Tu Lo Sai 19321s

Sarah McMahon Dr. Helvering Musicianship I 4/22/12 Tu Lo Sai Giuseppe Torelli (Apr 22, 1658-Feb 8, 1709) did not write many solo vocal pieces. Not mush is known about Torelli’s early years. It is thought that he had first studied with Giuliano Massaroti because he lived so close to Verona. Torelli first published the ten sonate a 3 for violin and basso continuo and 12 concerto da camera for two violins and a basso continuo, both were seen first in 1686. After writing the 12 Concertino per camera, for violin and cello. Around 1690 Torelli began writing his first trumpet works. Torelli’s interest in the trumpet was strange for a strings player. He most likely developed his liking for trumpet from Giovanni Pellegrino Brandi, who was a very famous trumpeter in the San Petrono orchestra that Torelli played in. Torelli then moved from Bologna to Ansbach, where he worked with Pistocchi, a good friend and a famous composer of the time, as the two toured together. Around 1697 Torelli was appointed Maestro di concerto (or concert master) in Ansbach. He did not write much music at this time and he was known to suffer from hypochondria in his later years in Ansbach. Torelli ended up going back to Bologna in around 1701; he found a position quickly with the San Petronio capella musicale. Both Torelli and Pistocchi seem to have been in quite a few concerts together in the early 1700’s. mush like his early years little is know about Giuseppe Torelli’s later years, except that he wrote little music. His only

known piece from his later years is the 12 Concert grossi con una pastorale, Op. 8. Giuseppe Torelli dies on February 8th, 1709 (Giuseppe Torelli." AllMusic. 24 Apr. 2012). Torelli was known as a composer who helped evolve the Concerto grosso and solo concerto forms (Giuseppe Torelli." AllMusic. 24 Apr. 2012). Though he did not write much voice music he did write the piece Tu Lo Sai. This song became well known because of Albert Fuchs. He made an adaptation of this piece in D flat major with the marking Andantino. This marking would not have been used in Torelli’s time period in the baroque era (Based On the Authentic Sources.Vocal Score,medium High.Texts in Italian and English. Alfred, 1991.). This piece is written for on solo voice, either male or female, and a piano accompaniment. The poem for Tu Lo Sai literally says “You it know how much I loved you, you know it, it know, cruel one! I not desire mercy, but (that) you keep memory an unfaithful one!” ("IPA Source - Tu Lo Sai." IPA Source. Web. 24 Apr. 2012). This poem is talking about a person who falls into a deep love but is betrayed. When I analyzed this song I found that Torelli uses the chords to show the mood of this piece. The first four measures of this piece talk about how the singer loved the listener. Torelli keeps this part of the song calm with the use of mostly tonic, dominant, and subdominant chords. Then in the next four measures he uses a five four two of five to accentuate the pain in the singer’s heart because of the betrayal. Then in the next section of eight measures Torelli uses more secondary dominant, and submedint chords to create a darker, sadder mood because the words talk about how the singer does not want compensation. The next seven measures talk

about how the listener should be upset that they were unfaithful. To help this idea Torelli makes the singer go from high notes down to lower notes to build tension. Directly after the darker chords Torelli brings the melody back up for a restatement of the first eight measures with slightly different chords underneath it. Though for “Lo sai crudel” there still is a five four two of five chord underneath it to help listeners understand the restatement of the first, more innocent theme. Then after taking five measures to bounce between dominant, subdominant, and tonic chords the music goes from a dominant chord to a three chord. This is much like a deceptive cadence, it brings a dramatic pause and a yearning for it to resolve. Then the song goes to a dominant to a six chord, this deceptive cadence brings even more tension and wanting for it to resolve. Then at the end of the piece it finally resolves to a tonic chord. This piece is structured in an A, B, and A, format. This allows the performer to add embellishments. Because the melody line is so simple most singers will use embellishing tones and runs that are not written for them to spice up the song. The recording I chose was a recording from YouTube that does have embellishments in the piece. I think that the singer in my recording did not keep very important parts of the song in tact. On the second page of the piece the singer starts her embellishments by scooping from a lower note to the note that is written in the music, I dislike this because of the marking pianissimo and the exact restatement of the main theme. I think that that embellishment should be taken out and the singer should sing softly like they are ing the love that they once had. The singer also embellishes the last fermata using an arpeggiation. I highly dislike this because

this part of the piece should be about being upset and the slow arpeggiation sound far to loving and sweet for the lyrics of the piece. The piano in this recording sounds good for the mood of the piece. It is soft when the singer talks about the cruel one and louder when she talks about betrayal. I chose this piece because I have sung it before when I was much younger. This piece was given to me in sophomore year in high school where I didn’t know much about the Italian language. I sung it much like the girl on the recording; I didn’t pay much attention to the dynamics or the phrasing. Now that I look at it again I realize how much different this piece is from the way I sang it. I have always enjoyed this piece but now I know I will be far more critical of the person performing it. On the outside this song may seem nice and dainty but when you look into the lyrics and the chord structure you find how dark and sad this piece really is. I would love to re-perform this song with the knowledge I have now. If I had a chance to sing this piece I know that I would make sure to follow the dynamic marking closely because of the feeling of lost innocence and a broken heart of the performer. I hope that the singer of my recording has time to go back and look at the literal translation and the chords to understand more about the longing and sadness of this piece.

Works Cited BelleRose74. "Tu Lo Sai Performed by BelleRose74." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Apr. 2008. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. . "Giuseppe Torelli." AllMusic. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. . "IPA Source - Tu Lo Sai." IPA Source. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. . Paton, John Glenn. Twenty-Six Italian Songs and Arias: An Authoritative Edition Based On the Authentic Sources.Vocal Score,medium High.Texts in Italian and English. [S.l.]: Alfred, 1991. Print.