Note sulla censura dell'‘Adone' mariniano e sulla sua (s)fortuna musicale (1615-1640)

This study explores the reasons behind the limited musical success of Adone by Giovan Battista Marino (Paris, 1623), especially in light of the widespread popularity that composers accorded to lyrics from his Rime (1602-1614) up until the 1640s. Following a concise survey of the various forms of censorship imposed on Marino's poem, culminating in its messa all'Indice in 1627, the paper briefly addresses the issue of ecclesiastical censorship directed at musical settings of “lascivious and amorous” poetry during the early seventeenth century. The second part of the essay examines musical settings of stanzas from Adone that appear in roughly a dozen printed musical collections published between 1615 and 1640, composed by figures such as Sigismondo d'India, Desiderio Pecci, Antonio Marastoni, Francesco Pasquali, Annibale Gregori, Martino Pesenti, Giovanni Antonio Rigatti, and Giovanni Rovetta.

The study also includes an account of Adriana Basile and Francesca Caccini's improvised performances of select stanzas from the poem in Rome in late 1623, with the poet himself present. Further attention is given to Rigatti and Rovetta's settings, with specific observations on the segmentation and formal organization of the chosen stanzas, underscoring the relationship between these compositional aspects and the meaning of the verses set to music. [Publisher's text]

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