments...” he believes it is necessary to use” ...viols for one versicle, trombones for a second and flutes for a third.” As to how the instruments should be arranged, he says he “found it better ex observatione to place the same Capellam or Chorum Fidicinium (strings ensemble) on its own to one side of the organ, so that the vocalists are not obscured or swamped by the instruments, but each can be heard clearly and distinguished from the other... One should takecare to separate the boy singers and the other Concentores (who lead the concertato and vocal parts) from one another, as they are divided up in the choirs, and to allocate a bass instrument to each boy or Choro wherever possible... But the Capella Fidicina must be so positioned that it comes to the aid of all the boys and choirs...“
Praetorius’s book not only contains the most precise description of contemporary performing practice that has come down to us - it even refers expressly to the Monteverdi Vespers in its directions on instrumentation!
Thus, in this recording, the string section is placed front left as a basis, since it is normally allotted to the first choir, likewise placed on the left, the wind in groups (trombones, cornetts, flutes, descant shawms) on the right, corresponding to the second choir. Each choir has its own “foundation instrument", on the left near the strings stands the large harpsichord with bass “fidel” and violone, in the middle the organ that unites all the forces, on the right, near the wind, the virginals with the dulcian.
In the undivided choruses, of course, the entire orchestra is used in all its breadth; here the arrangement just described merely serves the purpose of clearly distinguishing the colours of the sound-palette from one another. This is the case in the opening chorus “Domine ad adjuvandum” with its parallel independent orchestral Sonata, in which all the instnunents are used. In the sections of this in even numbers of beats to the bar, Monteverdi goes so far in imitating the sound of trumpets that he uses nothing but this instrument’s natural notes in six of the parts, so that they could be played by a sextet of trumpets; they are, however, played by cornetts, strings and trombones. That this is no mere chance can be seen from the orchestral “ritornelli” lying between these sections, in which no consideration is shown for the natural notes. And in order to make the contrast to the trumpet imitation quite clear; the cornetts are silent in these sections. Also undivided are the second chorus, “Dixit Dominus”, the chorus “Laetatus surn”, the choral section of the ninth movement "Audi coelum" and the beginning and end sections of the Magnificat. The instrumentation in these movements is intended, in the first place, to make clear the formal structure through colouring the choir in the manner of organ stops; in addition, figures that are in themselves primarily instrumental and thus difficult to sing are outlined clearly through being doubled by instruments (for example the almost unsingable dotted note repetitions at “Dominus a clextris tuis” in the second chorus). Some sections are accompanied, according to the nature of the music, either by strings alone, or only with wind instruments of various kinds, some also being sung without any instruments at all. And especially in hornophonic, solemn sections such as the “et spiritui sancto” in “Laetatus sum” or the magnificent conclusions of “Dixit Dominus”, “Laetatus sum” and the Magnificat, the sound of the full string and wind orchestra can naturally lend splendour and brilliance to the whole.This full sound of the entire choir and orchestra is compared by Praetorius to that of the full organ: “When the entire Capella plays and the full ’work’ joins in as on an organ. This gives superb ornament and resplendent display in such music, and the harmony thus achieved can be expanded with even greater splendour by the addition of a bass pommer, double-bassoon or a large bass violin (Italis, violone), or indeed other instruments as available, to the middle and upper parts.”
Delight in splendour of sound began to be a decisive factor in this period of the dawning baroque age. We thus find tone combinations described of solo instruments with vocal parts or of various instruments with one another, also in octaves, which promise particular effects.
The use of tone-colour as a means of expression had been discovered, but at this stage it was still employed primarily by musicians rather than by the composer himself. In this performance it was used in the same way - in irnprovisatory fashion, so to speak. The significance of register instrumentation in the “Laetatus sum” is particularly evident. In this piece an eight-bar andante figure in crotchets, “tailor-made” for the dulcian, is repeated five times, illustrating as it were the procession to Jerusalem. The choral sections in between are accompanied by strings alone or by trombones and flutes; the “Gloria” is accompanied by all these. The solos are sung here without instrumental accompaniment.
The double-choir movements are simpler in their instrumentation. In the ten-part “Nisi Dominus", for instance, the allotting of the dark strings to the first choir and the winds to the second choir creates clarity also where the two choirs sing and play together, rhythmically interwoven. Or again in the eight-part "Ave Maris stella", in which the strings again accompany the first choir piffaro, recorder and three trombones the second choir. This principle has also been retained in the “ritornelli”.
A very special place is occupied in this work - also with regard to instrumentation - by the “Sonata” and the solo sections of the Magnificat. Here the instrumental part has already been taken so seriously and worked out in such detail by the composer that he himself has orchestrated the pieces with the greatest care, so meticulously in fact that it has been unnecessary to add anything else but the wind instrument reinforcing the “cantus tirmus”. It is clear that in these pieces we are dealing with solos that on no account must be doubled - as unfortunately usually happens today. We are indeed today accustomed to hear solo wind contrasted with a large body of strings in the modem orchestra, but this relationship was completely unknown to the practice of that age. An interesting feature is the virtuosity demanded of instruments that are today quite ponderous, as the trombone for instance. The Sonata is a genuine instrumental dance (Intrada and Galliarda), to which the “cantus firnus” sancta Maria ora pro nobis” is sung independently; in other words, the Sonata would be a complete piece of music even without it. In the solo pieces of the Magnificat - as in all the choruses built on one or more “canti firmi” - a trombone or other wind instrument plays the plainsong “cantus firmus” with the choristers, while the vocal and instrumental soloists sing or play their virtuoso solo parts against it. Instrumental and vocal pieces altemate constantly with one another: the “et exultavit” is a duet for two solo singers, the “quia respexit” an orchestral piece in which the main types of wind instrument are introduced in brief solo passages: piffari (doublereed instruments of oboe character), trombones (with cauldron-shaped mouthpiece) and recorders (labial pipes). The “quia fecit" is a solo for two singers and two violins, “et misericordia” a choral piece, “fecit potentiam”, “deposuit” and “esurientes” are solos for violins and cometts, “suscepit Israel” a vocal solo, “sicut locutus” a dialogue between violins and cometts and “Gloria patri” a vocal solo. Tutti and solo sections are clearly recognizable in both the vocal and instrumental parts, their sequence being part of a magnificent plan in which interpretation of the text and dramatic contrasts of sound are the determining factors. This work of Monteverdi’s is, after all, incredibly theatrical, not only in its ingenious handling of sound, but also in authentic theatrical effects such as, for instance, the echoes in “audi coelum”, which are exploited not only musically but also textually in every possible way.
Tutti and solo passages can be clearly distinguished in both the vocal and the instrumental sections. The order in which they follow one another is part of a grandiose plan where textual interpretation and musical-dramatic contrast play a central role. Monteverdi’s work is remarkably theatrical: it derives its dramatic character both from subtle use of sound and from genuine theatrical effects such as the cchoes in the ‘Audi coelum”, which are exploited to the utmost both textually and musically (gaudio - audio; benedicam - dicam; vita - ita).