Note-Naming, Galant Schemata, and the "Thread" of Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins, Op.3 No.10 (RV 580)

Baragwanath, Nicholas

Abstract

Part I surveys the language code applied to the theory of Galant schemata, which builds upon Gjerdingen’s 2007 study of “stock musical patterns” in the eighteenth century. These are determined primarily by “contrapuntal skeletons” between descant and bass, and defined by scale degree numbers drawn from seven-note scales. Yet, to describe their melodies in these terms is anachronistic. It can give rise to connections and hierarchies that would not have occurred to eighteenth-century minds. In Italian-style music, melody was governed by the hexachordal solfeggio that occupied the first years of apprenticeship. It was never described with scale degrees. The article asks what happens if we apply the old hexachords to the stock patterns of Galant music, including voice leading commonplaces normally excluded from the inventory of schemata. Might they offer alternative, more historically grounded readings? Part II addresses these questions through a case study on the first movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins (RV. 580), which explores the claim that hexachordal syllables, as known and understood by the original female performers, can grant further insights into the musical discourse. Part III concludes by presenting an analysis of the overall “thread” of the movement, taken to mean the syllabic patterns that underlie its melody.

Citation

Baragwanath, N. (2024). Note-Naming, Galant Schemata, and the "Thread" of Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins, Op.3 No.10 (RV 580). Music Theory and Analysis, 11(1), 48-78. https://doi.org/10.11116/mta.11.1.3

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 17, 2024
• Publication Date: May 15, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 19, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 26, 2025
• Journal: Music Theory and Analysis (MTA)
• Print ISSN: 2295-5917
• Electronic ISSN: 2295-5925
• Publisher: Leuven University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 3
• Pages: 48-78
• ISBN: 978-94-6165-375-8
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.11116/mta.11.1.3
• Keywords: galant schemata; historical solfeggio; language codes; scale degrees; voice-leading patterns
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/40552714
• Publisher URL: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/leuven/mta/2024/00000011/00000001/art00004;jsessionid=1nbcy0e31tksd.x-ic-live-01