Italian Compose Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613): Insights from Giovanni d'Avella's Regole di musica

FAIN: FT-249073-16

Jeffrey Levenberg
Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong 19047-8025 China)

Preparation of an article and monograph on the music of Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613).

Italian Renaissance composer and prince Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) composed both secular and sacred music, gaining notoriety due to the unusual style of his music as well as his scandalous personal life.  Gesualdo’s sacred music raised such controversy during his lifetime that the Church placed him under edict at the height of the Roman Inquisition.  While the style of his music remains difficult to understand, Gesualdo influenced later generations and thus remains important in the historiography.  Yet, lacunae among the primary source records from the Gesualdo castle and the Kingdom of Naples have precluded a complete understanding of the original conception and reception of his music, both secular and sacred.  A newly recovered Neapolitan treatise on music, however, stands to fundamentally transform current notions about Gesualdo’s life and works. Giovanni d’Avella penned a defense of Gesualdo after the public censuring of his music. The wide range of cultural contexts underpinning this singular document await exploration in the Franciscan Order’s archive in Naples.

Associated Products

Was Carlo Gesualdo's Honour Killing Liturgical (Article)
Title: Was Carlo Gesualdo's Honour Killing Liturgical
Author: Jeffrey Levenberg
Abstract: In recent years, musicologists have dropped the murder charges against Carlo Gesualdo because criminal law in Renaissance Italy permitted cuckolds to execute their unfaithful wives. As Annibale Cogliano has expounded, Gesualdo had the right to perform an 'honour killing'. Still, the known facts of this case are few. The extent to which Gesualdo premeditated his attack has remained a mystery. Through a new investigation of the surviving sources, this study proposes that Gesualdo coordinated his honour killing with the church liturgy. Fearful of breaking the fifth commandment, Gesualdo attacked on a day when the Bible lesson sanctioned vendetta killing.
Year: 202
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of the Royal Musical Association
Publisher: Journal of the Royal Musical Association

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