Gli intrighi d'amore (The Intrigues of Love)
Jerry H. Casey
About this work:
La commedia dell'arte is the name usually given to the popular Italian improvised comedy that flourished from the 16th to the early 18th centuries. The commedia dell'arte style was marked by the harmonious collaboration of a group of players improvising dialogue and situations around a previously agreed upon scenarios.
In a commedia dell’arte company each member had his or her own character or ‘mask.’ The young lovers’ desire for marriage and its constant thwarting by their elders supplied in general the plot of the play. In league against them were the old men, fathers or guardians, of whom the most important was Pantalone. An independent role, though he could be a rival for the hand of the young girl, was the braggart Capitano, a satire on the alien soldier occupying the country. Round these revolved the numerous servants who helped or hindered the lovers--the zanni. It was they who gave the commedia dell’arte is characteristic flavor and under various names have infiltrated the literature and theater of the whole of Western Europe.
Although most scenarios had 12-15 characters, many subplots, and convoluted events, the composer chose five main characters, each to be represented by an instrument in the woodwind quintet. The scenario remains true to the spirit of the more complicated plots. The quintet is basically in the form of a suite with the various movements representing “Scenes.” The music faithfully follows the scenario, which the narrator reads at the beginning of each scene. Each of the instruments is given a three-measure theme in a different mode to portray its character.
The prologue opens with a march representing the actors' entrance. Each character is introduced in turn as his/her theme plays against the march. The march also appears in the Intermezzo as a frame for the five themes played simultaneously. In the epilogue the themes are heard in fugue-like entrances that lead to an abbreviated form of the march in grandiose style as the actors exit.
The matrimonial nature of the plot is evoked by brief references to Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" and Mendelssohn's “Wedding Processional."
Year composed: 1995
Duration: 00:14:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Woodwind Quintet
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Horn in F
Instrumentation notes: Narrator