Jun-Ting Wei

MHL602
Feb 21, 2021
Assignment 1

Two Significant Differences between Italian and

According to Francois Raguenet's aricle "Parallelle des Italians et des Francais", there

are differences between the 17th century musical styles of French and Italian such as design of

characters' personality, musical structure of music, techniques of playing instruments, etc.

However, there are two significant differences between both styles, which are the pronunciation

of languages and the characteristics of compositions.1

As the point Raguenet mentioned in the article, the pronunciation of Italian is more

clear, sonorous and sparkling because their vowels have clear and pleasant sounds, which are

very suitable for singing an excited or passionate song music. Thus, the audiences could

understand the words and sentences clearly from singers who sing a song in Italian.2 For

instance, in Alessandro Scarlatti's Griselda e Ottone, act Iscene 4 Aria, the sound of music is

very brilliant and sparkling because of the pronunciation and tone of Italian, so it is very easy to

hear the vowels clearly such as no, ti, za, va and do, because they use a lots of tongue and tooth

to pronounce words which make sound sonorous and clean. On the other hand, Raguenet

claims that the pronunciation of vowels in French is mute and barely hear, so it is hard for

audiences to understand and identify the lyrics singers sing. However, because of the round

pronunciation in French, it is more fit for lyrical and peaceful music because it helps sounds of

1
Francois Raguenet,"Parallelle des Italians et des Francais," 474-475
2
Raguenet, “Parallelle,” 476

1
 Jun-Ting Wei
MHL602
Feb 21, 2021
Assignment 1

music more fluent and easy.3 Take Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera Atys, act 1 scene 3 as an

example, the music itself is elegant and lyrical, and the mellow pronunciation of French makes

music more fluent because they use tongue behind the tooth and the maxilla in pronunciation of

French, which makes sound more round. Compared to Italian, the vowels of French are blur

and warm in the music instead of sparkling and articulated sound, such lyrics as allons, nes,

son, etc., so French's pronunciation makes the song of Atys more fluent and gentle. Thus, both

languages have different effects on music.

Based on another idea of Raguanet, the styles of compositions between Italian and

French are different. The Italians are bold to use lots of dissonant chords and wide range

intervals, which can make music more surprising and interesting.4 Take Scarlatti's Griselda

Sinfornia Avanti L’Opera as an example, there is a lots of dissonant chords in this piece such as

g-sharp diminished third, c-sharp diminished third, a-sharp diminished seventh, d-sharp

diminished seventh, etc., which provides lots of unexpected surprises in the melody. Besides,

the piece also has a wide range intervals for string instruments. In violins' parts, the lowest

notes are a (scientific pitch notation), and the highest notes are d³, which provides an up and

down emotional wave. On the contrary, Raguanet shows that French's composers tend to make

music soft, easy, flowing and coherent, so the harmonies, rhythms and intervals are usually

regular, equal and natural.5 For instance, Lully's Armide, act 2 scene 5 has regular chords

almost all over the piece, the similar rhythms for each part, and the narrow range for the

3
Raguenet, “Parallelle,” 476
4
Raguenet, “Parallelle,” 477
5
Raguenet, “Parallelle,” 477

2
 Jun-Ting Wei
MHL602
Feb 21, 2021
Assignment 1

intervals for each instrument, so the piece has nothing too crazy and dramatic compared to

Italian style. Besides, the sound in the piece is pretty equal and regular because of the simple

harmonies and rhythms, so this piece also includes the feeling of march, which provides a

consistent regular sound. Thus, Italian music is more excited and interesting, and French music

is more serious, simple and equal.

Both Italian and French musical styles have their own characteristics which make music

differently. Italian's articulated pronunciation, and interesting and surprising compositions are

totally different with French's round pronunciation, and equal and regular compositions.