The third boschereccia looks inward at a person’s thoughts as they register the pair of horns and harps in the sala boschereccia of the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna. The sound of the horns and the harps mingles with the opening phrases of Josquin’s “Ave maria . . . virgo serena” a copy of which is in the first printed book of music, the Odhecaton A (also found in the museum). After a final horn call, a melody from the first boschereccia gets resolved.
The second boshereccia evokes a thoroughly indoor space through a melody-and-accompaniment (singer-and-piano?) texture. The repeated notes try to capture the play of water in the fountains featured in the room’s frescoes. At the end, we observe the stillness of Canova’s stature in the room’s center.
For at least the third year in a row, I am not in my home country for the Fourth of July. Both this year and last the plan was to be in Granville, Ohio, for the carnival downtown and for the fireworks and flag waving. But fate finds us stuck in Bologna for another few weeks, and we’ll have to try again next year. Distance does not, however, preclude a small contribution to the festivities on my part. So, enjoy this rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” on ocarina (Do3, by Claudio Colombo).
The first of three projected ‘leaves about rooms in Bologna where the walls and ceilings are painted to make it seem like you’re outside in a garden or forest This one comes from Palazzo Hercolani’s sala boschereccia, which is a particularly echo-y space. The music starts as a hallucination of a real forest before dissolving into a tamer, indoor atmosphere.
