Giovanni Valentini - Works

Works

Valentini's oeuvre consists for the most part of different kinds of vocal music: madrigals, masses, motets and sacred concertos. Because he was apparently not interested in writing oratorios or operas, Valentini is sometimes regarded as a conservative composer, especially when compared to Monteverdi. This is, however, somewhat erroneous, as numerous works exhibit considerable innovations and elaborate experimentation. The 1621 collection Musiche a doi voci is probably the most famous example: it not only contains some of the earliest examples of the dramatic dialogue, but also features entire passages in 5/4 time (Con guardo altero) and consecutive bars of 9/8 and 7/8 (Vanne, o cara amorosa).

Of the large-scale sacred pieces, the Messa, Magnificat et Jubilate Deo of 1621 contains three works scored for seven choirs (which is more parts than any music published before) and is an early example of printed trumpet parts. The rest of Valentini's masses exhibit features common to other composers' works in the genre; they include some conservative concertato settings and polychoral parody masses. Small-scale works such as motets and psalm settings are more interesting musically. Most are written using a modern concertato style, with virtuosic instrumental writing and, in some pieces, extensive use of chromaticisms. The motet In te Domine speravi is particularly notable for being one of the last ever compositions with a part written specifically for viola bastarda, a type of a tenor viol. The sacred concertos from the 1625 Sacri concerti collection are among the first sacred works written north of the Alps to employ stile recitativo extensively.

The Secondo libro di madrigali (1616) is (along with the 1621 Musiche a doi voci) among the most important of Valentini's secular works as it is the first published collection of madrigals which combined voices and instruments. The instrumental arrangement plays diverse roles in different pieces, from mere embellishments to full integration into the polyphonic texture of the piece. The latter approach is also used heavily in Musiche concertate (1619). The duet and dialogue pattern writing seen in Musiche a doi voci is reminiscent of the duets from Monteverdi's Settimo libro de madrigali, published in 1619.

Other works include keyboard canzonas in five or six voices (perhaps more adventurous harmonically than Froberger's four voice canzonas and capriccios, but contrapuntally less complex; a rarity for their time because of the number of voices) and instrumental pieces (sonatas, canzonas) that feature harmonic experiments in the vein of Valentini's motets. The 1621 chamber music collection, Musica di camera, includes pieces built on ostinato patterns such as the passamezzo, romanesca and ruggiero.