Caro mio ben

I definitely went there. This blog wouldn't be valid, in my opinion, if the first piece that was analyzed wasn't Giordani's "Caro mio ben". You've sung it. You've heard it way too many times.

But have you analyzed it?

Probably not. It's too simple, right? There can't be anything hidden within the musical confines of this piece, right?

We'll, you may be. But with all of that build-up, we just have to take a look at it, right?

As time goes on, I'll include a page with a step-by-step process on how you can effectively analyze any piece of vocal music, but for now, let's take a quick look at the text and translation.

Caro mio ben, My dear beloved,

credimi almen, Believe me, at least,

senza di te Without you

languisce il cor! My heart languishes!

Il tuo fedel Your faithful one

sospira ognor always sighs;

cessa, crudel cease, cruel one

tanto rigor! so much punishment!

(Translation provided by recmusic.org)

This, I would say, is the first step in effectively analyzing any vocal piece; become familiar with the text.

Now that we have the text/translation, let's move onto some of the characteristics of the music.

Now, we know the piece is in a major key . We know the piece is extremely simple, which is the reason for it's extreme use in early voice lessons. But what is interesting about these first four bars?

My eye goes right to the first measure; the 2 beat anacrusis. If one were to listen to this, they probably wouldn't hear the first measure (the pick-up) as that; they would hear the piece beginning right on the measure. One reason might be that it is an editorial characteristic; the master of the "24" book might have just notated it as such from the manuscript. But, maybe there is a less practical reason for this.

How do we play music? We're not robots, and as such every moment of every piece is going to be different, going to have a human characteristic about it. If you look at the first two measures, you'll notice that the "Caro" motive has a lot of motion going to that first beat of the "first measure", what will eventually become "ben". I believe the choice to notate the piece this way was to make the music serve the text in a greater way. If you go through the piece in more detail, you'll see that the longer-held note, or the note that appears on the first beat of the measure, always comes with an important word in the context of the lyrics. "ben", "cor", etc.

Also, given the nuances of spoken Italian, this compositional choice gives the text more authenticity. Put almost too simply, it would sound strange to a native Italian to hear more emphasis on "Caro" and no emphasis on "mio ben". Especially once we get to "cor", which might be the most important word in that entire stanza of text.

What is the purpose of that rant on one tiny attribute in this piece?

Even the smallest musical characteristic can have a wealth of information for you, the performer, to make the piece as musical and authentic as possible.

Now, there is one other characteristic I'd love to touch on, and that is the structure of the melodic line.

There are two dominant designs of melodic line in this piece, and they are;

Descending (falling)

Arc form (rising, then falling)

Often times, even just descriptive words can suit analysis better than large and often strange music theory terms can.

In a song about love, what do you think a rising melodic line would mean? What do you think a descending melodic line would mean? Better yet, what would a rising and then descending line mean?

Now, let us go back to the text. This arietta could be considered a lament, and the first stanza of text fits that description quite well. The melody is also gradually, through a small sequence, falling.

In this case, lament equals a falling melodic line.

Now, in the second verse, there is a big hint as to what causes the arcing melodic line. That hint would be the word sospira, meaning to sigh, or to breathe.

What, in terms of the human body, happens when one takes a breath? There is a rising of the chest on the intake of the breath, and falling of the chest on the exhale of the breath.

In this case, the lamenting lover is literally and musically breathing in the hope that his beloved will stop being cruel to him.

So, my hope with this partial analysis is you'll see that even the most simple of pieces can be deceptively complex.

See anything else? Feel free to comment!

Next week I'll be posting something from early Romantic German lieder.