DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

INTERMEZZO INTERMEZZO 485
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portant improvements, witliin a comparatively
recent period ; and its case is, in every way, so
exceptional, that it is no easy task to determine
its true position as a historical landmark.
Ahiiost all the earlier Italian plays were
relieved by Intermezzi. Many of these were
simply madrigals, sung hy a greater or less
number of voices, as occasion ser\*ed. Sometimes
they were given in the form of a chorus,
with instrumental accompaniment. The most
favourite style, perhaps, was that of a song, or
canzonetta, sung, by a single pierformer, in the
character of Orpheus. In no case was the
subject of these performances connected, in any
W"ay, "with that of the pieces between the acts of
which they were interpolated. Their construction
was e.Ktremely simple, and their importance
relatively small. "We first find them assuming
grander proportions, at Florence, in the year
1589, on the occasion of the marriage of the
Grand Duke Ferdinand, with Christine de
Lorraine. To grace this ceremony, Giovanni
Bardi, Conte di Yernio, produced a new comedy,
ent\t\ed L'Am ko Jido, with Intermezzi, a grand
spectacle, prepared expressly for the festival,
and presented with a ilegi'ee of splendour
hitherto unknown. For the first of these,
called 'The Harmony of the Spheres,' the
poetry was written by Ottavio Rinuccini, and
the music composed by Emilio del Cavaliere,
and Cristofano Malvozzi. The second, also
written by Rinuccini, and called ' The Judgment
of the Hamadryads,' w'as set to nmsic by
Luca JIarenzio. For the third, called ' The
Triumph of Apollo,' invented by Bardi, and
written b}' Rinuccini, the music was composed,
partly by Luca Marenzio, and partly, it is said,
by the Conte di Vernio himself. The fourth,
entitled ' The Infernal Regions,' was -written by
Pietro Strozzi, and accompanied by sombre
music, composed, by Giulio Caccini, for violins,
viole, lutes, lyres of all forms, double harps,
trombones, and 'Organs of AYood.'^ The
fifth— 'The Fable of Arion '—was written liy
Rinuccini, and set to music by Cavaliere and
Malvezzi.
This grand p)erformance naturally gave an
extraordinary im]iulse to the progress of dramatic
music. Within less than ten years, it
was followed, in the same city, by the production
of the first Opera Seria, at the Palazzo
Corsi. llean^vhile, the Intermezzo steadily
continued to advance in interest and importance.
Guarini (1537-1612) wrote Intermezzi to his
own Fastor Fido, in the form of sin]ple madri-
gals. In 1623, L'Amorosa Fnnoecnza was produced
at Bologna, accompanied by Intermezzi
della Corcmazioiie di Apollo, -per Dafne cmivertita
in Leiuro, set to music by Ottavio Vernizzi.
This work introduces us to a new and extremely
important epoch in the history of this branch
of dramatic art. By degrees, the Intermezzi
1 Organ'i di lefjno.
were made to embody a little continuous drama
of their own. Their story—always quite unconnected
with that of the princijial fiiece— was
more carefully elaborated than heretofore.
Gradually increasing in coherence and interest,
their disjointed members rapidly united themselves
into a consistent and connected whole.
And thus, in process of time, two distinct
dramas were presented to the audience, in
alternate acts ; the character of the Intermezzi
being always a little lighter than that of the
pjiece between the divisions of which they were
f)layed, and on that very account, ]")erhap)S,
better fitted to win their way to iiublic favour.
The merry wit inseparable from the Neapolitan
school undonlitedly did nmch for them ; and,
before long, they began to enter into formidable
rivalry wilh the more serious piieces they were
at first only intended to relieve. Their popu-
larity spiread so widely, that, in 1723, a collec-
tion of them was printed, in two volumes, at
Amsterdam ; and so lasting was it, that, for
many years a light Italian Operetta was frequently
called an Intcruirizo in Musiea.
The next great change in the form of the
Intermezzo, though really no more than the
natiu'al consequence of those we have already
described, was sulhciently important, not only
to mark the culminating pioint in its career,
but to translate it, at once, to a sphere of art
little contemplated by those who first called it
into existence. Already complete in itself, all
it now needed was independence : an existence
of its own, apart from that of the graver piece
to which it owed its original raiscm d'itre. Such
an existence was obtained for it, by the simple
process of leaving the graver piece—whether
tragedy, comedy, or serious opera— to depend
upouitsow'n resources, whilethe Intermezzo, with
its once disconnected links united in unbroken
sequence, was performed as a sep)arate work, in
one act. This revolution was elfected chiefly
by the genius of a young composer, Avhose untimely
death, considered in relation to its influence
upon the lyric drama, can never be suffici-
ently deplored. From beginning to end, the
narrative of Pergolesi's art-life is identified with
the ultimate fate of the Intermezzo. His first
important composition—a sacred drama, called
'San CTUglielmo d' Aqnitania, '—was diversified
by Intermezzi, of a playful character, introduced
between its principal divisions. His greatest
triumph— 'La Serva Padrona,'—was, itself, an
Intermezzo, pur et simple. This delightful
work—the whole interest of which is centred
in two characters, whose voices are accompanied
only by a stringed band—was first produced, in
Ital}^ between the acts of another piece, in the
year 1733. Its success was unbounded. It
soon found its way to every capital in Europe ;
and, everywdiere but in France, was received
with acclamation. The French, however, were
slow to appreciate it at its true value. Its first