Faà di Bruno, Giovanni Matteo [Horatio, Orazio] Fabbri, Anna Maria
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- Formé, Nicolas
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Formant.The relationship between amplification, or degree of resonance, and frequency, for any device (whether mechanical or electronic) that modifies, transmits or radiates sound. The graph representing the relationship between amplification and frequency is usually called the ‘formant characteristic’. Three typical examples of the source of a formant will help to clarify the meaning. The body of a violin converts the almost inaudible sound of the strings by a process of resonance and radiation into a very much louder sound, but in so doing it imposes its own formant on the sound; different frequency components in the string vibration are enhanced by different amounts, and so the timbre is changed. Second, the bore characteristics and the size, shape and position of the side holes of a woodwind instrument change the wave-form set up by the reed in the pipe and so impose a formant which leads to a characteristic timbre for each instrument. Third, the cavities of the throat and nose modify the harmonic-rich buzzing sound of the vocal chords and impose formants that are characteristic of the person and also of the different vowel sounds; each vowel sound – regardless of whether spoken by a male or female, adult or child – has formant peaks at well-defined frequencies. Problems arise if the recognizable strong peaks in a formant occur in regions for which no frequencies are present in the basic sound; thus it is difficult to distinguish one vowel from another in a high-pitched human voice, and the timbre differences between instruments are much less pronounced at high pitches than lower down the scale. See also Sound, §6(iv). CHARLES TAYLOR
The numerous anecdotes about Formé sometimes illustrate his irritable, arrogant and undisciplined nature or his lax morals and fondness for drink but also the enthusiasm with which those in high places greeted his music. On the one hand, for example, he was at loggerheads with the other canons of the Ste Chapelle because he lived with his mistress in his own house. On the other hand, Richelieu invited him to direct a concert in his palace, and Dubois de l’Estourmière, Louis XIII’s valet, related in his memoirs how he told Louis XIV of his father’s particular affection for Formé’s motet Nonne Deo subjecta erit anima mea (which is lost). One can also believe Sauval’s report that after Formé’s death, Louis XIII collected his works together and locked them away in a cupboard to which he held the key; it is possibly because of this that some at least of his music has survived. Sauval added that these works subsequently fell into the hands of Jean Veillot, ‘who turned them to his own good account’. As a composer Formé is known only by sacred works. In the dedication to Louis XIII of his celebrated Mass published in 1638, cited above, he prided himself on being the first Frenchman to write for double choir in the Venetian style, but this is an idle boast, since several others had done so before him, among them Le Jeune, Du Caurroy and d’Ambleville. In this mass, however, and also in the motets Domine, salvum fac regem and Ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea, he did break new ground in his explicit use of the concertante style, contrasting a quartet of soloists with a five-part choir: the style, partly fugal partly homophonic, heralds that of the grands motets of Versailles. There is no mention of instrumental accompaniment in the score. But it seems unlikely that, at a time when the continuo was becoming more and more accepted in France, such fundamentally modern music was conceived for a cappella performance. Moreover the nature of the music implies accompaniment, although it is doubtful if instruments other than organ were used because of the restrictions that the church imposed on the performance of liturgical music, especially masses. There survived in manuscript a series of Magnificat settings by Formé based on the eight church tones. Sections for four voices alternate with Gregorian chant, thus confirming that the works were intended for liturgical use, perhaps in the royal chapel or the Ste Chapelle. They are written in a basically unadorned syllabic style, which is, however, varied by imitative entries based on the chant and by the use of contrasted vocal groups. Formé’s surviving music is fine enough for the loss of his other works to be a matter for regret. WORKS
BIBLIOGRAPHYAnthonyFB BrenetM MGG1 (D. Launey) M. Mersenne: ‘Préface générale au lecteur’, Harmonie universelle, i (Paris, 1636–7/R) S. de Brossard: Dictionaire de musique (Paris, 1703/R, 3/c1708/R); ed. and trans. A. Gruber (Henryville, PA, 1982) H. Sauval: Histoire et recherches des antiquités de la ville de Paris (Paris, 1724/R) M. Félibien: Histoire de la ville de Paris (Paris, 1725) S.J. Morand: Histoire de la Sainte-Chapelle royale du Palais (Paris, 1790) Dubois de l’Estourmière: Mémoires, ed. L. Aubineau, Bibliothèque de l’Ecole des Chartes, 2nd ser., iv (Paris, 1847) M. Brenet: ‘Un oublié de Fétis: Nicolas Formé’, Archives historiques, artistiques et littéraires, i (1889), 64–73 H. Quittard: ‘Un chanteur compositeur de musique sous Louis XIII: Nicolas Formé’, RHCM, iii (1903), 362–7 H. Quittard: ‘Une composition française du XVIIème siècle à deux choeurs’, RHCM, iv (1904), 275–83 J. Ecorcheville: Actes d’état civil des musiciens insinués au Châtelet de Paris (1539–1650) (Paris, 1907) H. Stein: Le Palais de Justice de la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris (Paris, 1912) M. le Moël: Recherches sur les musiciens du Roy, 1600–1650 (diss., Ecole des Chartes, Paris, 1954) D. Launay: ‘Les motets à double choeur en France dans la première moitié du XVIIème siècle’, RdM, xxxix–xl (1957), 173–95 F. Lesure: ‘Un contrat d’exclusivité entre Nicolas Formé et Ballard’, RdM, l (1964), 228–9 M. Le Moël: ‘La chapelle de musique sous Henry IV et Louis XIII’, RMFC, vi (1966), 5–26 M. Jurgens, ed.: Documents du minutier central concernant l’histoire de la musique (1600–1650) (Paris, 1969) D. Launay: ‘Church Music in France: (a) 1630–60’, NOHM, v (1975), 414–37 M. Honegger and P. Prévost, eds.: Dictionnaire des oeuvres de l’art vocal (Paris, 1991) E. Lemaître, ed.: Guide de la musique sacrée et chorale profane: l’âge baroque (1600–1750) (Paris, 1992) D. Launay: La musique religieuse en France du concile de Trente à 1804 (Paris, 1993) DENISE LAUNAY/JAMES R. ANTHONY Directory: download -> 3062a7ba-8b89-4266-8568-82026f790e50 -> Bibliografia%20Básica download -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations download -> Bbc archives: Beyond the programme download download -> Occupational health and safety download -> Dynatest 3031 lwd light Weight Deflectometer download -> Forth coming competitive exams download -> English Olympiad Tasks: 10 th form Аудіювання, 10 клас. Текст download -> Brush High School Morning Announcements Friday, September 05, 2014 all school download -> Year 9 The Arts — Music download -> Years 7 and 8 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: Music draft Bibliografia%20Básica -> Oakeley, Sir Herbert (Stanley) Download 19.1 Mb. Share with your friends:
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