Output details

'Adapting an Italian style and genre: Charpentier and the _falsobordone_'

The divergence between _fauxbourdon_ and _falsobordone_ in the seventeenth century is striking. French fauxbourdon underwent little development, retaining much the same character as the simplest Italian falsobordone, developed in the previous century. The conservatism, harmonic restraint and mainly chant-based construction of fauxbourdon contrast with the greater complexity of the more ambitious styles of falsobordone of the period, whether the ‘choral’ variety or the virtuoso _passaggiata_ with independent continuo. Against this background, Charpentier’s fauxbourdon is shown by Sadler to be quite untypical. It includes features that were without precedent in France but common in Italy: absence of plainchant; pungent harmony; alternating _versets_ with different scorings; divided choirs; soloistic writing with independent continuo. Moreover, Charpentier pioneered the use of fauxbourdon passages within the polyphonic motet, a procedure already widespread in Italy.

Sadler’s study was written in response to an invitation to take part with Thompson (q.v.) in a research seminar at the Deutsches Historisches Institut, Rome, in April 2011. This event formed part of a three-year Franco-German project focusing on European musicians in Venice, Rome and Naples, 1650-1750 (‘Musicisti europei a Venezia, Roma e Napoli (1650-1750): musica, identità delle nazioni e scambi culturali’ <http://www.musici.eu>).