Dukes and Dragons
5 Part Mini-Series: Music and Weddings in History
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Every couple hopes that their guests will leave their wedding with lasting impressions of how wonderful the day was. From the llamas who came to the reception for a surprise photo shoot, to the interactive food stations, to that 90s’ cover band—you thought of everything to ensure that your family and friends are wowed by the details and fun that you’ve incorporated into your big day. But for Odorado Farnese, son of the Duke of Parma and Margherita de’ Medici, having great food, music, and selfie stations wasn’t enough to make a statement so impressive that neighboring kingdoms couldn’t help but take notice. Complete with fire, flood, mechanical sea monsters, and flying cherubs suspended from the ceiling, the Farnese-Medici wedding celebration at the Farnese Theater really takes the cake (sorry, couldn’t resist!) for opulence and excess.
The Venue
With an eye towards strengthening his political alliance with the Medici family, Ranuccio Farnese, Duke of Parma, had work begin on the Farnese Theater in 1618, directed by architect Giovanni Battista Alcotti. Ranuccio originally planned to have the theater constructed to celebrate the arrival of Cosimo II de’Medici as he traveled through Parma on his way to Milan. However, this trip never materialized, so Ranuccio had to wait ten years to inaugurate his new theater in celebration of his son’s marriage to Margherita de’Medici. The Farnese Theater is nothing short of a statement of power and prestige. It is quite large, with auditorium-style seating for up to 4,500 guests. It featured ornate woodworking, statues poised over a colonnade, and a proscenium arch, which has since become the oldest surviving proscenium arch in Europe. Political leaders throughout history often supported the arts as a way to enhance their public image. The Duke of Parma was no different. Not only could he entertain his own court through concerts and performances held at his new theater and show it off to visiting dignitaries, but he could very well use the space as a bargaining chip to draw top composers and musicians into his service.
Figure 1: Farnese Theater in Parma, looking at the stage from the spectator area. The orchestra space is the long, open u-shaped area that protrudes out from the front of the stage into the spectator area. Image curtesy of https://www.theatre-architecture.eu/en/db/?theatreId=376.
The Farnese Theater still stands today, and you are able to visit it should you find yourself in Parma, Italy. However, the building you’ll see is largely a reconstruction as the theater incurred extensive damage from air raids during World War II.
Music and Spectacle
The Farnese Theater opened for its first performance in December of 1628, as part of the long-awaited wedding festivities for Odorado and Margherita. They were married in October of that same year, and the inaugural performance at the Farnese Theater was meant as an extended wedding celebration of the newlywed’s return to Parma after time abroad. Ranuccio specially commissioned a brand new theatrical production for the occasion, Mercury and Mars. The staged spectacle was less about telling a compelling narrative than it was about displaying ducal family’s wealth and influence through the innovative and state-of-the-art set designs, stage mechanics, and dramatic special effects. In fact, some scholars refer to this production as a royal tournament rather than a play or dramatic production. Fireworks burst from the front of the stage. Water poured into the orchestra (the u-shaped area directly in front of the stage) to create an ocean scene. And before it was flooded, the orchestra was the site of a tournament of forty horsemen competing in a jousting match. Machines moved the wings on either side of the stage to create different perceptions of depth. Actors flew down from the rafters attached to ropes and complex pulley systems and floated on clouds suspended above the earth-bound action on the stage floor. Near the end of the production, Mercury himself sailed down from the heavens and landed deftly on the stage.
In his dissertation on the different court theaters of the Farnese family, John Paul Cobes describes the types of machines that were built for the production of Mercury and Mars. Mechanical sea monsters, as pictured in figure 1, “swam” about in the flooded orchestra, setting the perfect scene for an epic naval battle that included six dolphins mounted by aquatic knights. Other machines include platforms (one of which was in the shape of a star) that moved actors up and down from the stage floor and wing movers for scene changes.
Figure 2: Edward Gordon Craig’s suggested reconstruction of the sea monster machines for the 1698 performance of Mercury and Mars, as found in John Paul Cobes’s dissertation
The extravagance of this production extended beyond the visual. In 1627, the Farnese ducal court was able to secure the services of Claudio Monteverdi, one of, if not the most prestigious composer in early seventeenth century Europe to write the music for Mercury and Mars. Sadly however, the music manuscripts have since been lost. We may never know what the music for this spectacular event sounded like, but we can image that it made a lasting impression on all the people in attendance that day.
It was incredibly costly to stage dramatic productions at the Farnese Theater. Because of this, the space was only used to celebrate significant life events, such as other ducal marriages, or to entertain visiting dignitaries. For the ducal family, building a large theater to showcase some of the most impressive stage mechanics and music of the early seventeenth century was a logical extension of their political prestige and power. For Odorado and Margherita, wedding music was much more than entertainment: it was a critical medium to publicly proclaim their new position and identity as a married couple. We are reminded from their example that music always has a lot to say about the meanings and values of the people who create it and enjoy it.
Your Day
While you may not be a princess or a duke trying to display your wealth and military prowess to intimidate your rivals, you are nevertheless trying to make a statement about your marriage to a large group of people. A wedding is a type of sacred spectacle, often complete with eye-catching costumes (wedding gown, tuxedoes), impressive venues, fine wine and cuisine, all enjoyed by many guests. The soundscape of an event as important as a wedding truly make a statement that differentiates your day from the everyday. Why wouldn’t you choose the music and performers with the same care as you did the venue, the photographer, or the caterer? Music is memorable, music communicates, and music matters. Many of our memories throughout life are accompanied by their own sound bites or soundtracks. Shouldn’t your wedding day, the day you get to marry your best friend, have its own soundtrack, something that no one has ever heard before? So go ahead, invest in the music for your big day. Hire that killer band you love for the reception and the epic 8-piece brass ensemble for your ceremony. Have a new piece of music composed just for you and your new spouse. But maybe pass on the sea dragons.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
References
Carter, Tim and Geoffrey Chew. “Monteverdi, Claudio.” Grove Music Online. 20 January 2001. Accessed 3 February 2021. https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000044352?rskey=KKOkNN.
Cobes, John Paul. “The Court Theatres of the Farnese from 1618 to 1690.” PhD diss., The Ohio State University, 1967.
“Farnese Theatre—Teatro Farnese—Parma.” Bologna Magazine: Your Guide to Culture, History, Cuisine, Travel, and Lifestyle. Accessed 3 February 2021. http://www.bolognamagazine.com/content/farnese-theatre-teatro-farnese-parma.
Redazione. “The Splendor, the Fall and Rebirth: Teatro Farnese in Parma.” 9 December 2014. Accessed 3 February 2021. http://www.fermoeditore.it/en/blog-en/the-splendor-the-fall-and-rebirth-teatro-farnese-in-parma/.
Tidworth, Simon. “Farnese Theater.” In Theatres: An Illustrated History. London: Pall Mall, 1973, 65-68. Accessed 3 February 2021. https://www.theatre-architecture.eu/en/db/?theatreId=376.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————--
Thanks for reading! If you found this helpful, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter where we give you information about wedding music and how to make yours stand out. New subscribers will receive 5% off any of our services.
