Opera Examples
Euridice
L'Orfeo
Music by Jacopo Peri
Libretto by Rinnuncini
New basso continuo texture
monodic with a functional baseline
'genuinely revolutionary' (Mayer Brown) setting of music to the natural cadence in speech
stile rappresentativo
Music by Claudio Monteverdi
Libretto by Alessandro Striggio
Messenger scene- Scene 2
Presented as a series of monologues
Orpheus goes through 3 stages of grief
'unrelieved and dry' (Mayer Brown)
Shock
Grief
Resolution
Held 'A' in the basso continuo
Reactionary responses from Orpheus to the basso continuo harmony
Bare dissonances (major 7th) between Orpheus and basso continuo on 'sospiro'
'Non piano e non sospiro'
'O mio care'
Orpheus now pre-empts harmonic changes
Increased rate of harmonic change
More chromatic harmonies
'Tosto vedrai'
Increased tempo
increased speed in the melodic line
Messenger scene- Act II
Orpheus initially pre-empts basso continuo harmony
Madrigalian influence
Triplet constructions with word painting e.g. 'sun', 'wind', 'moon'
Recurring melodies when similar emotional content returns
Far more complex use of tonal spheres
Orfeo eventually arrives at the same tonal zone (F major) as the messenger when he has resolved to go and get Euridice
Free dissonance
closely fits affectations of the text
Small instrumental group (continuo)
Large orchestra
Instruments represent characters/places/themes
e.g. Orpheus by purely string instrumentation; trombones and bass gamba represent scenes in the underworld.
Music takes priority
Through composed
Large Palindromic form with biggest aria in the middle
Intermedii influence e.g. dance structures
Emphasised by 'Musica' delivering the prologue as opposed to 'tragedia'. The story itself emphasises the power of music - It is only through Orfeo's playing of the lyre that Orfeo can travel across river Styx in hell; and through Plutone's wife appreciation of his singing that she campaigns for Euridice's release.