Strumming in the void: a new look at the guitar and rhythm in early 17th-century canzonettas

Abstract

This article provides evidence of a performance practice specific to the strophic canzonetta repertory, one that may supplement previous studies of 17th-century continuo practice. A case is made for the use of standard strummed chord patterns from the five-course guitar repertory to accompany solo song, even when such patterns were not indicated by the notated continuo line. A manuscript from the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence (I-Fc Cherubini cf.108 (antica segnatura b.2556)) integrates strum-pattern guitar notation into the texts of Italian canzonettas. In addition, many of the ‘Cherubini’ songs can also be found in manuscripts lacking the rhythmic notation, as well as in printed sources with basso continuo lines. These concordances show that canzonettas were sometimes adapted to common strumming patterns, even to the extent of altering the notated melodic line. The evidence of the Cherubini manuscript also calls into question the assumption that a lack of explicit rhythmic notation in earlier manuscripts necessarily indicates a rhythmically free performance, and raises the possibility that the recurring periodic rhythmic and harmonic structures typifying later 17th-century practice may have stronger ties to 16th-century unwritten traditions than previously assumed.