Vocal Ornamentation in Caccini: From Theory to Practice

The main purpose of the published article is to study the role and determine the possibility of using jewelry in Giulio Caccini vocal music. The composer, the creator of the “new” style, the first among his contemporaries in the preface to the collections of arias and madrigals Le nuove musiche (1602) and Nuove musiche e nuova maniera di scriverle (1614) outlined the main positions of the school of artistic singing, where he reports on the recording of his compositions how to perform. This often leads performers into confusion about the possibility of using any jewelry. As a result, today, in some cases, Caccini music sounds monotonous, uninteresting. In the Baroque era, there was a clear discrepancy between practice and musical notation. An in-depth study and comparison of musical sources, their historical understanding, evaluation based on documentary and theoretical evidence allows us to identify the real practice and features of reproducing jewelry offered by Caccini for performance. As a result, the author of the article emphasizes the need to rethink the approach to performance, in particular, concerning the application of various ornamental effects. In this regard, it becomes important to observe their main purpose: to enhance the affect and mood of the composition through expressive transmission of the word.