Giovanni Battista Draghi

The soft complaining flute

Aria from the St. Cecilia Ode "From Harmony," London 1687
for alto, 2 alto recorders, and basso continuo
Edited by Peter Thalheimer

Giovanni Battista Draghi (c. 1640-1708) was presumably born in Rimini and likely received his training in Venice, then the center of Italian opera. In 1663-64, he was brought to England by King Charles II, along with other Italian musicians, to establish an English opera tradition there. Within just a few years, Draghi had become highly regarded in London as a composer, singer, harpsichordist, and librettist. Beginning in 1673, he collaborated with Matthew Locke (1621/22-1677) and succeeded him in 1677 as the Queen's organist at Somerset House. In 1687, Draghi became organist for King James II's private chapel; later, he served as music teacher to Princesses Mary and Anne.

Of Draghi's compositions, mainly songs, harpsichord pieces, and the ode "From Harmony" for the Feast of Saint Cecilia have survived. The ode was composed for the "Society of Gentlemen Lovers of Music" and was first performed on November 22, 1687, on St. Cecilia's Day, at Stationers' Hall in London. The work is based on the poem "From Harmony" by John Dryden (1631-1700). After a tribute to harmony in music, it describes the characteristic expressive capabilities of the various instruments.1) In 1739, George Frideric Handel drew on the same text for his Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, HWV 76.

The present aria, "The soft complaining flute," forms the fourth movement of Draghi's St. Cecilia Ode. It is based on a typical English "ground," a five-measure bass theme that is repeated eleven times and transposed in the middle section. The text deals with the lament of the recorder, represented by sighing figures and chromaticism, as well as the gentle sound of the lute ("warbling").

A highlight in the expression of emotion is provided by the passages marked "very soft" at the word "warbling" (measures 45-46 and 50-51). The wavy lines notated in the recorder parts require a pulsating breath vibrato, imitating an organ tremulant. This corresponds to the early Baroque "tremolo," which first appeared in the recorder repertoire in 1620 in the works of Giovanni Battista Riccio.2)

As the two oldest sources attest, the vocal part of the aria was sung by the countertenor William Turner at one of the first performances. Today, however, it can also be performed by an alto. The English recorders from around 1687 corresponded to the Bressan type, which is being built again today. They were tuned to the English concert pitch of a1 at approximately 408 Hz.

The sources for the "Cäcilien-Ode" contain no clear information regarding the instrumentation of the basso continuo. The violoncello ("bass violin") is certainly a candidate for the bass melody instrument, as it was a regular part of the five-part string ensemble that participated in other movements of the ode. Dryden's poem mentions the lute as a chordal instrument and, in Movement 6, the organ. This can be viewed as a recommendation for modern performances, although there is no evidence that these instruments were used in early performances of the ode.

Draghi's autograph of the ode has been lost. Its fourth movement, the aria "The soft complaining Flute," has been preserved in four score copies 3):

A score copy from the Royal College of Music in London, call number MS 1106, fol. 29-74. The title reads: "Sign.r Baptists Song on St. Cecilia's Day 1687 Performd att Stationers Hall."
B Score copy from Chichester Cathedral, held by the West Sussex Record Office in Chichester. The ode is included in the manuscript collection *The Music Book of John Walter*, call number MS Cap. VI/1/1, fol. 13v-33r.
C Score copy from the Royal College of Music, London, call number MS 1097, written by John Blow (1649-1708).
D Bodleian Library, Oxford, call number Tenbury MS 1226, fol. 2r-35r. Compilation manuscript, written by John Reading (c. 1645-1692), organist at Winchester College from 1681 until his death.

The copies A and B likely derive from the same source, perhaps the autograph. The discrepancies in the musical notation and text indicate that the copies C and D themselves shared a common source. Errors in the bass line in C may suggest that the source was a part score.
Our edition is based on sources A and B, which likely preserve the original version. The changes contained in sources C and D have not been taken into account.

Thanks are due to Klaus Hofmann for his numerous suggestions and to the libraries mentioned for providing copies of the sources.

Schwäbisch Hall, August 2024, Peter Thalheimer

1) For further details on Dryden's poem, see Roger Bray: "Dryden and Draghi in Harmony in the 1687 'Song for St. Cecilia's Day,'" in: Music and Letters 78 (1997), pp. 319-336.
2) As later sources attest, it was performed without tongue articulation; see Greta Moens-Haenen: Vibrato in Baroque Music: A Handbook on Performance Practice for Vocalists and Instrumentalists; Graz 1988, pp. 137, 253ff.
3) Some details of the source descriptions were taken from Bryan White's "List of Sources," included in: Giovanni Battista Draghi, *From Harmony, from heav'nly Harmony, A Song for St. Cecilia's Day*, 1687, London 2010 (Purcell Society Edition, Companion Series, Vol. 3)