Ascanio Mayone - 450 Years, 2. Capricci per sonare (first and second book)

A familiarity with the music of Mayone and Trabaci -music of absolute artistic importance- is essential for an understanding of the works of the great Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643). ⁽¹⁾

“Let him not be scandalized and adjudge me little observant of the rules of counterpoint. Whenever compositions are adorned with passage-work there will occur some false notes that pass contrary to the contrapuntal laws; but without them it is impossible to make a beautiful effect.” - Ascanio Mayone ⁽²⁾

Ascanio Mayone was an organist for most of his career, first at the Annunziata church in Naples before he became its Maestro di Cappella, and from 1602 he also at the Royal Chapel of the Neapolitan Viceroy for Spain.

If these posts seemed to destine him for a rather conservative career with an obligation to obey rules, Mayone would nevertheless demonstrate a decidedly innovative streak, especially in his keyboard music. As we can see from the above quote, if it served his music, he would take a more 'practical' route and disregard the rules in favor of a more expressive, poetic language. ⁽³⁾

In addition, Mayone embraced contemporary efforts to build mean-tone instruments, and composed works for double harp and cimbalo cromatico. Both these instruments, with their additional parallel rows of strings and keys, were designed to resolve the need for retuning when compositions were transposed. ⁽⁴⁾

Mayone's new approach was welcome.  A number of collections were printed in Naples during his lifetime, and other works appeared in various anthologies. They include a wide variety of forms: contrapuntal ricercars, sets of variations, French canzone, and toccatas and partite ⁽⁵⁾ where Mayone is at his most original.  This posts focuses on works from the two books of Capricci per sonare.

Il Primo libro di diversi capricci per sonare (1603) consists of:

   - Four ricercars. No. 3 follows.  Nos. 1, 2, and 4 can be found here, here, and here.




   - Four French canzone. Here is No. 3. Listen to Nos. 1, 2, and 4 here, here, and here.




   - Variations on Ancidetemi pur, a madrigal by Jacques Arcadelt for four voices.




   - Five toccatas of which Nos. 3 and 4 follow. The third toccata is first played on harpsichord, then on the much mellower double harp. Listen to Nos. 1, 2, and 5 here, here, and here. These pieces can be played on conventional instruments but are also suited for the double harp--Mayone was a harpist as well as an organist.  They are full of extreme contrasts, chromaticism and a variety of texture, in the style of the Neapolitan keyboard school: rich in ornaments and divisions, with scales, thrills and echoes. ⁽⁶⁾








   - Two partite: Partite sopra rogiere (21 variations) and Partite sopra fidele (10 variations).






In the Secondo libro di diversi capricci per sonare (1609) we find:

   - Four ricercars. This is the Recercar sopra il canto fermo di costantio festa which is really based on the old La Spagna melody. Here is the Recercar del Primo Tone.




   - Three French canzone. No. 2 follows. Listen to the fourth here.




   - Variations in diminution to Io Mi Son Giovinetta: Del Ferabosco Diminuito Per Sonare Da Sci. Stella, Gio. Dom. Montella, Ascanio Mayone which indicates a collaboration.




   - Four toccatas. Listen to Nos. 1 and 3 here and here. No. 4 was written for the cimbalo cromatico of which more in my next post.




   - Twenty partite. Let's listen to Partite sopra il tenore antico, o romanesca.





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⁽¹⁾"MAIONE ASCANIO (1570 C.A. -1627)." CD info, Tactus label. (http://tactus.it/products-page/umanesimorinascimento/tc571302-ascanio-maione-secondo-libro-di-diversi-capricci-per-sonare-napoli-1609-francesco-tasini/ (09/19/2015)).  Although Mayone and Trabaci are commonly mentioned as influences on Frescobaldi, at least one scholar takes the view that both Frescobaldi and his followers and the Neapolitan School took their inspiration directly from the Ferrarese keyboard school which 'can be traced back to Luzzaschi and perhaps even as far as Jacques Brumel.' See James Ladewig, "The Use of Open Score as a Solo Keyboard Notation in Italy ca. 1530-1714."Essays in Honor of John F. Ohl: A Compendium of American Musicology, Part II. Studies in Music from the Renaissance through the Classic Era, p. 82, edited Enrique Alberto Arias, Northwestern University Press, 2001. (https://books.google.com/books?id=D6IqVxvfWGEC&source=gbs_navlinks_s (09/19/2015))
⁽²⁾"Ascanio Mayone, Napolitano Organista." Biography, Associazione Mayone website. (http://ascaniomayone.org/bio.html (09/19/2015))
⁽³⁾ Tactus, Ib. This attitude of 'nonchalance' and 'sprezzatura' was already described in the first century by Quintiliano.
⁽⁴⁾Scipione Stella, Mayone's predecessor at the Annunziata was also heavily involved in this trend. See Patrizio Barbieri, "La "Sambuca Lincea" di Fabio Colonna e il "Tricembalo" di Scipione Stella. Con notizie sugli strumenti enarmonici del Domenichino." Presentation at La Musica a Napoli durante il Seicento convention, April 11-14, 1985, (https://www.academia.edu/5134308/La_Sambuca_Lincea_di_Fabio_Colonna_e_il_Tricembalo_di_Scipione_Stella._Con_notizie_sugli_strumenti_enarmonici_del_Domenichino (09/19/2015))
⁽⁵⁾ Sets of variations, usually on a well-known melody.
⁽⁶⁾ Andrew Lawrence-King, "Caccini-Fillimarino-Mayone-Negri-Trabaci-Anonymous, harp music of the Italian renaissance / lawrence-king." CD info, Helios label 55162, 1987. (http://www.cdandlp.com/caccini-fillimarino-mayone-negri-trabaci-anonymous/harp-music-of-the-italian-renaissance-lawrence-king/cd/r116586240/ (09/19/2015)) This style would 'find its culmination in the madrigals of Gesualdo.'