Villanelles italiennes à 1 et 3 voix

 Villanelles à 1 voix
G. de Wert / Occhi dell’alma
G. A. Dragoni / Donna se lo mio cuore
                          Tanto v’ama quest’alma
A. Orologlio Guardat’ amanti
G. Boschetti / Ahi chi tien lo mio cuore
L. Marenzio / Milla tue trezze d'oro
G. Costa / Vo cercand’ il mio cor
O. Vecchi / Non è cosa ch’io miri
G. Caimo / Quando dal prim’amore
G. Ferretti / Male per me tanta beltà

Villanelles à 3 voix
L. Marenzio / Fuggirò tant’ amore
  Mi parto, ahi sorte ria
  Ahime, che col fuggire
  Andar vidi un fanciul’
  Lasso quand’havran fin
  Voi sete la mia stella
  Dolce mia vit’e amata
  Ard’ ogn’ hor il cor
  Dicemi, la mia stella
  Non posso più soffrire

A 'villanelle' is a kind of short rustic poem divided into verses that end in the same chorus, even when set to music as a song. The subject was usually pastoral, a simple ballad, which gave them a popular appeal. However, the regrouping of the songs by Marc Bataïni does not strictly obey the fixed scheme as outlined in the definition above. It was the scholar Jean-Baptiste Besard (circa 1567-circa 1625) a composer, lutenist, lawyer and doctor, who was the first person in 1603 to publish an anthology of Renaissance and early Baroque music in tablature. The volume was called Thesaurus Harmonicus, containing 403 instrumental works and songs by different composers, including some of Besard's own. All the songs display the simple beauty that is present in the italian madrigals from the beginning of the Baroque period. They are suitable for a medium to medium low voice, and the standard would be grade IV and above. Most of the songs are short, only a page long with verses which use the same accompaniment. The songs are in italian, with no translation. They are grouped as Villanelles in one voice, and Villanelles in three voices. In this volume the scordatura tuning of the G string to F sharp is widely used, and the capo is recommended as a tool to find the best key for the vocalist. A few songs use regular tunings and these often have more sharps and are slightly higher in pitch. The standard for the guitarist is grade V and above, the music is set on the lower positions of the guitar, never traveling higher than fret five, with chords that connect easily. For the Singer the challenge would be the correct pronunciation of the italian language, and interpreting the style of the songs. The cover is made of stiff white card with a long red strip on the right hand side, on this back¬ground; the facsimile is displayed of the original cover of Thesaurus Harmonics. Marc Bataïni, an experienced transcriber, has freely adapted the tablature of Jean Baptiste Besard but he has taken a lot of care to retain the original features of the songs, while expanding the score to make the accompaniments more interesting to modern ears. He is keen to promote the repertoire that is available for guitar and voice from this period that is too rarely heard in live performance.

Sandra Hambleton Smith (Classical Guitar Magazine)