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Unit 6 (Ch 21 (General: Early Opera (Opera: Large-Scale Drama that is sung…
Unit 6
Ch 21
General: Early Opera
Opera: Large-Scale Drama that is sung
Involves vocal and instrumental music, poetry, acting, scenery
Recitative- Plot Advanced through speech-like singing
Arias - Are tuneful, emotional songs
Ensemble numbers and choruses - larger groups
Orchestra - provides an overture or sinfonias - opening
Librettist - writes the script of the opera
Opera not meant for realistic depiction, rather, “hyper-reality”
Strong emotions portrayed through music
Early Opera in Italy & Beyond
Early opera an outgrowth of renaissance theatrical traditions
Lavish spectacles
Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607)
By 1642 Public opera houses open in Venice
Widespread entertainment
Not mythology stories about love triangles and historical figures
Example - Monteverdi’s last opera, Coronation of Poppea (1643)
By 1700, Italian Opera popular throughout Europe
Except in France - Had own tradition
Claudio Monteverdi > Solidified early experiments with drama through music into a mature and powerful new genre
Early Opera in England
Early 17th Century Masques
Popular among Aristocracy
Combined vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance
Grief in Early Opera: Dido and Aeneas (LG 11)
Henry Purcell
Various English court posts
Wrote Masques and operas
Assimilated Italian & French styles to English choral singing
First performed at a London’s Girls’ school
Based on part of Virgil’s Aeneid
Last Act > sprightly tune in the style of a hornpipe
Dido's Lament unfolds over a five measure ground bass, a repeated phrase that descends along the chromatic scale
Scotch Snap > a dance form often associated with sailors, and characterized by a reversed dotted figure.
Ch 35
The Requiem: Mass For The Dead
Requiem for the dead
Music for the comfort & spiritual sustenance
Originally for catholic church but found
Mozart’s Death
1791- Died Young -35
On Deathbed working on funeral mass-requiem
His Last large scale composition
He died before finished
Completed by Sussmayr, a student
Myths of poison but not true
Pauper’s Grave
Mozart’s Requiem
Scored for STAB soloist plus chorus and orchestra
Orchestra included more instruments - bassoon & basset horn
Voices and instrument arrangement have dramatic effect
Impact
JFK’s Funeral
9/11 commemoration
Dies Irae
Mozart finished
Day of wrath for the funeral mass (requiem)
Emphasizes power of divine intervention
Choral opening then solo verse and choral finish
Accented in duple meter
Harsh combo of major and minor
Homophonic
8 verses > word painting
Ch 41
The Programmatic Symphony
Romantic program music
Program music - Instrumental music with literary or pictorial association specified by the composer
Different from absolute or pure music - musical patterns designed without meanings
Program music is more artistic
Program music became important during the 19th century when musicians became aware of the connections between their work and the world around them
Hector Berlioz
Born in Southern France
Meant to be a physician but loved music
Fan of Beethoven and Shakespeare
Works draw upon literary influences
Genius Orchestrator
Berlioz & Symphonie Fantastique
Music is intense & bold
Program symphony based on personal life
Form - Thematic Transformation
Idee Fixe (fixed idea)
Recurring musical thread unifying the five movements
Varied throughout by harmony, meter, Timbre, Dynamics, & Register
The Program
5 movements
1 - Reveries, Passions
2 - A Ball
3 - A scene in the fields
4 - March to the Scaffold
5 - Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath
Ch 48
Faure and Late romanticism
Romantic music in France followed several streams
Grand orchestral music and operas
Pianists in salons and concert halls
Art songs (melodie) separate from German lied
Sacred music
Faure Early career grounded in playing and composing music for the catholic church
Gabriel Faure
French
Trained to be a Church musician in Paris
Later director of Paris conservatory
Music critic
French music advocate
Style in restrained
In contrast to German Romanticism
Example: Pavane
Faure’s Requiem
1888- 1st performed for the funeral for an architect
Nonstandard form
Free edited Latin liturgical text
Smaller Chamber Orchestra
7 movements
Sometimes Celestial, Sometimes Funeral
Libera Me
Ch 66
21st Century Programmatic Music
Neo-Romanticism
Embracing aspects of nineteenth - century orchestral sound, including program music
“Modernizing” the 19th century orchestral tradition
Reclaimed 19th century harmonic and melodic language - just new context
Romantic style of the 1800s never really went away, still performed in concert halls
Some composers maintained a commitment to romantics, updating it
Samuel Barber's, Adagio for Strings
Soft sections
Distinguishable between romo and modern - simpler ideas
Harmonic structure is different
Jennifer Higdon
Born in Brooklyn
Studied with George Crumb
Inspired by the Beatles
Neo Romantic
Higdon’s Blues
Written in 2000
Personal grief over death of her brother
Overall
Lyrical - neo romantic
No key center - lots of major triads
Meters shift but mostly 5/4
Metallic Percussion - including chinese reflex Ball
Program music
Tone colors
Biographical elements
LG 11
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Act 3, Opening and Lament
Act 3
Melody > Jaunty, playful tune
Rhythm > Sprightly tempo, in triple meter; use of Scotch-snap dotted figure
Harmony > Major key; with chromatic foreshadowing of Lament
Form > Strophic form, with instruments, solo voice, then chorus
Performing Force > String Orchestra, with solo voice and chorus
Recitative and Lament
Melody > Recitative with half step movement; more lyrical aria
Rhythm/meter > Free recitative; slow aria in triple meter
Harmony > Based on repeated chromatic ground bass
Form > Aria in two sections, each repeated (A-A-B-B), over ground bass.
Performing Forces > Baroque-period instruments with solo voice
LG 25
Mozart: Dies Irae, from Requiem
Melody > Dramatic choral opening, then operatic solo verses; final verse has choral outcry
Rhythm/meter > Forceful, accented duple meter: closing has strong dotted rhythmic idea
Harmony > Alternation between minor (opening and closing) and major; some harsh combinations
Texture > Largely homophonic
Form > set in eight verses, each treated with different performing forces
Expression > Mood shifts from fear (loud, accented) to wonderment to a quiet plea for salvation.
Timbre > Trumpets and timpani prominent; bass voice/trombone duet (verse 3)
Text > Rhythm Latin poem with eight three- like verses; clear text declamation with some word painting
LG 32
Berlioz & Symphonie Fantastique
4 - March to the Scaffold
Melody > Two main march themes (A and B), both strongly accented
Rhythm/meter > Duple meter march
Harmony > Set in minor mode
Form > Sonata like, with two themes introduced, developed then recapped.
Expression > Diabolical mood; sudden dynamic changes, idea of the beloved at the end as a clarinet solo, then a sudden chord (beheading)
Timbre > Prominent timpani; instruments in unusual ranges
LG 39
Faure: Libera me, from Requiem, Op. 48
Melody > Baritone solo is lyrical, wide-ranging; chorus has melody in unison
Rhythm/meter pulsating ostinato accompanies opening and closing; shift to 6/4 meter in the middle (dies irae)
Harmony > D minor; some expressive chromanticism
Texture > Homophonic solo and choral writing
Form > three part A-B-A'
Expression > Sensitive dynamic; serene mood
Text > Roman catholic mass for the dead, office for the Dead, and burial service
Performing force > Baritone solo, STAB chorus, chamber orchestra (brass, strings, harp, timpani, organ).
LG 61
Higdon: Blue cathedral, excerpt
Melody > Languorous, lyrical lines; ascending ideas
Rhythm/Meter > Mostly in 5/4 with a veiled sense of bar lines; some shifting meters.
Harmony > Prominent use of major triads but with no strong sense of key center
Texture > Homophonic, focuses on individual lines and duets
Form > Sectional, with a rondo-like structure
Expression > Transcendent mood; includes several climaxes
Timbre > Juxtaposes instrument families; metallic percussion, solo woodwinds, dark instruments, brass chorales
Performing forces: Large orchestra with many percussion instruments (crotales, celesta, marimba, vibraphone, bell tree, chimes, triangle, tuned glass, Chinese reflex balls).