Concert Analysis: Selva Morale

The Baylor University Early Ensembles performance was titled “Selva morale e spirtuale: Festa Natale di Monteverdi”. There were 5 performers; three of whom played violin, one recorder, and one harpsicord player. All of the instruments were replicas of instruments played during the time period in Venice. The violin’s strings were made out of guts and the humidity of the room caused them to frequently be out of tune, so before every song they need to be tuned with the harpsicord. The concert was filled with songs mostly by Monteverdi, and a few songs that were common in the time period. 6 songs were performed in total which were all relatively short. All but one song had only instruments being performed. The song “Salve Regina” had a small amount of chanting towards the middle of the piece but the rest was just instrumental. The concert was performed in Armstrong Browning Library which is absolutely beautiful. The scenery of the main room helped me visualize the Italian setting the music was composed in. The scene of the Italian country side pained on the roof helped me see what Monteverdi saw when he was writing in Venice in the late 1500s early 1600s.
I really like this concert. It was very excited to hear instruments for this time …show more content…
The composition itself had a fast tempo with all five instruments paying. Throughout the song it seemed was one instrument would take a solo and one of the others would accompany it. All instruments were not playing at the same time and this caused there to be a homophonic texture over a polyphonic one. The harpsichord set the steady beat under the other music which was playing. There were changes in dynamics as the piece would get louder and softer. The rhythm of the piece was more constant than some of the other pieces performed. It was a very beautiful composition and a good selection to decide to end the concert