99: Rosa Cafiero

What a great thrill to be joined by a very special guest, Professor Rosa Cafiero of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the department of History, Archaeology and Art History. She is here to talk about her latest book La didattica del partimento (a collection of nine essays, revisited and adjourned for the digital era). She is one of the great, early pioneers of Partimento research!

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0:55 The word for department in Italian is dipartimento 1:23 On being a graduate of the San Pietro a Majella, Naples 1:56 Was the training there similar to the 18th century version of the conservatory? 3:16 Was partimento extinct? 3:59 Did you still get to learn partimenti in any way? 4:48 When did you get interested in exploring the Neapolitan methods? 5:46 Describe the history of Partimento research in the 20th century 8:39 How many documents and manuscripts were there in the library? 9:54 Have all the manuscripts been researched? 10:51 Are these expensive paper manuscripts free from mistakes? 12:44 What does sulla fortuna mean? 13:11 How did you revise your 1993 Carlo Cotumacci article? 14:30 Who was Carlo Cotumacci and why is he important? 16:48 How is Cotumacci’s “3rd Way” different from Leo and Durante? 17:31 The regole del contrappunto by Nicola Sala 19:37 On Nicola’s legacy and his reputation in counterpoint but also some criticism about his melodic ability 20:22 Francesco Durante’s harmonic theories 21:35 How did you revise the essay? 21:55 How hard was it to get these manuscripts today vs previous years 23:37 “Music of a new kind, music composed without rules” - Fenaroli 25:40 Did Fenaroli complain about mistakes in his publications 26:17 Was Naples aware of musical developments in other continents, such as the popularity of Haydn 27:56 Do we full biographies of these Neapolitans or do we just have scraps of information 29:35 How about letters? 31:04 Emmanuele Imbimbo in Paris 33:27 What does Practica mean? 35:10 But wasn’t Zarlino a theorist? How does that relate to practica? 36:32 Bianchi’s treatise on harmony 38:45 Was his treatise like Fenaroli’s regole? 40:45 How did Bianchi teach young children? 41:17 The criticisms of the Neapolitan school in the 19th century 43:49 The Neapolitan method vs the 20th century vertical approach to harmony 47:40 Are Harmony and Counterpoint two separate subjects? 48:30 Is the Neapolitan method only for the 18th century, or can the principles be applied to modern settings? 49:33 What mysteries still remain that interest you about this field of research? 51:10 Do you have a favorite composer from this period? 52:48 What’s your reaction to surge in interest in partimento today? 53:30 How about among your colleagues and peers? 55:04 Wrapping Up 55:52 When is the english version of your book coming out?