It is the story of a long gestation. Epistolary exchanges, exiles, political changes, and a lot of music. Eleven years. That is the time that passed between the first written contact between the protagonists, dated June 4, 1769, and the staging in the summer of 1780, in which the music of Father Giovanni Battista Martini framed Plautus’ Trinummus , recited in Latin at the Collegio de’ Nobili in Parma by the young Knights, under the auspices of Father Paolo Maria Paciaudi. A marvel, according to the surviving sources. But let’s proceed in order.
On 4 June 1769, the Royal Librarian and Royal Antiquarian, the Theatine Father Paciaudi, wrote to the very famous Father Martini, the Bolognese Maestro known and admired throughout Europe, making him an occasional proposal, that is, to compose the incidental music for a show centred on the staging of Terence’s Phormio :
«Five acts of Latin Comedy without some pleasant musical interruption will weigh on the listeners. The Greeks themselves and the Romans knew it, although the action was recited in their native language. But who can ever write a piece of instrumental music suitable for a Terentian Comedy, if not VPMR who knows all the harmonic modes of the ancient Nations? It would be an honorable thing for our University, if we could inscribe on the front of the book – Modos Musicos fecit celeberrimus P. Martini. – In the ancient Theater the paired tibias were the only ones to resonate. It seems to me that our flutes could easily replace them, adding a harpsichord, a cello, two violas, and a harp, but weaving the Symphony in such a way that the flutes dominate over the other instruments. The Symphony should be divided into five parts, so that one would take place as a prosphony before the Prologue, and the other four would be performed between acts, interspersed. […] I only say that if you can do it, you are the only one in the world who can undertake it with certainty of a happy outcome».
Paciaudi’s archaizing intent seems to meet with the favor of Father Martini, who accepts the assignment, not without emphasizing (in the letter of reply written on June 8) that “in our days and with the music of our times, it is very difficult to imitate the music of the ancient Romans”. The composer in charge therefore asks for specific characteristics of the operation, which can allow him to work more accurately; above all he asks for “a minute detail of the sentiments of the words, with which each act ends, as well as the length of each of the compositions, so that I can try to conform to them…”.
In the reply letter (20 June) Paciaudi is generous with details: timbre, orchestral composition, philological attention to the “musical modes” of the original work are addressed in great detail, in order to put the Bolognese Maestro in the best conditions to be able to compose.
Everything seems to be proceeding according to plan: on August 4th the Theatine Father writes to Martini that he has received «the Overture and the four Sonatas», confirming his personal satisfaction:
«I have already heard the motifs, the pace, the style on the harpsichord. Everything exudes harmonic knowledge; and everything has awakened in me the most pleasant sensation. In the impossibility of imitating something unknown, such as ancient Music, one could not profit more admirably from modern music, to maintain a distant analogy both with the shins of Terentian comedians, and with the instruments of the ancients. I am almost certain, very certain of the happy effect; and I agree that it is necessary to make various repetitions to render the style and the expression well».
Something happens, however: the performance, so desired by its promoter Paciaudi, did not take place. The reasons are unknown.
Years pass. In the meantime, Fortune takes charge of turning her wheel over and over again, and the fates of the protagonists undergo numerous whims; above all, the Theatine father sees his official duties taken away, by virtue of accusations as slanderous as they are unfounded (relating to alleged buying and selling of books for the Royal Library aimed at personal interests), which force him to move to Turin («a kind of Siberia», as he defines it in his letters), only to be later recalled to Parma by Don Ferdinando di Borbone.
It is June 27, 1780, when we find Father Paciaudi who, once again, sends a letter to Father Martini:
«Finally, after eleven years, the fortunate moment has arrived for your celebrated Symphony to be solemnly performed. […] This year, the learned and most esteemed Count Bernieri, first deputy of the Royal Sovereign to the College of Nobles, will have Plautus’ Trinummo recited , translated by him into Minturnian verses, and your Symphonies, opening and interludes will be heard. Expectations are great because of the esteem that is deservedly held for you».
Mutatis mutandis , the script seems the same, if it were not for the work to be performed: this time the choice falls on the Trinummus by Titus Maccius Plautus, the prince of Latin comedy, an imitated and admired playwright who lived between the 3rd and 2nd century BC. C.. The choice is not at all obvious, especially since it is an event that was born within the prestigious Collegio dei Nobili of Parma, a training and education center for young aristocrats from all over Europe: the linguistic and metrical asperities of Plautus’ works (whose flights of fancy were preferred, in the scholastic environment, to the more disciplined Cicero and the softer Terence), as well as the inappropriateness of presenting plots and themes that do not shine for morality and composure, denote a certain audacity in the choice of author (let us remember, in fact, that in the original plan of 1769 there was talk of a work by Terence, another noble father of our scenes since the rediscovery of classical theater carried out between the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy, who was often preferred to Plautus precisely to avoid stylistic-rhetorical difficulties and socio-cultural acclimatization). Perhaps it is no coincidence that a more “rational” and almost edifying comedy was chosen, such as The Three Oboli (as the title was translated for the occasion) which, for its plot and internal temperature, is almost a Terentian comedy. It is Plautus himself who, using an acrostic, anticipates the argumentum of the comedy:
All the possessions and a hidden treasure Charmide
He recommends himself to his friend Callicles, leaving for abroad.
While he is away, his son squanders everything.
And yet the house is unscathed: it is bought by Callicles.
One of the young man’s sisters is asked to marry him, without a dowry.
But Callicles, in order to give a less suspicious dowry,
He sends a man to bring money on behalf of his father.
Once home, old Charmides reveals the deception;
Finally, his children will be laid to rest.
After a Prologue entrusted to Debauchery (the mother) and Poverty (her daughter), in which the former entrusts her offspring to a young spendthrift named Lesbonico, the action moves to Athens, near the house of Charmides, who before leaving for work entrusts his assets, his son (who is none other than Lesbonico) and his daughter to his friend Callicles. The latter, we will discover, has bought back Charmides’ house, put up for sale by the reckless Lesbonico, in order not to lose a treasure of three thousand philippi; in Charmides’ intentions, the treasure (hidden in the house) was supposed to constitute the dowry for his daughter, of marriageable age. At the same time, the young Lysitele, a friend of Lesbonico, offers to help him improve his fortunes: he declares to his father Philton that he wants to marry Lesbonico’s sister and without any dowry. Unlike Filtone, neither Lesbonico nor Callicles seem to agree with this proposal; to get out of the impasse , the old Megaronide has an idea: a man will pretend to be sent by Charmides with two letters, to be delivered to Callicles and Lesbonicos, in which it is stated that the latter must provide his sister with the dowry necessary to marry through Callicles; once the marriage has taken place, Callicles will recover the sum advanced from the hidden treasure, without any excess money being able to pass through the dangerous hands of Lesbonicos. Sycophant is appointed, for a fee of three pennies (hence the title of the comedy), but the situation falters when the latter meets Charmides in person, just returned to Athens. Everything seems to be falling apart, until the final resolution: «To end it happily // and in accordance with theatrical custom // a matrimonial action // we will now follow», Da Ponte would have said; a double wedding between the young people in the comedy, in fact, sanctions the restored harmony between the protagonists.
The sobriety of the work is well suited to an occasion such as the one imagined by Father Paciaudi, but the happy resolution of the initiative is far from being realized; in fact, the Royal Librarian writes:
“There is no harp in the country with registers, so that it has all the tones that are marked on the paper by you. I am charged by these gentlemen to ask Your Lordship to see if it is found in Bologna, and in that case another favor would be desired from you, and it is this: that you would be pleased to rent it at whatever price you ask. The matter is so pressing, that we will gladly bear any expense. Once found, and any price agreed upon, it would be necessary for you to have the instrument cashed and delivered to the courier of the Court of Parma, who will be charged with coming to you to collect it, and bring it to us on Friday. It will be diligently sent back, and all the money you will tell me will be paid. If this is not possible, please write to me how it could be supplied, and what other instrument could be substituted for the harp, because we wish to have your musical composition performed in one way or another.”
A new obstacle appears among Paciaudi’s feverish letters: the harp cannot be found! The risk that the initiative will fail for a second time is real, if a payment of “what price will be asked” is foreseen in order to have the instrument. Fortune, this time, seems to be turning the wheel in the right direction, even with some whims, which will be paid for by the phlegm of the Theatine father, who on July 11 writes:
«To this director of ours, Mr. Salvoni, all the money that is my due, and that we owe you for the harp, accommodation, case, shipping, etc., has been delivered, and the said Mr. Salvoni is handing it over today to our courier, who will take it to him in his own hands. […] Know, however, that the only harp player we have, a good German, was not able to play the double harp that you sent us, which made me quite annoyed; but you have to be calm, because there is no other, and this man claims that not even in Bologna is there anyone who plays it. However, the simple harp is good enough. The whole complex of instruments together makes a harmonious, sweet, beautiful, touching melody, and your Symphonies are extremely pleasing , and one of your students, Mr. Toscani , is at the harpsichord to conduct the entire instrumental choir. Oh! what a beautiful piece of music, worthy of Pythagoras! On Sunday HRH comes with his August Consort, they will be spectators of the Comedy, and both are impatient to hear her music. After the solemn performance I will send her the Book, where she will find her immortal name remembered with due praise».
Eleven years have passed since the first meeting between the two protagonists of this story and finally, in a letter dated July 18, we can read Paciaudi’s concluding considerations, as a seal on so many troubles:
«I do myself the honour of sending you a copy of the Comedia Plautina, translated by Count Bernieri, into Minturnian verses. You will find beautiful verses, very beautiful prose, a very clear edition, adorned with some beautiful pieces of antiquity. The show was a marvellous success. These young knights recited the Comedy in Latin. The translation was only useful for reading. They pronounced the Latin so well and animated it so well that the ladies themselves were not bored. The stage setting was stupendous. The music of the immortal P. Martini pleased everyone extremely, and enraptured the souls of the intelligent, among whom I include HRH»[ 1] .
[1] The epistolary quotations are reported in Gaspare Nello VETRO, The Ducal Theatre and the musical life in Parma, 2010, Rome, Aracne Editrice.
The Program
Europe Galante Orchestra
- Fabio Biondi, viola and director
- Armando Barilli, viola I
- Alessandro Andriani, cello
- Paola Poncet, harpsichord
- Marta Graziolino, harp
- Marcello Gatti, flute I
- Francesca Torri, flute II
Europa Galante was born in 1989 from the desire of its artistic director, Fabio Biondi, to found an Italian instrumental group for the interpretations on period instruments of the great baroque and classical repertoire. The discovery of ancient music was then the exclusive prerogative of musicians from Northern Europe and the need for an Italian re-reading of this repertoire was the basis for the creation of Europa Galante.