La mauresque sur scène et les contacts musico-teatraux entre l'Italie et la ville de Dubrovnik au XVIe siècle

Abstract

The moresca, and the related forms of weapon dance, either spread in the Mediterranean basin or in several countries of Central and Southern Europe, was a kind of 16-century choreography. Born as a battle between Saracens and Christian knights, this dance inspired different kinds of mimic spectacle that served as a part of comedies and pastoral plays. The article analyses the relationship between the moresca intermingled in the pastorals of Dubrovnik and Siena, both marked by a strong presence of dances, songs and choruses to increase the fantastic and sentimental emphasis of the performances. Both Dubrovnik’s and Italian’s plays were characterized by shepherds, nymphs, and rustic men (the Croatian vlasi, i.e., Walachians or Morlacks), as well as fantastic and comic elements. Like in Sienese dramaturgy, the music in Croatian pastorals supports a narrative function. It serves as a guide through the development of the plot, namely in some pieces by Nikola Naljeskovic and Marin Drzic. At salient points, they insert choruses or mimic scenes in the vein of Sienese moresca. In what is concerned the instruments played to accompany pantomimes or songs, only rarely there are quotations in courtly form. Actually, the terms taken from Slavic folklore prevail, even though the music on stage was played by the consort.