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Modal Theory, Church Keys, and the Sonata at the End of the Seventeenth Century

Author(s): Gregory Barnett


Source: Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 51, No. 2 (Summer, 1998), pp.
245-281
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological Society
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Modal Theory, Church Keys, and the Sonata
at the End of the Seventeenth Century
GREGORY BARNETT

mong composersof the late seventeenthcentury,ArcangeloCorelli


stands apart for his role in codifying a style of instrumental music
that many composers cultivated long after his death. More re-
cently, historians have accorded Corelli's sonatas and concertos a place of
distinction in the arrivalof modern tonality in European music, regarding
his work as a significant milestone of the common practice period.' And
yet, if the music of Corelli and his contemporaries fits a conventional def-
inition of the major/minor tonal system, it also manifests some notable
anomalies that warrant explanation. The so-called incomplete key signa-
tures in Corelli's music, for example, illustrate a consistent practice of the
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries--one seen even in the music of
J. S. Bach-that defies the precepts of our tonal system.
Example 1 illustrates what has been considered another anomaly of
Corelli's music: a tonal progression that might strike the modern listener
as eccentric. In the final movement of the fourth sonata of his Opus 1
(1681), Corelli adds a final half cadence in measures 37-39 (see Ex. Ib) to
the authentic cadence of measure 36, thereby ending what appearsto be an
A-minor sonata with an E-major chord. Nor does this seventeenth-century
curiosity stand alone: several of Corelli's contemporaries produced similar

Earlier versions of this article were read at the Tonal Structures in Early Music Conference
held at the University of Pennsylvania,29-30 March 1996; and at the Seventh Biennial Con-
ference on Baroque Music at the University of Birmingham, U.K., 7 July 1996. I would like
to thank Professors Harold S. Powers and Jessie Ann Owens for their comments and sug-
gestions.
1. See, among others, Dennis Libby, "Interrelationships in Corelli," this Journal 26
(1973): 263-87: "Very often one feels that the music is similar to something used elsewhere
because it is the underlying harmonic progression and the way that it fits into the overall tonal
format that reallyinterests Corelli much more than the surfacecharacterof the music. Corelli's
tendency to systematization and self-limitation in his tonal and harmonic procedures, as in
others, helps to make this all very evident in the music. However, it was in this very system-
atization, while many of his contemporaries were casting about more experimentally in var-
ious directions, that Corelli created the basis of his later historical standing as one of the
'realizers'of tonality" (p. 267).

[Journalof theAmericanMusicological
Society1998, vol. 51, no. 2]
? 1998 by the AmericanMusicologicalSociety. All rights reserved.0003-0139/98/5102-0002$2.00

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246 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Example 1 Arcangelo Corelli, Sonate d tre, Op. 1 (Rome: Mutij, 1681), Sonata quarta,
fourth movement
(a) Mm. 1-10

Presto
Violino .
primo

Violino
secondo

VioloneO6'd
Arcileuto
.ifl .

Organo
6 6 6 6 5 6 7 6 7 6 7 6

7 6 7 6 6 7 6 6

closing passages, creating what modern tonal theory would classify as


A-minor compositions that end on their dominants. In Maurizio Cazzati's
sonata "La Ghisigliera,"from his Opus 35 (1665), an authentic cadence in
A minor is followed by a brief "finale"that concludes the piece with a Phry-
gian cadence on an E-major chord (Ex. 2).
This study presents the rationale behind such examples- especially
those pieces that defy the norms of the major/minorsystem of keys-by set-
ting forth the collection of tonalities within which late seicento composers
and theorists conceived their music. This earlier conception comprises a
core set of eight primary tonalities found throughout seventeenth-century
treatises from which composers derived further tonalities by means of
transpositions. An explication of this system must begin with the recog-
nition that a persistent ordering of finals and key signatures runs through
collections of instrumental music from the latter half of the century.
Because composers and theorists--for want of any other existing
theory--continued to explain their practice in terms of modes, traditional

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 247

Example 1 continued
(b) Mm. 31-end
31

6.r.Id

6
1 b
6
616
6 4 4 #

35Adagio

64

f
e -- f
6 6 6 6 1
l ?--I? -
i#4
-0
,1
P'
I
7.1,

modal theory of the time supplies information crucialto the understanding


of these core tonalities and their particularordering. Two prints of sonatas
that use specific modal designations for their contents thus form the cor-
nerstone of this research: Giovanni Maria Bononcini's Sonate da chiesa,
Op. 6 (1672) and Giulio Cesare Arresti's Sonate, Op. 4 (1665).2 As we
shall see, Bononcini's and Arresti's ideas, as reflected in these modal des-
ignations, intersect with a widespread practice among composers of instru-
mental music and attest to a pervasive conception of tonal organization of
the late seventeenth century. In short, my purpose here is to outline the
tonal system recognized by musicians of the late seicento, one that fur-
nishes a vital link between the theory and practice of the period. Before

2. Giulio Cesare Arresti, Sonate a 2, et a tre, Op. 4 (Venice: Gardano, 1665); and Gio-
vanni Maria Bononcini, Sonateda chiesa,Op. 6 (Venice: Gardano, 1672). Full bibliographic
listings of all known prints of seventeenth-century Italian instrumental music are compiled
in Claudio Sartori,Bibliografiadella musicastrumentaleitaliana stampatain Italiafino al 1700,
2 vols. (Florence: Olschki, 1952-68). Sartori's entries include transcriptions of title pages,
dedications, prefaces, and tables of contents. The listings for Arresti'sOpus 4 and Bononcini's
Opus 6 in Sartori'sBibliografiaare 1665e and 1672a.

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248 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety
'
Example2 Maurizio
' Cazzati,Sonate due,tri, quattro,e cinque,Op. 35 (Bologna:Silvani,
1665), Sonata 4, "LaGhisigliera,"
thirdmovement,mm. 124-end

124 Allegro
Violino
primo i

Violino
secondo ___.."

AltoViola 7
Violone
___--

Tiorba
o _: _
Contrabasso _. Ia
n 4 3

Orgno o I. I" 4 3
I
128 Finale

p I 6 I #6 6
[

6 6
t#6

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 249

to Bononcini'sandArresti'ssonatas,however,somegeneral
proceeding
willserveas a usefulguidein theensuingdiscus-
on terminology
remarks
sion.

Tonality,ChurchKey, and Mode

of theseicentomostoftenreliedonthesingletermtuono(ortono)
Theorists
to describeseveraldistinctnotionsof tonalorganization.By contrast,I use
threetermsin thisstudyto referto one or anothermeaningof tuono:to-
nality, churchkey,and mode.Tonality, such as E-tonality or G-tonality, most
simply describes a tonal center, or final, and a collection of related pitches
as indicated by a key signature. It largely coincides with our term key, ex-
cept that tonality here connotes a broader idea: key, used by itself, implies
one of the twenty-four major/minor keys, whereas tonality signifies an or-
ganization of pitches and a tonal procedure not necessarily pertaining to
the modern tonal system.
The church keys comprise a collection of tonalities - that is, a set of tonal
centers plus key signatures--that were enumerated in treatises throughout
the century.3 Although known as tuoni among seventeenth-century theo-
rists, church keys are not modes: they originated in a specific musical prac-
tice, not in theory as did the twelve modes; they are eight in number, not
twelve; and they do not conform to the rules of polyphonic modality,
such as the proper use of a particularspecies of perfect fourth and fifth in
each mode. Instead, the church keys arose as tonalities meant for the poly-
phonic setting of the psalm tones, which became more and more prevalent
throughout the seventeenth century in Catholic offices, particularlyin lav-
ish Vespers settings.4 Drawing on the only availabletheory that described

3. The use of the term church key originates with Joel Lester, "The Recognition of
Major and Minor Keys in German Theory: 1680-1730,"Journal ofMusic Theory22 (1978):
65-103. That articleand his "Major-MinorConcepts and Modal Theory in Germany: 1592-
1680" (this Journal 30 [1977]: 208-53) have since been combined and expanded as Lester's
BetweenModes and Keys: German Theory,1592-1802 (Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press,
1989); there he explains that the term is a translation of Adriano Banchieri's "Otto Tuoni
spettanti al canto fermo ecclesiastico,"which refers to the eight psalm tones of sacred psalm-
ody (pp. 78-79).
4. Michael R. Dodds ("Tonal Types and Modal Equivalence in Two Keyboard Cycles by
Murschhauser,"in Tonal Structuresin EarlyMusic, ed. Cristle Collins Judd [New York: Gar-
land, 1998], 341-72) provides a clear and succinct explanation of how the church keys came
to assume their standardized form in the early seventeenth century: "The church keys origi-
nated in the alternatim performance of psalms and canticles in Catholic offices, especially the
office of Vespers. In this performance tradition, the psalm or canticle, preceded by an anti-
phon and followed by an antiphon or antiphon substitute, was performed in verse-by-verse
alternation between two contrasting performance styles. These could be plainchant (with or
without accompaniment); polyphonic organ versets; and monodic versets for one or more
soloists. In order to bring the psalm tones into a comfortable tessitura for the choir, musicians

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250 Journalof the American
Musicological
Society

tonal organization, many seicento theorists did attempt to describe the


church keys in modal terms. We must therefore keep the distinction
between modal theory and psalmodic practice firmly in mind when con-
sidering the tonal practice of this period.
Mode, in contrast with the church keys (also known as psalm tone
tonalities), refers to the theoretical system of twelve modes-or, more
specifically, to any one of these twelve modes-as defined in the mid-
sixteenth century by Heinrich Glarean and later by Gioseffo Zarlino. In
most cases throughout this study, the term moderefers to an ascribed des-
ignation of a piece by one or another of the theorists from the period. Late
seventeenth-century theorists discussed tonal organization almost exclu-
sively in terms of modal theory, but a reader has only to open a treatise
from the late seicento to know that the modes presented them with diffi-
culties. In his 1673 treatiseMusicoprattico,the composer-theorist Giovanni
Maria Bononcini carefully introduced the subject, stating that "the teach-
ing of the Tuoni, or Modi, is very difficult material because of the diversity
of opinions as to both their number and their name."5Some years later, in
his Miscellanea musicale of 1689, the theorist Angelo Berardi seconded
Bononcini's opinion: "One should not wonder that these modes have been
called different things, have been considered in different ways, and have
been reversed from low to high and vice versa."6
Whereas Bononcini and Berardimerely voice caution, Maurizio Cazzati,
composer and maestrodi cappellaof the Bolognese church of San Petronio,

over time developed more or less standardtranspositions for certain of them. In addition, they
generally treated the psalm tones' last pitch as the final--a pitch class different, in some cases,
from the final of the corresponding mode" (p. 342).
5. Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Musicoprattico, Op. 8 (Bologna: Giacomo Monti, 1673;
facs. ed., Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1969), 121: "I1trattarede i Tuoni, 6 Modi e materia assai
difficile per la diversita dell'opinioni, tanto nel numero loro, quanto nel nome."
With respect to Bononcini's use of the terms modoand tuono,it should be pointed out that
late seicento theorists used them interchangeably.Under the heading "Nomi diversi di tuoni;
6 modi" ("Diverse names of the tuoni or modi"), Angelo Berardi (Miscellaneamusicale [Bo-
logna: Giacomo Monti, 1689], 174) explains the various names given to the modes: "Altri
l'hanno chiamati Armonie, alcuni Tropi, e diversi l'hanno nominati Sistemati" ("Others have
called them Armonie, others Tropi, and others have designated them Sistemati"). Lorenzo
Penna (Li primi alborimusicali [Bologna: Giacomo Monti, 1672; facs. ed., Bologna: Forni,
1969], 128-32) does not use the term modo,but refersto the same theory of modal categories
by using the term tuono (p. 128): "Questi Tuoni sono chiamati Armoniali, formati di un
Diapente, cioe di una quinta, e di un Diatesseron, cioZ di una quarta, quali insieme formano
un Diapason, cioe un ottava. .... Questi Tuoni dunque Armoniali, prima furono quattro; poi
otto; e finalemente sono stati ampliati al numero di dodici" ("These Tuoni are called Armo-
niali, being formed by aDiapente, that is, a fifth, and by aDiatesseron,that is, a fourth, which
together form a Diapason, that is, an octave. ... These Tuoni or Armoniali were originally
four, then eight, and then were finally amplified to twelve").
6. Berardi,Miscellaneamusicale, 174: "Non bisogna maravigliarsi,se detti modi furono
chiamati diversamente, mentre sono stati differentemente considerati, e rivoltati dal grave
all'acuto, & e contra."

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 251

expressedactualdoubt.7Writingin 1663, he defendsone of his own com-


positionsagainstspecificmode-basedcriticisms:
Manyauthorshavewrittenon the modes, and in particularZarlino,in the
Fourthpartof his book, ch. 28, p. 320, expresslysaysthat therearetwelve
of them.Zagoni[Zacconi],in his bookcalledPraticadiMusica,bk.4, ch. 12,
p. 199, also affirmsthat therearetwelve [modes].PietroPontio in his Ra-
gionamentoTerzo,p. 99, saysthatthereareonly eight.Angleriain hisRegola
di Contrapunto, ch. 22, p. 8, holdsthe sameopinion,thatthereareonlyeight
modes; and he saysthat many have writtenabout theformationand recognition
of the modes,but one confusinglydifferentfrom another;andfor this reasonmany
cannotperceivein what modea compositionmay be, [even] when seeing it, much
lesswhen only hearing it.8 (Cazzati's emphasis)

In short, while none of these writers inspires much confidence in the


usefulness of modal theory during the latter half of the seventeenth century,
composers and theorists alike continually returned to its tenets when dis-
cussing their music. We must therefore assess late seicento perspectives on
tonal practice through the theoretical language of the modes.
Among the treatises of the late seicento, Bononcini's Musico prattico
(1673) and Berardi'sMiscellanea musicale (1689) and II perchi musicale
(1693) contain the most extensive writings on pitch organization.9Arresti,
who did use modal designations for his Opus 4 sonatas and may have in-
tended these pieces as demonstrations of proper modal composition, never
published a treatise. His only theoretical pronouncement is a polemical at-
tack on the inept handling of mode in a polyphonic Kyrie by Maurizio
Cazzati, whose response to these criticisms is partially quoted above.'0

7. SeeUrsulaBrett,MusicandIdeasin Seventeenth-Century
Italy:TheCazzati-Arresti
Po-
lemic,2 vols. (New York: Garland, 1989). There is, in fact, little to learn about modal theory
in the polemic that arose between Cazzati and his colleague Giulio Cesare Arresti, since each
participant exploited the differing theoretical opinions to his own advantage.
8. MaurizioCazzati,Risposta dal SignorGiulioCesareArrestinellalet-
alleoppositionifatte
tera al lettorepostanell'operasua musicale(Bologna: Per gli HH. del Dozza, 1663), 1: "Molti
Autori discorrono sopra li tuoni, & in particolare il Zarlino nella Quarta parte del suo libro
cap. 28. car. 320. espressamentedice esservene dodici. II Zagoni pure nel suo Libro intitolato
PRATICA DI MUSICA lib. 4. cap. 12 car. 199. afferma anch'egli esservene dodici. Pietro
Pontio nel suo Ragionamento Terzo car. 99. dice esservene solo otto. L'Angleria anch'egli
nella sua Regola di Contrapunto cap. 22. car. 8. tiene la medema opinione, che otto solo sijno
li tuoni,e diceche moltihannoscrittodellaformatione, de'tuoni,mdI'unodall'altro
e cognitione
confusamente, eperquestomoltinonintendano di chetuonosia unaCantilena,in vederla,e manco
in sentirlasolamente."
9. Angelo Berardi (IIperchi musicaleoverostaffettaarmonica [Bologna: Giacomo Monti,
1693], 37-44 and 53-55) includes two brief chapters devoted to the modes: one furnishes
examples of clausulae in each of the twelve modes; the other explains modal transpositions.
His earliertreatise,Miscellaneamusicale,contains a more thorough presentation of the modes,
including a discussion of their history (pp. 168-94).
10. While Brett (Musicand Ideas) provides an account of and commentary on the Cazzati-
Arresti polemic, she does not touch on the sonatas of Arresti's Opus 4.

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252 Journalof the American Society
Musicological

Like much seicento twelve-mode theorizing, Bononcini's and Berardi's


writings on mode closely parallel or even reiterate the teachings found in
Gioseffo Zarlino's Le istitutioniharmonicheof 1558.11 That work, in turn,
draws heavily on the original twelve-mode theory of Heinrich Glarean's
Dodecachordonof 1547.12 Tables la and lb illustrate the continued influ-
ence of twelve-mode theory upon late seicento theorists: Table la shows
each of the twelve modes and its final as enumerated by Berardi; Table lb
shows the composition of each mode in terms of fourth and fifth species as
taught by Bononcini. Like their Renaissance precursors, Bononcini and
Berardi identified the species of perfect fourth and fifth and the particular
arrangementof these interval species with respect to the modal final as the
defining criteria for each mode.
Nothing discussed so far of late seventeenth-centurymodal theory alters
what theorists had alreadycodified by the end of the Renaissance. The use
of key signatures beyond the single flat of cantusmollis,an important com-
ponent of seventeenth-century theory, was also articulated by Renaissance
theorists such as Zarlino. In Example 3, from Berardi'sIl perchtmusicale,a
change of key signature effects the transposition of a single excerpt to var-
ious pitch levels--in some cases resulting in a change of mode as well.'3
The first of the five brief examples given by Berardi bears no key signature,
and he designates it mode 1 untransposed ("nelle sue corde naturali"). In
the second and third examples, the same music is transposed down a whole
step and a minor third, respectively. Their mode is unchanged; it is simply
mode 1 transposed to different pitch levels. The last two passages, still the
same music, show transpositions of other modes: mode 7 down a fourth
and mode 11 up a whole step. As one might imagine, modal transposition
was essential to a theory that had to account for the various key signatures
found in seventeenth-century music--anything up to three sharps or flats
-in terms of the modes.

11. Berardi(Miscellaneamusicale,176-94) and Bononcini (Musicoprattico,121-37) give


explanations of the twelve-mode system that parallelGioseffo Zarlino'steachings. For a trans-
lation of Zarlino's modal theory, see On the Modes,Part Four of "LeIstitutioniHarmoniche,"
1558, trans. Vered Cohen, ed. Claude Palisca (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983). A
summary of Zarlino's theory may be found in Harold S. Powers, "Mode," in The New Grove
Dictionary ofMusic and Musicians 12:411-12.
12. Heinrich Glarean,Dodecachordon (Basel, 1547), trans. Clement A. Miller, 2 vols., Mu-
sicological Studies and Documents 6 (AmericanInstitute of Musicology, 1965). The writings
of this theorist are summarized in Powers, "Mode," 407-11.
13. Although Berardidemonstrates that transposing mode 1 down a minor third results
in a B-final and three sharps in the key signature, this tonality does not occur, so far as I know,
in any Italian instrumental composition of the late seventeenth century.

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Modal Theory, Church Keys, and the Sonata 253

Table la Angelo Berardi,Miscellaneamusicale(Bologna: Giacomo Monti, 1689)

Mode Final (p. 178) Authentic/plagal (p. 176)

1 D: la, sol, re authentic


2 D: la, sol, re plagal
3 E: la, mi authentic
4 E: la, mi plagal
5 F: fa, ut authentic
6 F: fa, ut plagal
7 G: sol, re, ut authentic
8 G: sol, re, ut plagal
9 A: la, mi, re authentic
10 A: la, mi, re plagal
11 C: sol, fa, ut authentic
12 C: sol, fa, ut plagal

Table lb Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Musico prattico, Op. 8 (Bologna: Giacomo Monti,
1673)

Interval species* Finalt & modal octave


Mode (pp. 122-23) (pp. 122-34)

1 lst 5th + lst 4th Defgabcd


2 lst 4th + lst 5th abcDe fga
3 2d5th + 2d4th Efgabcde
4 2d4th + 2d5th bcdEfgab
5 3d5th + 3d4th Fgabcdef
6 3d4th + 3d 5th cdeFgabc
7 4th 5th + 1st 4th Gabcdefg
8 1st 4th + 4th 5th defGabcd
9 lst 5th + 2d 4th Abcdefga
10 2d 4th + lst 5th e fgAbcde
11 4th 5th + 3d 4th Cdefgabc
12 3d 4th + 4th 5th gabCde fg

*Interval species:

Species Fifths Fourths

1st defga abcd


2d efgab bcde
3d fgabc cdef
4th gabcd

tModal finals are capitalized.

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Example 3 Modal transpositions in Angelo Berardi,II perchbmusicaleoverasta

primotuono:
nellesuecorde
naturali110

untuonopiuibasso

allaterza bassa

settimotuono:
una quarta
piii basso

undecimotuono:
un tuonopii alto t

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 255

Table 2 Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Sonate da chiesa,Op. 6 (Venice: Gardano, 1672)

Sonata Tuono Final Key signature Transposition

1 11 C - -
2 12 F b J P5
3 11 Bb H
bb M2
4 11 D ## t M2
5 8 A ## t M2
6 10 e # 1 P4
7 9 b ## tM2
8 8 G - -
9 1 d - -
10 1 c bb 1 M2
11 2 g 6 t P4
12 12 Eb bb t m3

Note: In Tables2 through8, finalsin uppercaseletterssignifymajor-third


tonalities;finalsin lowercase
letterssignifyminor-thirdtonalities.

Modal Theory and the Tonalities of the Sonata

Table2 liststhe mode(tuono),final,keysignature,andtransposition of


eachof thetwelvemodallydesignated sonatasof Bononcini'sOpus 6 in the
orderinwhichtheyappear intheprint.Twoparticulars inthislayoutstand
out:onlysevenof thetwelvemodesappear(inno specificorder),andnine
of the sonatasuse transposing key signatures.The significanceof both
detailsemergesin Bononcini'sdiscussionof the modesin his treatise
Musico prattico,in whichhe assertsthatcomposersof his dayusedonly
sevenmodes--thesameasthosefoundin hisOpus6 sonatas.'4 Specifically,
Bononcinitaughtthatnotonlyhadcertainmodesof thetraditional twelve
fallenout of use in lateseicentopractice,butthe surviving"practicable"
modessufficedbecausesomeof them,when transposed, couldreplace
thoseno longerin use.
Table3 givesthe final,keysignature,andtransposition of the seven
practicablemodespresented in Bononcini'streatiseandillustrateshis ex-
planationof themin termsof dodecachordal theory.Theorderingof these
modes(see the secondcolumn,tuono)showsthat Bononcinifollowed
the traditional
twelve-mode numbering, but reordered individual modes
14. Bononcini, Musicoprattico, 137-38. On page 137, the chapter is entitled "Quali de
sopradetti Tuoni vengano ordinariamentepratticati da Compositori" ("Which of the above-
named modes are ordinarily used by composers"). He begins forthrightly: "I Tuoni ordinar-
iamente pratticati da Compositori sono sette" ("Seven modes are ordinarily used by
composers"). The remainder of that chapter simply enumerates without further discussion
what is listed here in Table 3.

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256 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Table 3 GiovanniMariaBononcini,Musicoprattico,Op. 8 (Bologna:GiacomoMonti,


1673), 137-38

Key
Tuono Final signature Transposition
1 d -
2 g b tP4
10 (replaces modes 3 & 4) a - -
11 (replaces mode 5) C - -
12 (replaces mode 6) F , P5
J
9 (replaces mode 7) d b P5
8 G - -

according to his understanding of how some of them replaced others. He


describes the seven modes as follows: modes 1 and 2 survive in contem-
porary practice (mode 2, however, is normally transposed up a fourth);
modes 3 and 4 are replaced by the transposed mode 10; modes 5 and 6 are
replaced by transposed modes 11 and 12, respectively; mode 7 is replaced
by transposed mode 9; and mode 8 is untransposed.
As can be seen in Tables 2 and 3, then, Bononcini's theory is consistent
with his practice: in short, Table 3 shows the theoretical rationale for the
seven tonalities that he used in his Opus 6 sonatas, which are summarized
in Table 2. Although Bononcini demonstrates the possibility of transpos-
ing the modes to various pitch levels in his sonatas, the modes themselves
pertain to dodecachordal theory. For Bononcini, each final plus its key sig-
nature represents one of the twelve modes either at its original pitch or
transposed.
We may compare the views of Bononcini's contemporary, Giulio Cesare
Arresti, by the latter'sOpus 4, second of the aforementioned prints that use
specific modal designations. Table 4a lists the modal designations (tono),
finals, and key signatures of the twelve sonatas in Opus 4; Table 4b ar-
ranges the modes of traditional dodecachordal theory--those taught by
Bononcini--as tonalities (finals and key signatures only). A comparison of
these two tables reveals the considerable differences between Arresti's and
Bononcini's dodecachordal systems. While it would seem that Arresti
meant to present modes 1-12 in numerical order in his sonatas, these
twelve modes in no way correspond with Bononcini's twelve. In Bonon-
cini's theory, the unaltered twelve modes have no key signatures (to use one
is to indicate a transposition), and they form six authentic-plagalpairswith
finals on D, E, F, G, A, and C (see Table Ib). Arresti's twelve sonatas
(Table 4a), by contrast, deviate from Bononcini's theory in the following
ways: (1) no transpositions are indicated, even though several sonatas do
bear key signatures; (2) his pairs of consecutive modes do not share a final;
and (3) not just seven but all twelve modes are used.

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Modal Theory, Church Keys, and the Sonata 257

Table 4a Giulio Cesare Arresti, Sonate a 2 et a tre, Op. 4 (Venice: Gardano, 1665)

Sonata Tono Final Key signature

1 1 d -
2 2 g
3 3 a
4 4 e
5 5 C
6 6 F
7 7 D
8 8 G
9 9 d ,
10 10 A ##
11 11 E ###
12 12 c b

Table 4b The Modes of Dodecachordal Theory Represented as Tonalities (cf. Table 4a)

Mode Final Key signature

1 d
2 d
3 e
4 e
5 F
6 F
7 G
8 G
9 a
10 a
11 C
12 C

Without recourse to a treatise by Arresti, we are hard-pressedto uncover


the rationale behind the tonalities of his twelve sonatas. Nonetheless, the
comparison between his sonatas and Bononcini's theory underscores a
vital similarity between them: Arresti's representations of modes 1-8 and
Bononcini's list of the seven practicablemodes contain nearly identical sets
of finals and key signatures (cf. Tables 3 and 4a). If we set aside Arresti's
and Bononcini's differing modal categorizations, the two lists of tonalities
(Arresti's 1-8 and Bononcini's 7) correspond closely except for Bononci-
ni's consolidation of modes 3 and 4.15

15. In contrast with Bononcini's use of a minor-third tonality for mode 7, Arresti used a
major-third tonality. This particular difference between the two composers reflects the un-
usually diverse set of tonal criteriaused by seicento theorists and composers to representmode
7. See Tables 5 and 6, for example, which show five different types of mode (or tuono) 7.

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258 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Table 5 Octonary Schemes in Treatises (Finals and Key Signatures)

Banchieri Penna Bismantova Tevo Anonymous MS


Tuono (1614) (1672) (1677) (1706) (early 1700s)

1 d - d - d - d - d -
2 g b g b gb g b g b
3 a- a- a- a- a-
4 e- e- e- e- e-
5 C- C- C- C- C-
6 F b F b F b F b F b
7 db db db e# e #
D#
e #
8 G - G - G - G - G -

Sources:AdrianoBanchieri,Cartellamusicale, 3d ed. (Venice:GiacomoVincenti,1614; facs.ed., Bolo-


gna: Forni, 1968), 70-72; LorenzoPenna,Li primialborimusicali,128-32; BartolomeoBismantova,
Compendio musicale(MS, Ferrara,1677; facs.ed., Florence:Studioper EdizioniScelte,1978), 56-57;
ZaccariaTevo,II musicotestore(Venice:AntonioBortoli,1706;facs.ed., Bologna:Forni,1969), 268-69,
292-95, and 327-32; andRegoledelcontrappunto (MS, early1700s, Bibliotecadel CivicoMuseoBib-
liograficoMusicale"G.B. Martini,"Bologna,shelf-number MS.P.120,no. 5), fols. 40r-42v.

Nor is this similarity between the two modal theories fortuitous: nu-
merous sonata prints and theoretical schemes use the same set of tonalities;
that is, they conform to identical or similar arrangementswhen compared
to the finals and key signatures of Arresti's first eight modes and Bonon-
cini's practicableseven. Table 5 shows the tonalities (finals and key signa-
tures) of octonary systems in five treatises that span the seventeenth and
early eighteenth centuries: Adriano Banchieri's Cartella musicale (1614);
Lorenzo Penna'sLiprimi alborimusicali(1672); Bartolomeo Bismantova's
Compendiomusicale(1677); ZaccariaTevo's II musicotestore(1706); and an
anonymous manuscript treatise from the first half of the eighteenth cen-
tury, Regoledel contrappunto.These treatises, representativeof nearly a cen-
tury of eight-mode systems, all describe the set of tonalities common to
Arresti and Bononcini. Only Banchieri's Cartella musicaleexplains their
use in psalmody; the others--those by Penna, Bismantova, Tevo, and the
anonymous eighteenth-century theorist-simply define these eight tonal-
ities as the modes (in some cases distinguishing them from the system of
twelve modes),16 thereby contradicting both Banchieri's implied distinc-

16. Penna (Liprimi alborimusicali, 128) refers to competing theories that espouse twelve
modes, but he rejects them, saying that "in order to follow the use of the church I would say
that the Tuoni are eight in number, no more, no less" ("per seguire
l'uso della Chiesa, dir6,
esser li Tuoni in nomero otto ne piul ne meno"). ZaccariaTevo (II musicotestore[Venice:
Antonio Bortoli, 1706; facs. ed., Bologna: Forni, 1969]), whose information on the numer-
ous accounts of the tuoni exceeds most other publications, lists the eight modes of the Me-
dieval church (p. 262), the twelve modes of Glarean (pp. 264-65), and then the eight modes
of his contemporaries, called "li otto Tuoni delli Moderni" (pp. 268-69, 292-95, and 327-
32), which are given in Table 5.

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 259

Table 6 Tonal SchemesFollowedin Worksfor InstrumentalEnsemble(Finalsand Key


Signatures)
Merula Placuzzi P. Degli Antonii G. B. Degli Galli
Tuono (1651) (1667) (1676) Antonii (1690) (1691)

1 d- 1 d- 1 d - 1 d d-
2 2 g 2 g 2 g 2 g 2g
3 3 a- 3a- 33 a- 3 a- 3 a-
4 4 e- 4 e- 4 e# 4 e- 4 e-
5 5C- 5C- 5C- 5C- 5c b,
6 6 F 6 F 6 F 6 F 6 F
7 7 d 7 D ## 7 D ## 7*E ## 7 d
8 8 G - 8G - 8 G- 8 G- 8 C-
- 9 D ## 9 Bb b 9 Eb 11 9 d -
- 10 C- 10 A ## 10 b ## 10 B6 bb
11 c bb 11 a -
-- 12 Eb bb 12 a -
--
Sources: Tarquinio Merula, II quarto libro delle canzoni da suonare a doi & a tre ..., Op. 17 (Venice:
Alessandro
Vincenti,1651);GioseffoMariaPlacuzzi,Suonate
a duoi,a tri, quattro..., Op. 1 (Bologna:
GiacomoMonti, 1667); PietroDegli Antonii,Sonatea violinosolo,Op.a4 (Bologna:GiacomoMonti,
' '
1676); Giovanni Battista Degli Antonii, Ricercate violino, e violoncello clavicembalo,Op. 5 (Bologna:
Giacomo Monti, 1690); Domenico Galli, Trattenimentomusicalesoprail violoncello,no opus (MS, 1691,
BibliotecaEstense,Modena,shelf-number
Mus. C. 81).

*G-sharpis not in the keysignature,but is writtenthroughoutthe piece.

tion between modes and psalm tones and Bononcini's notion of seven prac-
ticable modes reconciled with the traditional twelve.
Turning from treatises to actual music, I list the tonalities of five prints
of sonatas in Table 6 in the order in which their contents appear. I have
chosen these collections of instrumental music because their individual
pieces adhere to the same arrangement of finals and key signatures as do
the octonary schemes of the treatises. In my study of late seicento instru-
mental music, moreover, I have found no other consistent arrangement
of tonalities comparable to that of Table 6. It is clear, therefore, that when
composers chose to arrangetheir sonatas according to finals and keys sig-
natures, they consistently organized them along lines identical or similar to
those of the octonary sets in the treatises of Table 5, Arresti'ssonatas 1-8
(Table 4), and Bononcini's seven practicable modes (Table 3).
Of the five prints listed in Table 6, only Tarquinio Merula's sonatas, like
Bononcini's Opus 6 and Arresti'sOpus 4, bear designations of tuonogiven
by the composer. The other prints, though they use no such modal des-
ignations, nevertheless follow the same plan of finals and key signatures in
their ordering of the individual sonatas. Moreover, these prints, taken as
a whole, cover a wide range of instrumental genres for various kinds of
ensemble: trio sonatas (Merula), sonatas for ensembles of three to nine
players (Gioseffo Maria Placuzzi), sonatas for solo violin with continuo

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260 Journalof the American Society
Musicological

accompaniment (Pietro Degli Antonii), duets for violin and violoncello


without continuo (Giovanni Battista Degli Antonii), and dances for un-
accompanied violoncello (Domenico Galli).
Although incompatible with traditional modal theory as espoused by
Berardi and Bononcini, the particular order of finals and key signatures
found in Arresti's Opus 4 sonatas points up a widespread practice among
his contemporaries. On this broader level, the agreement among the eight
tonalities of those prints that have eight pieces, or the first eight of those
that have ten or twelve (like Arresti's Opus 4), testifies to a common un-
derstanding among late seicento composers of tonal space as embodied in
this set of finals and key signatures. Bononcini, to judge from his formu-
lation of a similar set of seven tonalities, must have been aware of this tonal
scheme, but his connection of it to the dodecachordal theory of Glarean
and Zarlino contradicts the orderings of every other print. Despite the au-
thority of the intellectual tradition that it bears, Bononcini's twelve-mode
theorizing simply does not fit the practice of his time.

The Church Keys and Their Transpositions

Given the practice of the latter half of the seventeenth century, then, we
should recognize the essential validity of Bononcini's observation that
only seven modes were in use in his time, but we must also take issue with
his explanation of them in terms of traditional modal theory. The eightfold
scheme of tonalities in the various prints reveals a recurrent organizing
principle in seicento music; it is not, however, compatible with modal the-
ory. Bononcini, by asserting an equivalence between these eight finals and
key signatures (reduced to seven in his treatise) and the modes, takes a large
and misleading step: none of the tonalities in Tables 5 and 6 are modal,
transposed or otherwise. Instead, they originate in ecclesiasticalpsalmody.
That is, this system of tonalities -often described as modes by the theorists
and widely used by composers for various instrumentalgenres, both secular
and sacred--consists of the church keys that originated in the accompani-
ment of psalms on the organ.'7
In separate studies of recent years that treat these church keys, also
known as psalm tone tonalities, Joel Lester and Harold Powers have traced
paths laid out by French, German, and Italian treatises back to Pietro Pon-
tio's Ragionamentodi musica (1588) and Adriano Banchieri'sCartella mu-
sicale (1614).18 As Powers notes, Pontio first demonstrated the distinction
17. See note 3 above.
18. Harold S. Powers, "From Psalmody to Tonality," in Tonal Structuresin EarlyMusic,
ed. Judd, 275-340; and Lester, BetweenModes and Keys, 77-82. Powers's article is devoted
to the history of the psalm tone tonalities. It offers a far more comprehensive treatment of the
church keys than Lester's book, which touches on them in a larger context.

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 261

between modes and psalm tones, and Banchieri first set the psalm tones
down schematically as finals and key signatures, the form in which they
were transmitted throughout the seventeenth century. Banchieri's psalm
tone tonalities (the church keys), according to Powers, take their finals
from the last note of specific psalm tone differentiae,and they derive their
key signaturesfrom a system of transpositions designed to reduce the range
of the different reciting tones of each psalm tone.19
In short, the various octonary sets of tonalities of seventeenth-century
treatises emanated not from modal theory, but rather from psalmodic
practices, as Powers makes clear.20Therefore, the eight tonalities that also
permeate the instrumental repertory were first explained by Banchieri in
Cartella musicaleas tonalities used for the polyphonic setting of the psalm
tones.21 Bononcini's set of seven finals and key signatures originates in
thesepsalmtone tonalities,not in the modes.22His rationalization
of them
in terms of modal theory does follow the lead of a numberof theorists
(including himself)whosoughtto reconcile
Banchieri practices
psalmodic
and modal theory.23
Despite the complexitiesof Bononcini'sdetailedmodal theoryand its
prehistory,his collectionof seventonalitiesstandsat the centerof seicento
compositionalpractice.Furthermore,as both Bononciniand Berardiat-
by meansof keysignatures
test,transposition a crucialpartof
represents
the musicalpracticefromthe late seventeenth A particularly
century.24
cleardemonstrationof both the core set of tonalitiesandtranspositionsof
this set comes from GiovanniBattistaDegli Antonii'sVersettiper tutti li

19. Powers, "From Psalmody to Tonality," 291, 296, and his table 4.
20. Ibid., 301-3.
21. Ibid.; and Powers, "Mode," 415, ex. 23.
22. See especially table 5 in Powers, "From Psalmody to Tonality," 302-3.
23. Powers, "Mode," 414. An early example of this kind of reconciliation may be found
in Adriano Banchieri'sCartella musicale(3d ed. [Venice: Giacomo Vincenti, 1614; facs. ed.,
Bologna: Forni, 1968]), in which he describes each of the twelve modes in terms of the eight
tuoni ecclesiastici(pp. 112-36). Bononcini employs the same procedure, but in the reverse
order: he explains his seven practicable "modes" in terms of the dodecachordal system.
24. Writings from this period that are relevant to transposition are Berardi,Il perchi mu-
sicale,53-54; Berardi,Miscellaneamusicale,176-78; and Bononcini, Musicoprattico,137-47
and 154-55. Unlike Berardi, who presents various modal transpositions without comment,
Bononcini discusses transpositions either in the context of the seven practicablemodes (and
how these relate to the modes of the dodecachordal system) or in the context of how one
might recognize the mode of a composition. Bononcini also mentions an affective aspect of
transpositions, though he does not relate it to the seven practicable modes: "Per rendere il
Canto pihi allegro, 6 pidimesto li trasportano tutti ordinarianmente una voce pidi alta, 6 pidi
bassa per mezo di questi segni b# ... senza variar luogo alle Chiavi, le quali non si traspor-
tano" ("In order to make the song happier or sadder, it is transposed usually up or down a
whole step by means of these bt... without changing the position of the clefs, which are not
transposed") (p. 146).

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262 Journalof the American
Musicological
Society

tuoni, Op. 2 (1687) (see Table 7a).25 The title of the print indicates both
"natural"and transposed tuoni among the versets; the table of contents
further specifies untransposed versions and whole-step transpositions
(both downward and upward) for each of the eight tonalities--except for
the fourth and seventh, which occur only in untransposed form. Degli An-
tonii's eight tuoni, untransposed, employ the same set of tonalities as those
in the octonary schemes in treatises by Banchieri, Penna, and others (see
Table 5); the instrumentalworks of, for example, Merula and Placuzzi (see
Table 6); Arresti's toni 1-8 (Table 4a); and Bononcini's seven commonly
used "modes" (Table 3). Degli Antonii further expands these eight tonal-
ities into a larger set of sixteen through upward and downward transpo-
sitions of a whole step (see Table 7b).
Thus, Bononcini's explication of a fundamental set of tonalities and its
expansion into a more comprehensive system by means of transposing key
signatures provides an invaluable source for our understanding of seicento
tonalities. A blueprint for seventeenth-century tonal practice, his Opus 6
sonatas augment the seven practicable "modes," the core set of tonalities,
to a greater number by transposing several of the original seven to various
pitch levels. This means that the finals and keys signatures of all composi-
tions ought to agree either with what may be considered the "primary"or
core set of tonalities--the church keys or their rough equivalent in Bonon-
cini's seven commonly used "modes"-or with transpositions of them.
To explore the applicability of these primary tonalities and their trans-
positions to a broader sample of instrumental prints, I have combined Bo-
noncini's practicable modes and the octonary sets of church keys into a
composite set of tonalities that may be tested against a representative se-
lection from the late seicento sonata repertory: the sonatas of Bononcini,
Corelli, and Giuseppe Torelli. Tables 8a through 8c list the tonalities of
Bononcini's Opus 6 and those used by Arcangelo Corelli and Giuseppe
Torelli, arranged-or rearranged in Bononcini's case-according to the
composite set of tonalities and their transpositions. Bononcini's rearranged
Opus 6 (Table 8a) furnishes a useful point of departure,for it uncouples his
practice from his theory. Corelli and Torelli, two of the best-known com-
posers of instrumental music from the late seicento, may be taken here as
models of the compositional practice of the period (Tables 8b and 8c).
The composite set and the tonalities to which its categories apply are
shown in Tables 8a-c under "tuono"and "primarytonality." On the one
hand, the categories used in the composite set follow Bononcini's plan by
combining modes 3 and 4 into a single category; on the other, they alter
his scheme by substituting a D-tonality with two sharps for his D-tonality

25. Table 7a provides a full bibliographic listing of Degli Antonii's Opus 2. Organ versets
like Degli Antonii's, as explained in Dodds, "Tonal Types and Modal Equivalence" (p. 342;
quoted in n. 4 above), were used as substitutes for psalms in the Catholic offices.

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Modal Theory, Church Keys, and the Sonata 263

Table 7a Contents of Giovanni Battista Degli Antonii, Versettiper tutti Ii tuoni tanto nat-
urali, cometrasportatiper I'organo,Op. 2 (Bologna: Giacomo Monti, 1687)

Versetti del Primo Tuono naturale. Carte 8


Versetti del Primo Tuono, una voce pidialta. 15
Versetti del Primo Tuono, una voce pidi bassa. 21
Versetti del Secondo Tuono naturale. 26
Versetti del Secondo Tuono, una voce pidialta. 31
Versetti del Secondo Tuono, una voce piui bassa. 36
Versetti del Terzo Tuono naturale. 42
Versetti del Terzo Tuono, una voce pidi alta. 48
Versetti del Terzo Tuono, una voce pii bassa. 54
Versetti del Quarto Tuono. 59
Versetti del Quinto Tuono naturale. 64
Versetti del Quinto Tuono, una voce pidialta. 70
Versetti del Quinto Tuono, una voce pidi bassa. 76
Versetti del Sesto Tuono naturale. 82
Versetti del Sesto Tuono, una voce pidi alta. 88
Versetti del Sesto Tuono, una voce pidi bassa. 94
Versetti del Settimo Tuono. 100
Versetti del Ottavo Tuono naturale. 106
Versetti del Ottavo Tuono, una voce pidi alta. 112
Versetti del Ottavo Tuono, una voce piui bassa. 118

the titlereads:"Versetsin allof the Tuoni,bothnaturalandtransposed,for


Note: In Englishtranslation,
the organ."

Table 7b The Tuoni of Giovanni Battista Degli Antonii, Versettiper tutti li tuoni naturali,
cometrasportatiper I'organo,Op. 2

Naturale Una voce pih alta Una voce piui bassa


Tuono (untransposed) ( T M2) ( ? M2)

1 d - *e ? c bb
2 g *a - f bbb
3 a- b ## *g b
4 e
5 C - D Bb 66
bb
6 F 6 *G - *Eb bb
7 d 6
8 G - A # *F b

keysignaturefor the transpositionindicated.


*Irregular

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264 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Table 8a GiovanniMariaBononcini,Op. 6

I P4 or TP5
Primary &
Tuono tonality 1P5 or TP4 1 M2 & TM2
1 d - c
2 g b
3&4 [a -]* e b #
5 C- Bb bb
6 F b Eb 66t
7 D
8 G- A 0#
Tonus [d ]*
peregrinus

*Tonalitiesin bracketsdo not occurin Bononcini'sOpus6 sonatasbut arelistedamongthe sevenprac-


ticablemodesexplainedin his treatiseMusicoprattico.
tBononciniwritesin the flat for eachAbof this piece (seen. 30).

Table 8b Arcangelo Corelli, Opera 1-6

I P4 or T P5
Primary &
Tuono tonality 1 P5 or T P4 M2&& M2 m3 & T m3

1 d - (5)* c bb (3) f bb (1)t


2 g b (6)
3&4 a- (3) e # (4) b 0? (4) fl (1)
5 C - (6)
6 F b (10) Bb b (7) Eb bb (1)
7 D #0 (8)
8 G - (4) A 00 (5) E 0#? (3)
Tonus d b (1)
peregrinus

*Numbersin parentheses indicatethe numberof timesthattonalityoccursin the composer'sentirepub-


lishedoeuvre.
tCorelliwritesin the flatfor eachAb-as well as for eachD6 -of this piece(see n. 30).

Table 8c GiuseppeTorelli,Opera1-6

IP4 or TP5
Primary &
Tuono tonality 1P5 or T P4 1 M2 & TM2

1 d - (6)* c bb (5)
2 g (7)
3&4 a- (7) e # (6) b 00 (3)
5 C - (5) Bb bb (1)
6 F b (6) Bb b (2)
7 D ?? (8)
8 G- (6) A 00 (8)

*Numbersin parentheses
indicatethe numberof timesthattonalityoccursin the composer'sentirepub-
lishedoeuvre.

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ModalTheory,ChurchKeys,andthe Sonata 265

with one flat. (Bononcini'sschememay be comparedwith mine by refer-


ring backto Table 3.) The basisfor this substitutionlies in the precedent
set by Arrestiand otherswho use a D-tonalitywith one or two sharpsto
representtheseventhtuono.26TheD-tonalitywithtwosharpsalsoappears
farmorefrequently in thesonataliterature,
whereasthatwithoneflatoc-
cursonlyinfrequentlyin practice.27
Theoristsoftencharacterized
thelatter
tonality(D/oneflat)as a ninthtone,the tonusperegrinus,
a designationI
have adoptedin Tables8a and 8b for a ninth tuono.28
By arrangingthefinalsandkeysignatures usedbythesecomposers ac-
cordingto the primarytonalitiesand their transpositions,
Tables8a
through8c accountforthemajority fromthisperiod,notonly
of tonalities
thosethatagreewithmodernpractices in termsof keysignature,
butalso
thosethatdo not. The categorizationof tonalitiesin thesetablesaccording
to familiesrelatedby transpositionsis predicatednot only on Bononcini's
(Table2), Berardi's(Ex. 3), and Degli Antonii's (Table 7) examplesof
transposed tuoni, but also on the use of related tonalities within a single
composition. Composers regularly cast the inner movements of their so-
natas in a tonality a fifth away from that of the opening and closing move-
ments. While some effect this change between movements without altering
the key signature, others mark the related tonality of the inner movement
with a new signature. Torelli, for example, associates A/no signature with
E/one sharp, E/one sharp with B/two sharps, and A/two sharps with
E/three sharps.29The first two pairs of these finals and key signatures can
be explained in terms of major/minor tonality as A minor, E minor, and B
minor, but the third pair-A major with only two sharps and E major with
only three - defies categorization according to the modern system of major
and minor keys. This facet of the earlier practice exemplifies how simulta-
neously familiar and alien seventeenth-century "keys"seem according to a

26. The D-tonality with bb originated as the tonality for the polyphonic setting of the
seventh psalm tone transposed down a fifth into cantus mollis, while the more common
D-tonality in cantus durus (no flat in its key signature) was that used for the first psalm tone
(see Powers, "From Psalmody to Tonality," 291, 296, and his table 4). For an account of the
replacement of the D-tonality with bb by the D-tonality with two sharps, first attested and
illustratedin French organ music and accompanying theory, see Powers, "From Psalmody to
Tonality," 305-12. Tone 7, in fact, has the most variantsof all the church keys, including an
E-tonality as well as the D-tonalities discussed here. See Tables 5 and 6 for different tonalities
associated with that tonal category.
27. Corelli uses a D-tonality with a single flat only once, and Torelli never uses it (see
Tables 8b and 8c). Nor does Bononcini use this tonality in his Opus 6, even though he pre-
sents it as one of the seven modes in common use.
28. Penna, Liprimi alborimusicali, 123. Note that G. C. Arresti uses a D-tonality with one
flat for the ninth sonata of his Opus 4 (see Table 4).
29. Giuseppe Torelli, Sonate d tre stromenti,Op. 1 (Bologna: Micheletti, 1686), Sonata
terza in E/one sharp includes one movement in B/two sharps. Similarly, his Opus 1, Sonata
settima comprises movements in A/no signature except for one in E/one sharp. Torelli, Con-
certigrossi,Op. 8 (Bologna: Silvani, 1709), Concerto terzo in E/three sharps includes an inner
movement in A/two sharps.

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266 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

modern perspective: the tonalities used in the late seicento largely accord
with those used in later centuries, but the apparent idiosyncrasies of the
earlierpractice reveal a system wholly at variancewith that of major-minor
tonality.

Two Cases:The "Plagal"G-tonalityandthe "Phrygian"


E-tonality

If Tables 8a through 8c clarify the system of primary versus transposed


tonalities in effect during the seventeenth century, they cannot do more
than provisionally categorize transposed tonalities because composers'
transposition schemes were not necessarilyconsistent. B1,tonalities, for ex-
ample, had key signatures of either one or two flats-sometimes in the
practice of a single composer (see Table 8c). Similarly, G. B. Degli Anto-
nii's outline of transposed tonalities shown in Table 7 reveals an alarming
number of anomalies when transposed tonalities are compared with their
untransposed counterparts.30In short, we cannot be sure of the transpo-
sition or the category of psalm tone for some tonalities solely on the basis
of a final and key signature. Largelyidentical tonalities of this period do not
necessarilyuse the same key signature, and transpositions were sometimes
effected with what are by modern standards irregularkey signatures.
To further establish the origins of seventeenth-century tonalities in the
psalm tones, however, we can make specific determinations of a composi-
tion's affinity with one or another psalm tone on the basis of cadential
points and other compositional details. Tonalities relating to two of the
eight psalm tones, the fourth and the eighth, afford particularlygood il-
lustrations in this regard. Examples 4a and 4b, with excerpts from Ban-

30. Even Bononcini's carefully rationalized Opus 6 sonatas include an anomalous key
signature. The last sonata of the print, although described as an instance of mode 12 trans-
posed up a minor third, uses a key signature of two flats, not three (see Table 2). From his
writings, moreover, we know that Bononcini himself considered such examples to be anom-
alies. In his treatiseMusicoprattico (pp. 154-55), he lists a number of exceptions that con-
tradict the rules of transposition set out immediately beforehand: mode 1 transposed up a
major second = E with one sharp (not two); mode 8 transposed down a minor third = E
with two sharps (not three); mode 11 transposed down a major second = Bb with one flat
(not two); and mode 12 transposed up a minor third = Eb with two flats (not three), as in
his Opus 6, no. 12.
Bononcini provides no explanation for the missing accidentals of certain key
Although
signatures, he does give advice for determining the transposition (and thus the mode) of a
composition in such cases (pp. 154-55): "I detti segni si ritrovano poi collocati tri la Com-
posizione nelle corde, ove doverebbero essere posti nel principio; per il che si deve ancora
riguardarealle cadenze regolari, mediante le quali non si potra errare"('"Theabove-mentioned
signs are to be found among the notes of the composition, instead of placed at the beginning
as they should be; for which reason one must still look to the regular cadences, by means of
which one cannot err").

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ModalTheory,ChurchKeys,andthe Sonata 267

Example4 AdrianoBanchieri,Cartellamusicale,3d ed. (Venice:GiacomoVincenti,1614)


(a) Tone 8 in plainchantandin polyphony
Tone 8: Intonation,reciting tone, and principaldifferentia,p. 71
Intuonazione Mezo Fine

Tone 8: Polyphoniccompositionon the psalmtone(tenorvoice only), p. 87


Points of imitation(modo difugare) Principal degrees (corde) Final

(b) Tone 4 in plainchantandpolyphony


Tone 4: Intonation,recitingtone, and principaldifferentia,p. 71
Intuonazione Mezo Fine

Tone 4: Polyphoniccomposition on the psalmtone(tenorvoice only), p. 85


Points of imitation No principal degrees given Final
, 0 ?? ?

chieri's Cartella musiiale (1614), present both the chant melody for tones
8 and 4 and Banchieri's guidelines for composing polyphonic music on
these psalm tones. Let us first consider tone 8 (Ex. 4a). The last note of the
principaldifferentiaof tone 8 is G, and this is taken by Banchieri and others
as the final for polyphonic settings of that psalm tone. An additional detail
of this tonality, a G-tonality, derives from the reciting tone of tone 8 on C.
As seen in Example 4a, Banchieri includes C along with G and D as prin-
cipal degrees (corde)of tone 8.
The importance of C in tone 8 carriesover to its derived G-tonality: two
excerpts in this G-tonality from Arresti's Opus 4, no. 8 (1665) illustrate
various methods for giving prominence to C, which may be traced to the
original psalm tone itself (Exx. 5 and 6). As seen in Example 5, Arresti
includes the designation ottavotono at the beginning of this piece, which
belongs to his print of"modally" ordered sonatas. The first movement (Ex.
5), despite a long pedal on D (mm. 19-24) before the final cadence, grav-
itates toward the fourth degree, C, severaltimes (cf. mm. 3, 8, and 10). The
second movement (Ex. 6) again features C prominently, making its mid-
point cadence (markedby the double bar after m. 21) on that scale degree.

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268 Journalof theAmericanMusicological
Society

Example 5 Giulio Cesare Arresti, Sonate a 2, et a tre, Op. 4 (Venice: Gardano, 1665),
Sonata ottava, first movement
(a)Mm.1-11
Ottavo Tono

Violino.I

Violon-
cello "-I

Basso0
Continuo

At
.-IM-"i
. I
I

f~~~~~~e~r Iw i
~l.,i x i n"lI "I

,F i II F r) iI -op-
-" .-6

r-I IN
...m
r i
10II F:-

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ModalTheory,ChurchKeys,andthe Sonata 269

Example5 continued
(b) Mm. 18-end
18

r- - f
',F-,, .. .
21

FE I 4
.
. . . .3 F,
VI?7 . I I ]

A similar propensity for emphasizing the fourth degree in G-tonality


sonatas can also be found where there is no overt system of modal desig-
nations. In the brief fugato that initiates Giovanni Battista Vitali's Opus 2,
no. 11 (1667) (Ex. 7), the cadences made by the ending statements of the
subject repeatedly stress the first (mm. 5, 9, and 13) and the fourth (mm.
3, 7, and 11) scale degrees. The final two movements of Giovanni Battista
Bassani's Opus 5, no. 3 (1683) similarly treat C as the most prominent
scale degree after G (Exx. 8a and 8b). In Bassani's Largo (Ex. 8a), the
beginning and ending cadences in G (mm. 1-3 and 6-8) are both prepared
by a pronounced emphasis on C. In the subsequent movement, marked
"allegro, allegro" (Ex. 8b), the only harmonicallystrong cadences occur on
G (m. 4 and mm. 16-17) and C (m. 8 and mm. 12-13). In all three of
these G-tonality examples (Exx. 5-8), the feature that marksthe derivation
of these pieces from tone 8 of the psalm tones likewise distinguishes them
from compositions that we might comfortably analyze as G major. The
emphasis on C as a secondary degree in these G-tonality pieces identifies
them clearlyas tonal descendants of tone 8 as much as ancestorsof G major.
The Phrygian E-tonality that is derived from tone 4, even more than
the G-tonality of tone 8, affords examples that defy analysis in terms of
major-minor tonality. In Example 4b we saw that Banchieri's scheme for
composing polyphony on tone 4 uses E as the final, which is taken from
the last note of that psalm tone's differentia.While Banchieri specifies no
principal degrees for tone 4, he gives the final, E, and the fourth degree
above the final, A, as points of imitation. The emphasis on the fourth

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270 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Example6 Arresti,Sonatea 2, et a tre, Op. 4, secondmovement


(a) Mm. 1-8
[OttavoTono]

Violino K

Violon- =,F 1
cello
,IF

Basso
Continuo o* "-

L01
degree again represents a response to the psalm tone's reciting tone, which
is A in tone 4.
The tonality descended from the psalm tone, neither major nor minor,
instead evinces "Phrygian"characteristics:Examples 9 and 10 show move-
ments from two sonatas that begin and end in E, but seem from a modern
perspective as if they were written in A because of the Phrygian half ca-
dences on E that end these pieces. In this they resemble Examples 1 and 2,
which would be even more easily categorized as A-minor compositions, if
not for the emblematic Phrygian ending on E that concludes each of them.
In short, all of these pieces (Exx. 1, 2, 9, and 10) illustrate the tonality
derived from the tone 4, which we must recognize as distinct from the later
and more familiar E minor and A minor.
Half a century after Banchieri'stime, such Phrygian pieces presented an
enigma to the theorist-composer Bononcini, who attempted to paper over
the unique features of the Phrygian E-tonality by merging it with tone 3,
a minor-third A-tonality (see Table 3). Although he rationalized all of the
psalm tone tonalities (or church keys) in terms of long-standing modal cat-
egories, Bononcini's consolidation of tones 3 and 4 revealsa distinctly non-
modal perspective: since dominant harmonic relationships were becoming
the determinants of a tonal center in Italian music, Phrygian pieces that
ended on E, as approached either from A or from F, were heard by Bo-
noncini as A-tonalities that end on their dominants (and not as distinct
E-tonalities). The E-tonality that Bononcini himself used included an F# in
its key signature, indicating that he interpreted it only as a transposed

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 271

Example6 continued
(b) Mm. 16-24

1620

f Ik I Z. I
e-. II -

Ir

.. I~2 . l I 'f

iow

: I LjI
Me-
- ,_. " - '"

A-tonality rather than as a separate E-tonality.31 By subsuming what he


thought were two similar variantsof an A-tonality under a single category,
he offered a relatively modern solution. Well into the eighteenth century,
theorists continued to argue that newer theories based on two modes, ma-
jor aridminor, amounted to an oversimplification precisely because of
Phrygian tonalities.32The tonal distinction between E Phrygian and A mi-
nor in these examples effectively underscores both the subtleties and the
critical consequences of seventeenth-century tonalities.
And yet Bononcini sometimes did recognize varieties of minor-third
A-tonalities that reflect the distinction between tones 3 and 4. In two of his
duos'that demonstrate the practicablemodes (Exx. 11a and 1lb), Bonon-
cini gives instances of "mode 10" replacing "modes 3 and 4." True to his
desire to merge tones 3 and 4 by representing them with one A-tonality,
Bononcini wrote the same duo twice. But he included a feature that dis-
tinguishes them: in the second duo (Ex. 11b), he added a cadence on E,
the emblematic Phrygian cadence of tone 4, onto the end and marked it
"cadenzafinale del quarto tuono." The first duo (Ex. 1 1a) instead conforms

31. In fact, Bononcini categorized the E-tonality with one sharp in his own Opus 6, no.
6 as mode 10 (the replacement for modes 3 and 4) transposed down a perfect fourth (see
Table 2).
32. Lester (BetweenModesand Keys, 124) reports Johann Kuhnau's reservationsconcern-
ing Johann Mattheson's scheme of twenty-four major and minor keys. Kuhnau's doubts
hinge, in part, on the question of Phrygian tonalities.

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272 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Example7 GiovanniBattistaVitali,Sonatea dueviolini,Op. 2 (Bologna:GiacomoMonti,


1667), Sonataundecima,firstmovement
Allegro
(complete)
Violino
primo

Violino- .
secondo

Organo
-KM4 6 6

I I I
I.I

2=6

44

26

r
6 I I2 6
4534

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 273

Example 8 GiovanniBattistaBassani,Sinfoniea due, e tri instromenti,


Op. 5 (Bologna:
GiacomoMonti, 1683), Sonataterza
(a) Fourthmovement

Largo
(complete)
Violino
primo

Violino
secondo

Violon-
cello

Organo I i
4 3 7 6 7 7 7 7

I 6 4 3

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274 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Example8 continued
(b) Fifthmovement

Allegro,allegro
(complete)

II
A.. Po..
o-l -.r J

I6

5
.. 4.3 . ..

l- I* ih
,

F
7t69 b-- ! i 43I ? ? 6 ? v

AeA-
~ ~" ~ I
ij
) " I ? i I - I
, _ ,'I, .. . .
6
.........3 . . . .bo.

" -
IIJEW 'M
me
- ':
iw 'ir
",.-.
,,,,,i
.
i
_
| - i ,,
l 7
W
"Q
-d .I
- F

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ModalTheory,ChurchKeys,andthe Sonata 275

Example 9 MaurizioCazzati,Sonatea due istromenti,Op. 55 (Bologna:n.p., 1670),


Sonataquarta,"LaCagnola,"firstmovement
(a) Mm. 1-8
Allegro
Violino '
Cornetto ---V - " W RL F
doF
, ."I'

Violone

OrganoII.

oll
- OP
._fm F.-
jj
II-

Stuiorb analysis in A minor until measures 36-39, which, enigmatically

r II I I

4(thechurch1) psalmody and Bononcini's modal theoriz-


as a tone 4 composiastincal

on E.

ing. They elucidate the direct link between the tonalities used in the sonata
33. Bononcini, Musicoprattico, 140-41.

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276 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Example9 continued
(b) Mm. 21-end
21
i
F:
I I P,"p1I i-'- FiIF-IF

I
F-,-.

65 # 5 #

264

waId--I
Iti I

6N
isR mo -L i 6Im 99 KI

6 6 06 6 7 6 6 06 #
b 5 #
5#
# '6

literature and the church keys that originate in liturgical psalmody. With-
out an understanding of this relationship--attested by the correlation of
the theoretical literaturewith the practice--we cannot hope to account for
the tonal properties of seventeenth-century music. Studies that assume
some vague form of modality to be in effect during this period and that do
not ground their findings in the treatises of the period misunderstand both
modal theory and its relationship to musical practice.34

34. Robert Wienpahl, for example, assumes a simple evolutionary path between various
"modal"scale patterns (Dorian, Mixolydian, etc., which he takes to constitute modality) and
the major and minor scales. He then posits an intermediary category of tonal organization,
"monal" music, which demonstrates both modal and tonal characteristics (Robert W.
Wienpahl, "Modality, Monality and Tonality in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries,"
part 1, Music and Letters52 [1971]: 407-17, and part 2, Music and Letters53 [1972]: 59-
73). None of his reasoning, however, draws on the theoretical literaturefrom the period of his
study, nor does it account for the practice seen in my examples.
The application of "neo-modal terminology" to seventeenth-century music illustrates an-
other form of the same problem: here again, the issue centers on an analytical approach to
early music that has no basis in the theory chronologically or geographically closest to the
repertoryunder consideration. In her "Concepts of Pitch in English Music Theory" (in Tonal
Structuresin EarlyMusic, ed. Judd, 183-246), Jessie Ann Owens argues for a more sensitive
approach than the "neo modal," which she describes as "a modern hybrid that reduces Glar-
ean's twelve modes to five transposable scale-types: Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian, Aeolian,
and Ionian. It eliminates Lydian, which in practice is nearly always found with a B-flat and
thus duplicates the Ionian; in some formulations, it eliminates a distinction between authentic
and plagal" (p. 186).
Although neo-modal terminology has almost nothing to do with music theory of the Ba-
roque era, instances of its use are not rare in studies of Baroque music. For example, in his

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 277

Example 10 AlessandroZiani,Harmoniedi strumentimusicali,Op. 1 (Venice:Gardano,


1683), Sonatasettima,thirdmovement
(a) Mm. 1-9

Violino - -
primo

Violino . _
secondo %-

Violone4
.

Basso r 7

Continuo

7 i3E6 E 7 6 5 7

7 6 3 7 6 7 6 5 5 6 7 #6

assessmentof the music of Maurizio Cazzati, John Suess writes that "one need only look at the
use of accidentals,cadence patterns, and the thematic materialsfor a clearunderstandingof the
modal practice. Canzona No. 2, 'La Turca' ..., provides a useful illustration. This canzona
hasg as its tonal center, but only one flat is present in the 'key'signature. The omission of the
e-flat allows the composer to provide cross-relations between the aeolian and dorian modes
through the use of e-flat or e-natural"(John Suess, "The Ensemble Sonatas of Maurizio Caz-
zati," Analecta musicologica19 [1979]: 146-85, 148-49; emphasis mine). The danger
here lies in the assumed "clearunderstanding of the modal practice":the mention of specific
Greek-named modes in this case connotes a perception of the music that is grounded in the
theoretical ideas of the period, which is simply not the case.
Other scholars fall into the trap of dividing seventeenth-century music between the un-
defined "modal" and the familiar tonal. In his detailed study of Italian trio sonatas, Peter
Allsop, for example, observes the same features as those explained here of G-tonality compo-
sitions (see my Exx. 5-8), noting "the characteristicambiguity between tonic and subdom-
inant which occurs to such an extent as to obscure the actual tonic" (Peter Allsop, TheItalian
"'Trio"Sonata [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992], 131). Beyond his perception of this impor-
tant detail, however, Allsop can only attributethis ambiguity vaguely to "the survivalof modal
practices" (ibid.; emphasis mine). He similarly attributes the characteristicsof the Phrygian
E-tonality--seen here in Examples 1, 2, 9, and 10--to their "distinctivemodal features"with-
out probing further into the matter (ibid., 151). As I demonstrate, psalm tone characteristics,
not modal features, shaped these tonalities.

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278 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety

Example 10 continued
(b) Mm. 24-end
24

I
-
mI I . ..E .
9 1

6 4
9- 1

29

AK?
"
7 6 6 t5

Much fascinating territory remains to be covered in the correlation of


musical practice with theoretical ideas: traces of earlier conceptions lin-
gered on after the seventeenth century in practice and even more so in the-
ory. Two citations will suffice here to summarize perspectives on "tonality"
in the early years of the eighteenth century. The first, from Francesco Gas-
parini's treatise L'armonicopratico al cimbalo of 1708, describes what is
unmistakablya system of major and minor keys, but in modal terms. More-
over, in his advice to the performing keyboardist on modal theory ("la
qualitY,e quantit de' Toni, e loro formazione"), Gasparinipoints to these
same Phrygian chaacteristicsthat I have probed in this study:
It is enoughto statethat anycompositionwhatsoeveris formedeitherwith
the majorthird or with the minor. This becomesimmediatelyevidentin
readingthe notes. In the caseof a majorthird,startingfrompreciselythat
note on whichthe compositionis built,read:ut, re,mi;in the caseof a minor
third:re, mi,fa. I leaveout considerationof the third and fourthmodes,

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Modal Theory, ChurchKeys, and the Sonata 279

Example 11 Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Musicoprattico,Op. 8 (Bologna: Giacomo Monti,


1673)
(a) P. 140
Duo del decimo Tuono
nellesueproprieCordenaturali,
cheservein luogodelterzo

I PlagaleJ

90

iisi
M a i r- E-7
.,.

which must be read mi,fa, sol [the Phrygian modes], since this is not applied
rigorously by present-day composers with its original structure.35
The second citation, from an anonymous eighteenth-century theorist, ven-
tures an even more facile summation of the "modes":
On the modes:I supposethatthe studentof musicalreadyknowsthe church
modes,of whichthereareeight, andthatupon theseeight modesarebased
the psalms,antiphons,hymns,[and] introitsfor singingin the church....
In our modern music we have modes that are distinct from the above-
mentionedchurchmodes.... But becausethese [lattermodes] have been

35. Francesco Gasparini, L'armonicopratico al cimbalo(Venice: Antonio Bortoli, 1708),


translated by Frank S. Stillings as The PracticalHarmonist at the Harpsichord,ed. David L.
Burrows (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963), 66. The Italian original reads: "Bastera
dunque avvertire,che qualsivoglia Composizione e formata o con la Terza maggiore, o con la
Terza minore. E ci6 si conoscera subito dalla lettura delle note; mentre con la Terza maggiore
ci figuraremo, che principiando dalla propria corda dove si forma la Composizione, dica: Ut,
Re, Mi, e le altre colla Terza minore diranno, Re, Mi, Fa, lasciando da parte le riflessioni del
terzo, e quarto Tono, che regolarmente deve leggersi, Mi, Fa, Sol ... perche questo da i
Compositori d'oggidi non vien praticato col suo naturalrigore, e con la propria Costituzione"
(pp. 73-74).

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280 Journal of the American Musicological Society

Example 11 continued
(b) Pp. 140-41
DuodeldecimoTuono
nellesueproprieCordenaturali,
cheservein luogodelquarto

SCadnanale delquao uono

"
.v
II'1II

altered and mixed with one another, I have set down only two: one is au-
thentic, the other plagal. The authentic has the majorthird; the plagal has the
minor third.36
The assessments of these two theorists accurately describe both the out-
look and the practice of their time: in their treatises, modal terminology-

36. Trattatodell'artedi contrapuntod'autoreanonimo(MS, early 1700s, Biblioteca del Civ-


ico Museo Bibliografico Musicale "G. B. Martini," Bologna, shelf-number MS.P.120, no.
10), 75: "Delli Toni: Suppongo, che gia lo scolare sappia li Toni Ecclesiastici,quali sono otto,
ed in questi Otto Toni sono stabilite nella Chiesa nelle Cantilena de salmi, antifone, Inni,
Introiti .... Nella nostra Moderna Musica abbiamo Toni distinti dalli sudetti Toni ecclesias-
tici. ... Maperche questi paiono adulterati,e misti nelle nostre composizioni Moderne, perci6
h6 stabilito fissare due soli Toni l'uno autentico,l'altro Plagale: l'autentico sar' il Tono di 3a
maggiore. II Plagale sar' il Tono di 3a minore: non potendosi fare composizione nel nostro
stile moderno, che non sia di 3a maggiore 6 sia autentico, 6 pure, che non sia di 3a minore 6
sia Plagale."

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ModalTheory,ChurchKeys,andthe Sonata 281

for centuries the only means for describing tonal organization in music--is
still put to use in describing major and minor keys. With this in mind, we
may understand the language of tonal organization spoken by the theorists
and recognize how the practice of late seicento sonata composers and the
theoretical literature contemporary with this practice are abundantly and
mutually revealing. The findings of this study should therefore spur our
further efforts, not to discover the earliest evidence of major/minor tonal-
ity, but instead to understand the conception of tonal space held by mu-
sicians of the seventeenth century. Scholars have long dwelt on Corelli, for
example, as a harbingerof the modern tonal era, while paying less attention
to the music-theoretical tradition out of which his tonal idiom emerged.
In short, we must turn our attention toward precisely those features of
seicento music that defy the precepts of modern tonality. By ascertaining
the meaning of such features through a study of the theory closest to that
music, we might recapture a perspective that seicento theorists and com-
posers brought to their works. We may then appreciatethe music of Corelli
and his contemporaries, not only as a point of departure in the history
of modern tonality, but also as the legacy of a rich musical and theoretical
tradition.

Abstract

In the latter half of the seventeenth century, two composers, Giovanni


Maria Bononcini and Giulio Cesare Arresti, published collections of so-
natas arranged according to modal criteria. Although their conceptions
of a modal system differ markedly from one another and from other
modal theories of the period, Bononcini's and Arresti's common use of
a particular set of eight tonalities concurs with a widespread practice
among seicento sonata composers that was also widely attested by theo-
rists. In their music, composers extended these eight tonalities to greater
numbers through transpositions. This practice thus reflects an a priori con-
ception of a tonal system based on a core set of tonalities plus transposi-
tions of that set.
This core set derives, not from the modes, but from tonalities originat-
ing in the eight psalm tones used in the Catholic offices. The significance
of these psalm tone tonalities-otherwise known as church keys-cannot
be underestimated: they provide a crucial link between seventeenth-
century modal theory and the musical practice of that period; moreover,
the particularcharacteristicsof the psalm tones themselves explain features
found in late seicento tonalities.

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