La Cetra
Encyclopedia
The Cetra was a stringed musical instrument
well known for its use in ancient times, belonging to the chordophone
family. The instrument was initially constructed in wood, similar to the lyre
, but with a larger harmonic case.
The cetra with these characteristics spread from ancient Greece
, where it was played by professional citaredi, its use also spread to Rome
and Corsica
. Over the centuries its structure was altered further, until the term 'cetra' came to signify a pear-shaped instrument with a flat sound-board and a long neck, whose pairs of metal strings were plucked.
The term cetra also is sometimes used to refer to the cittern
, a Renaissance instrument similar to the lute
.
In Monteverdi
's opera L'Orfeo (1607, libretto by Alessandro Striggio
) Orpheus refers to his instrument as a Cetra (e.g. in the aria Qual honor di te fia degno, mia cetra onnipotente, Act 4).
The word was also used as a title for an Italian record company: Cetra Records.
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
well known for its use in ancient times, belonging to the chordophone
Chordophone
A chordophone is any musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....
family. The instrument was initially constructed in wood, similar to the lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
, but with a larger harmonic case.
The cetra with these characteristics spread from ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, where it was played by professional citaredi, its use also spread to Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
. Over the centuries its structure was altered further, until the term 'cetra' came to signify a pear-shaped instrument with a flat sound-board and a long neck, whose pairs of metal strings were plucked.
The term cetra also is sometimes used to refer to the cittern
Cittern
The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
, a Renaissance instrument similar to the lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
.
Use of the word in musical works
The name La Cetra was also used by a number of composers to entitle sets of their works. These composers included Legrenzi, Marcello and Vivaldi.- Giovanni LegrenziGiovanni LegrenziGiovanni Legrenzi was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era...
(1626–1690), a prominent composer in VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
in the late 17th century, was the first to use the name La Cetra, for a collection of 18 sonatas published in Venice in 1673. La Cetra was an early example of a collection of sonatas published in sets of six (in this case, three sets of six) which was to become a standard practice. As with the remainder of Legrenzi’s considerable output of sonatas – La Cetra was his fourth volume – the majority are for stringed instruments with organ continuo. There are, however, two curious sonatas in La Cetra set for a quartet of viols which can furthermore be played a minor third lower by simply changing the clefs. La Cetra is in a number of respects more modern than many of its predecessors (including Legrenzi’s own collections). It is, for example, mainly scored for the violins and violas that were replacing viols as the main stringed instrument, while the music itself reflects an increasing interest in tonality whereas previously the modal system had played a significant role in determining the ordering of sonatas. La Cetra was to become the most highly esteemed of Legrenzi’s works, and the impact of the sonatas carried his name into the history of European music.
- Alessandro MarcelloAlessandro MarcelloAlessandro Marcello was an Italian nobleman, poet, philosopher, mathematician and musician.-Biography:...
(1669–1747), who lived and worked somewhat later in Venice, published a set of 6 concerti he had written under the title of La Cetra. These concerti are "unusual for their wind solo parts, concision and use of counterpoint within a broadly Vivaldian style," according to Grove.
- Antonio VivaldiAntonio VivaldiAntonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
(1678–1741), the Red Priest of Venice, used the name La Cetra for two different sets of his works.- The first set that he called La CetraLa Cetra (Vivaldi)Antonio Vivaldi wrote a set of violin concertos, Op. 9, nicknamed La cetra, that was published in 1727. All of them were for violin solo, strings, and basso continuo, except No. 9 in B flat, which features two solo violins. The set was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI.*Concerto No. 1 in C major, RV...
consisted of 12 concertos, opus 9, his last great set of printed violin concerti. He dedicated them to the music-loving Habsburg monarch, the Emperor Charles VICharles VI, Holy Roman EmperorCharles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
in 1727. - The following year, 1728, Vivaldi wrote another set of 12 concerti that he again, for unknown reasons, named La Cetra. He dedicated this new set of concerti again to Charles VI and gave him the manuscript of the concerti. The concerti were never published. They have been offered in reconstructed form by Andrew ManzeAndrew ManzeAndrew Manze is an English violinist and conductor.As a guest conductor Manze has regular relationships with a number of leading international orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Munich Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra,...
and The English Consort as Concertos for the Emperor.
- The first set that he called La Cetra
In Monteverdi
Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
's opera L'Orfeo (1607, libretto by Alessandro Striggio
Alessandro Striggio
Alessandro Striggio was an Italian composer, instrumentalist and diplomat of the Renaissance. He composed numerous madrigals as well as dramatic music, and by combining the two, became the inventor of madrigal comedy...
) Orpheus refers to his instrument as a Cetra (e.g. in the aria Qual honor di te fia degno, mia cetra onnipotente, Act 4).
The word was also used as a title for an Italian record company: Cetra Records.
Sources
- The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, Oxford University Press, 1994
- Liner notes by Andrew Manze for Vivaldi's Concertos for the Emperor. Performed by The English Consort directed by Andrew Manze (Harmonia Mundi 907332).