TCS Seasons Lecture Series ╳ Authentic Music in Action

From Renaissance to Baroque: The Evolution of Vocal Music in Italy and France at the Turn of the 16th and 17th Centuries

At the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, changes in society led artistic creation to evolve from the Renaissance style into the Baroque. Early in this transitional period, polyphony underwent a qualitative change: building on the “first practice” (prima pratica), composers carried out forward-looking experiments in the “second practice” (seconda pratica). Humanism, the dominant current of thought in the Renaissance, still reverberated in the early Baroque and profoundly inspired musical innovation. How did the spirit of ancient Greek tragedy shape Italian Baroque music? How did an Orpheus-like (Orfeo) manner of singing from ancient Greece inspire Italian Baroque music to move away, to a degree, from the polyphony of multi-voice ensemble singing towards monody, in which voice and instruments are fully integrated? As instruments took on greater importance and came to stand on an equal footing with voices, the concertato style (stile concertato) took hold. How was this novel Italian music introduced into France, where it acted as a catalyst for French music while French music retained its distinctive “French taste”? And how did French and Italian ornamentation differ so markedly?

Event Information

Date: Sat, 26 August 2023, 14:00–17:00

Venue: Taipei Chamber Singers Main Rehearsal Room (No. 2, Aly. 3, Ln. 26, Chaozhou St., Da’an Dist., Taipei)

Speaker: 陳漢金 (musicologist)

Registration

※ Free admission; places are limited.

※ Event details and registration: https://forms.gle/R4vJPovJTxQKSyiN9

Production

Presented by Taipei Chamber Singers

Co-organized by Taipei Chamber Singers Arts and Culture Association, Formosa Baroque

Sponsored by Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government

2022 International Development Project for the Performing Arts: National Culture and Arts Foundation, Chien Hung Cultural and Educational Foundation, Shin Yuan Enterprise Co., Ltd., Pu Yung Construction – Pu Yuan Team

Sponsorship partners: VICHY, Mao Bao

Promotion partners: MUSICO, Eslite