Gorgia
Italian vocal ornamentation of the 16th century with coloraturas, trills, and runs.
What it means
Gorgia, Italian from “gorga” for “throat,” denotes the art of ornamentation of Italian singers of the 16th century, who embellished melodies with coloraturas, trills, and quick runs. The name points to the fact that the rapid figures were sung “from the throat.”
Musical use
The gorgia belongs to the diminution practice of the Renaissance: long note values of a melody are dissolved into quick figures. Models were given by teaching works such as Diego Ortiz's Tratado de glosas of 1553, which also contains examples for vocal use. At the end of the 16th century the free gorgia was partly criticised; Giulio Caccini in his Nuove musiche (1601) valued written-out ornaments that served the text.
The gorgia should be distinguished from the later coloratura of opera, which as a virtuoso vocal part is artfully notated, and from the trill as a single ornament. The gorgia means the improvised or rehearsed embellishment of a melody in the throat as a stylistic device.
Performance practice
Practise runs and trills slowly at first, with a relaxed larynx and supported breath, and increase the tempo only when every figure sounds clean and even. Choose ornaments that support the text and the affect of the passage instead of merely displaying virtuosity.