A Toccata of Galuppi's
Encyclopedia
"A Toccata of Galuppi's" is a poem by Robert Browning
, originally published in the 1855 collection Men and Women
. The title refers to the fact that the speaker is either playing or listening to a toccata
by the 18th-century Venetian
composer Baldassare Galuppi.
" were less clearly differentiated than they later became, and were used interchangeably. A number of Galuppi's sonatas have been suggested as Browning's inspiration, but as Charles van den Borren wrote in The Musical Times, "every poet has the right to evade the prosaic minutiae of fact", and it is impossible to state with confidence that one Galuppi piece has more claim than another to be the inspiration for the poem.
Commentators have remarked on the musicality of the poem. Browning was trained extensively in music, both in composition and musical theory. Professional musicians and musicologists have been dismissive of his use of musical terms, but the music scholar Deryck Cooke
writes of the poet's precise grasp of fine musical detail in this work. David Parkinson identifies "a link between each syllable of the poem and the musical notes of a scale." Stephen H. Ford contends that the whole poem is constructed "on a double octave form". Marc R. Plamondon argues that Browning's subjective interpretation produces "not just a commentary on music, but a complex portrait of the person attempting to interpret the music." The critic Robert C. Schweik argues that the poem does not require the reader to know Galuppi's music, and that Browning does not provide any description of what the music is really like.
After the speaker's fanciful and superficial evocation of old Venice, in stanzas I to IX, the voice goes on to muse on the nature of immortality, first of art and then of life itself. In stanza X, the speaker ponders on the deaths of Galuppi's original audiences, and in the following stanzas he contemplates his own mortality. By the final stanza, XV, the speaker has come so far from his original complacency as to have real empathy with the people of 18th-century Venice.
. The singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst
based her song "Galuppi Baladassare", the first track of her 2006 album Strange Conversation
on the poem, using many of the words and theme as a basis for her own lyrics.
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
, originally published in the 1855 collection Men and Women
Men and Women (poetry collection)
Men and Women is a collection of fifty-one poems in two volumes by Robert Browning, first published in 1855. While now generally considered to contain some of the best of Browning's poetry, at the time it was not received well and sold poorly....
. The title refers to the fact that the speaker is either playing or listening to a toccata
Toccata
Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
by the 18th-century Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
composer Baldassare Galuppi.
Musical background
It is not known whether Browning was thinking of any one piece by Galuppi; in Galuppi's time, the terms "toccata" and "sonataSonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
" were less clearly differentiated than they later became, and were used interchangeably. A number of Galuppi's sonatas have been suggested as Browning's inspiration, but as Charles van den Borren wrote in The Musical Times, "every poet has the right to evade the prosaic minutiae of fact", and it is impossible to state with confidence that one Galuppi piece has more claim than another to be the inspiration for the poem.
Commentators have remarked on the musicality of the poem. Browning was trained extensively in music, both in composition and musical theory. Professional musicians and musicologists have been dismissive of his use of musical terms, but the music scholar Deryck Cooke
Deryck Cooke
Deryck Cooke was a British musician, musicologist and broadcaster.-Life:Cooke was born in Leicester to a poor and working class family; his father died when he was a child, but his mother was able to afford piano lessons. Cooke acquired a brilliant technique and began to compose...
writes of the poet's precise grasp of fine musical detail in this work. David Parkinson identifies "a link between each syllable of the poem and the musical notes of a scale." Stephen H. Ford contends that the whole poem is constructed "on a double octave form". Marc R. Plamondon argues that Browning's subjective interpretation produces "not just a commentary on music, but a complex portrait of the person attempting to interpret the music." The critic Robert C. Schweik argues that the poem does not require the reader to know Galuppi's music, and that Browning does not provide any description of what the music is really like.
Themes
The poem is written in the first person, but the voice is not that of Browning himself: the speaker, unlike the poet, has never been out of England, and is picturing life in 18th century Venice through his response to Galuppi's music. Schweik comments that the speaker's remarks on Venice include "typical bits and snatches of commonplace, second-hand information" and "misunderstandings that would be characteristic of an Englishman who really knows very little about Venice." The speaker, more interested in science than the arts, even gives Galuppi the wrong first name ("Baldassaro" for the correct "Baldassare", an error perpetuated by some literary critics).After the speaker's fanciful and superficial evocation of old Venice, in stanzas I to IX, the voice goes on to muse on the nature of immortality, first of art and then of life itself. In stanza X, the speaker ponders on the deaths of Galuppi's original audiences, and in the following stanzas he contemplates his own mortality. By the final stanza, XV, the speaker has come so far from his original complacency as to have real empathy with the people of 18th-century Venice.
Musical settings
The poem inspired a 1989 setting, in modern idiom but with musical quotations from Galuppi's works, by the composer Dominick ArgentoDominick Argento
Dominick Argento is an American composer, best known as a leading composer of lyric opera and choral music...
. The singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst
Kris Delmhorst
Kris Delmhorst is an American singer-songwriter who is part of the Boston folk scene. She was involved in producing 1998's Respond compilation, a fundraiser for domestic violence groups, and it included her song Weatherman. In 1999, she released a live album with The Vinal Avenue String Band,...
based her song "Galuppi Baladassare", the first track of her 2006 album Strange Conversation
Strange Conversation
Strange Conversation is an album by singer/songwriter Kris Delmhorst, released in 2006.-History:Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Delmhorst takes on setting some works of famous poets to music along with her own original compositions. The lead off track is named after Italian composer Baldassare...
on the poem, using many of the words and theme as a basis for her own lyrics.