A comparison of related performance practices of late Renaissance Italian madrigals and twentieth century choral jazz ballads.

Abstract

Primary sources that inform the performance practices of the jazz ballad, including recordings of solo artists, are presented. Recommendations are made for choral jazz ballad performance practice. Recorded examples and scores (original and altered versions) are provided for three works: Come Sunday by Duke Ellington, My Funny Valentine by Rogers and Hart, and I'll Be Seeing You by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain.

The case is made that the choral field suffers due to the lack of performance practice resources regarding late Renaissance Italian madrigals and twentieth-century choral jazz ballads. Musical-cultural contexts of both genres are reviewed, noting similarities and suggesting how a comparative study of these two performances practices can be mutually informative.

Primary sources that inform the performance practices of the late Renaissance Italian madrigal are presented. Recommendations are made for late Renaissance Italian performance practice. Recorded examples and scores (original and altered versions) are provided for three works: Si, ch'io vorrei morire by Claudio Monteverdi, Io piango by Luca Marenzio, and Languisco e moro by Carlo Gesualdo.

In conclusion, a comparison of late Renaissance Italian madrigal and twentieth-century choral jazz ballad performance practices is presented with similarities highlighted. The argument is made that given such commonalities, a comparative study is mutually informative and bridges classical and jazz musical environments to the benefit of the musical profession.