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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction......................................................................................................2

Context of the Study.....................................................................................................2

An Historical Background to the Study of Eighteenth-Century Opera...............2

The Development of Recitative.........................................................................12

Concepts of Recitative in Opera........................................................................17

A Distinction between the Notation and Performance Practice of Recitative...25

The Neapolitan Intermezzo and Opera Buffa....................................................29

La Serva Padrona...............................................................................................34

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi...............................................................................37

Giovanni Paisiello.............................................................................................39

Expected Similarities and Differences in their Settings of La Serva Padrona . 42

Aims of the Study.......................................................................................................46

Significance of the Study...................................................................................48

Chapter 2: The Study.......................................................................................................49

Selected Compositional Devices.................................................................................49

Rhythm used in setting the text.........................................................................49

Melody used for setting the text........................................................................50

Harmonies used in setting the text.....................................................................52

Keys used for setting the text............................................................................55

Compositional devices involving any combination of rhythm, melody, harmony

and key...............................................................................................................57

The Analysis...........................................................................................................59

Selected recitative sections for comparison......................................................59

Uberto bemoans Serpina's tardiness: Questa è per me disgrazia..................59

Uberto reveals his feelings for Serpina: Gran fatto!.....................................64

Serpina reveals her agenda: Adunque perch'io son serva.............................69

Uberto decides to act: Di che ride quell'asino?.............................................72

Serpina's emotional blackmail: Insomma delle somme................................74

Uberto decides to take a wife: Sì, fermati, guardami....................................77

Serpina's deception begins: Io crederei.........................................................82

Serpina finds a 'fiancé': Cred'io che sì: fa d'uopo ancor ch'io pensi a' casi

miei...............................................................................................................86

Uberto is concerned about Serpina's fate: Vuol vedere il mio sposo?..........89

Uberto in turmoil: Ah poveretta lei! Per altro penserei................................93

The Dénouement - Serpina becomes Mistress: L'ha detto ... Sì, signore.. .105

Chapter 3: Conclusion...................................................................................................109

Appendix 1: Notes on scores used in the study....................................................116

References ...........................................................................................................118

Sound Recordings................................................................................................125

Page 1 of 125

Chapter 1: Introduction

Context of the Study

An Historical Background to the Study of Eighteenth-Century Opera

In the context of Western music,1 there are works2 in which text and music

are synergetically combined. The combination produces a different form of

communication from that possible through either medium alone. Music works involving

this combination of text and music can be for a solo voice or for an ensemble of voices,

either accompanied by instruments or unaccompanied. The works include songs,

recitatives, arias, and choral pieces.

A synergetic combination of music with text can be used to clarify, amplify

or modify the drama inherent in the text.3 This practice has its origins in Classical Greek

culture, in particular, the performances of the choral dancers in Greek Tragedy. In this

genre, a dichotomy between Apollonian and Dionysian ideals was expressed. The term

Dionysian is derived from Dionysos, the Greek god of wine, drama, and ecstasy. By

contrast, the term Apollonian is derived from Apollo, the Greek sun-god associated with

poetry and music. Smith (2011, p. 12-13) states that the term Dionysian "carries

connotations of chaos, intoxication, lack of self-control, and extremes of experience and

expression, both physical and emotional." By contrast, he notes that the term Apollonian

"carries connotations of order, sobriety, discipline, and rational behaviour." This is a

common understanding of the two ideals within the drama.

Late Medieval thought was strongly influenced by Classical Greek culture,

especially following the rediscovery in 1416 of the writings of the Roman rhetorician

Quintilianus (c 35 - c 100 BC). In his treatise Institutio Oratoria, Quintilianus codified

1 For the purposes of this study 'Western' music is defined as music commonly understood by

musicians, music historians and university academics to be written in the tradition that originated with

European music of the Middle Ages and passed through the Renaissance, Baroque, Classic, and

Romantic styles.

2 For the purposes of this study, a music 'work' is a document comprising any system representing

aurally perceived music through the use of written symbols.

3 For the purposes of this study, 'drama' is defined as a sequence of events and/or human emotions,

communicated through words and/or actions, intended to be portrayed by actors in a staged

performance.

Page 2 of 125

Greek thought in relation to rhetoric, also known as “oratory”. Classical Greek and

Roman thought was a fundamental underpinning of Renaissance culture. As a result,

rhetoric was a significant element of educated discourse in the Renaissance.

During the Renaissance, the Apollonian ideal was manifest in the visual arts

and in architecture through concepts such as beauty, balance, order and permanence.

Many of these ideals are exemplified in the works of the painter Raffaello Sanzio da

Urbino (1483-1520).

A concept related to the Apollonian ideal (that was adopted from Classical

Greek culture) was that the universe is governed by unchanging mathematical

proportions. This concept has its roots in the writings of Pythagoras (570-495 BC), a

Greek philosopher and mathematician. Using the monochord - a device consisting of a

single string stretched tightly between a nut and a moveable bridge - Pythagoras

demonstrated that musical intervals thought to please the ear were determined by whole

number proportions. These intervals were the octave, the 5th and the 4th. They were

made by moving the bridge into positions of whole number ratios. The octave was made

by halving the original distance between the nut and bridge, that is using the ratio 1:2.

The 5th was made by moving the bridge into a position where the the ratio to the

original distance was 2:3, and the 4th by moving it to a position where the ratio was

3:4.4 Pythagoras and his followers believed that the distances between the planets, moon

and stars would have the same ratios as those which produced intervals in plucked

strings. They believed that the solar system consisted of a number of revolving

concentric spheres, on whose surfaces the planets, moon and stars were embedded. The

movement of the spheres would generate sound, and since the distances between them

corresponded to the ratios determined with the monochord, the sound would be a

pleasing harmony. Pythagorus termed this imaginary sound "the music of the spheres"

(Haar 2010, p.1).

During the Renaissance, an intricate polyphonic compositional style, linked

4 Pythagoras sought to demonstrate that intervals between notes in the music scale could be created out

of the simplest whole-number ratios. His method of creating a 12-tone scale involved stacking 5ths,

lowered by an octave where necessary. However, when the octave note was calculated as a perfect

fifth above the sixth tone, the resultant note was higher than the note produced when the original

distance between the bridges was halved. This discrepancy was noticed during the Renaissance, and it

helped to sow seeds of doubt about the validity of the perfectly ordered and predictable universe.

Page 3 of 125

with clearly defined rules emerged.5 Compositional application of the rules aimed to

produce the sense of balance and order which was favoured in Classical Greek culture.6

The compositional styles of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) and Tomas

Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) are regarded by many musicologists as the pinnacle of the

sixteenth-century polyphonic style.7 There was no codification during the Renaissance

of the compositional rules of the mature polyphonic compositional style, as exemplified

by the works of Palestrina.8 Apart from the inherent emotional impact of the words

themselves, emotional intensity in the works of Palestrina and Victoria could be the

result of compositional processes. Elements such as, for example, dissonance and word

painting intensified the emotional intensity. However, by the time these composers were

writing, the polyphonic style had become very intricate. Notwithstanding the Council of

Trent's edict that the words in sung masses should be clearly understood by the

congregation, there was a concern that it had become difficult to distinguish one word

from another.9

During the Renaissance, the revival of interest in Classical Greek and

Roman culture became manifest in a movement named 'humanism'. Followers of this

movement studied newly rediscovered ancient treatises on grammar, rhetoric, poetry,

history and moral philosophy.10 Included in the rediscoveries were works of early

theorists who examined notions of the association between emotion and word. The

treatises were written by theorists ranging from the ancient Greek period up until the

Medieval era. At the same time, there occurred the rediscovery and study of ancient

5 In 1558, Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-90), an Italian music theorist and composer, published a treatise on

composition titled Le Istitutioni Harmoniche. This treatise contained numerous rules, for example on

the placement and resolution of dissonance.

6 Works such as Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli (1567) are characterised by a preponderance of

consonance on strong beats and independent rhythms of the text in the voice parts.

7 Grout and Palisca (2001) state that Palestrina captured better than any other composer the essence of

the sober, conservative aspect of the Counter-Reformation (Grout and Palisca, 2001, p. 236).

8 Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741) codified the compositional rules of the mature sixteenth-century

vocal style in his treatise Gradus ad Parnassum in 1725.

9 The Council of Trent, a council of the Roman Catholic Church which convened between 1545 and

1563, decreed that the words in sung masses should be clearly heard. In keeping with this decree

Palestrina, for example, wrote works such as the Missa Brevis (1570) and the Missa Papae Marcelli (1567), which by comparison to the uniformly contrapuntal Missa ad Fugam (1567), had more

homorhythmic voice parts, with the result that the text was more intelligible (Lockwood, 2011).

10 Haar (2010) defines 'humanism' as the study of the linguistic and rhetorical traditions of classical

antiquity (Haar, 2010, p.1).

Page 4 of 125

Classical Greek treatises on music.11 Quintilianus posited that music should be included

in the training of an orator because of its power to move the emotions in the listener. He

wrote: "Give me the knowledge of the principles of music, which have the power to

excite or assuage the emotions of mankind" (cited in Weiss and Taruskin, 2008, p. 12).

Weiss and Taruskin (2008, p. 10) maintain that late Renaissance humanists

were strongly influenced by the concept of the "musicalization" of speech in the service

of rhetoric, as advocated by Quintilianus. Adherents to the humanist movement began

to express concern that contemporaneous music was not able to move the emotions of

the listener in the way that the ancient music was said to have done. An influential

priest, Bernardino Cirillo, wrote in 1549:

You know how much music was valued among those good ancients as the finest of the fine arts.

With it they worked great effects that today we do not, either with rhetoric or oratory, in

controlling the passions and affections of the soul (Manuzio, 1564).

There were exceptions to Cirillo's observation, as noted by the Venetian

musician Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590). He stated that one composer, Adrian Willaert

(1490-1562), had achieved a level of emotional expression in music to parallel that of

the music of Classical Greek culture.12 Notwithstanding this, there was a concern

towards the end of the sixteenth century that the music had taken precedence over the

word. When text was set to music, natural speech rhythms and inflections were not

followed, but rather the words tended to be subjugated to the music's compositional

conventions and rules.

Wilson (2009, p. 2) notes that beginning in the Renaissance, composers had in

both secular and sacred music used various musical-rhetorical means to illustrate or

emphasize words and ideas in the text. An example is the use of long-held block chords

on important words in the works of fifteenth-century composers like Guillaume Du Fay

(ca. 1397-1474).13 A further example of the change in attitude to the text is found in the

11 An example was De Institutione Musica, written in the 6th century by Anicius Manlius Severinus

Boethius (ca. 480-524). This work drew heavily on the music treatises of the earlier scholars: Claudius

Ptolemy, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Aristoxenus. Other Classical Greek musical treatises which became

available included those of Bacchius Senior, Aristides Quintilianus, Claudius Ptolemy, Cleonides and

Euclid.

12 Zarlino's book Le Istitutioni Harmoniche of 1558 included an entire chapter on how to express and set

the words of a text to music expressively and faithfully.

13 In Du Fay's ballade Resveillies Vous et Faites Chiere, long duration block chords are heard on the

words: Charle gentil. This acclamation, meaning 'kind Carlo', refers to Carlo Malatesta.

Page 5 of 125

work of Nicola Vicentino (1511-1576), an Italian music theorist and composer. He is the

first to describe the level of volume as an expressive parameter. In his treatise published

in 1555 entitled L'Antica Musica Ridotta alla Moderna Prattica, he stated that

"gradation in the volume of singing should vary in careful correspondence to the

meaning of the text being sung" (cited in Wilson 2009, p. 4).

In a parallel change in thinking regarding the combination of text and music,

sixteenth-century German writers, aligned with the teachings of Martin Luther (1483-

1546), developed the concept of musica poetica. Music composed in Germany at that

time was primarily vocal music, and given the late Renaissance consciousness of

rhetoric, it was not surprising that theorists would draw analogies between the

composition of music and the composition of oratory or poetry. Bartel (1997, p. 22)

notes that musica poetica was "essentially vocal music in which the composer presented

the text in a musical oration". Luther held that "just as the spoken word is understood

intellectually, it is affectively perceived through song" (cited in Bartel 1997, p. 8).

Joachim Burmeister (1564-1629), a German music theorist, described musica poetica

as: "that discipline of music which teaches how to compose a musical composition ... in

order to sway the hearts and spirits of individuals into various dispositions" (Burmeister,

1606). Bartel (1997) provides a compendium of musical-rhetorical figures in German

Baroque music. He draws on treatises and other published works of fifteen music

theorists of the period, including Joachim Burmeister, Johann Mattheson and Johann

Nikolaus Forkel. He categorises the figures into seven groups. The category most

relevant to this study is "Figures of Representation and Depiction" (Bartel, 1997 p. 445).

These figures are small units of melody, rhythm or harmony (or any combination of

these) which heighten the meaning of the text. The scene was set for the emergence of

thinking that further explored notions of the association between word, music and

drama.

From the beginning of the fifteenth century, veneration of classical antiquity

had been a cultural trend among the citizens of the city of Florence. This trend of

increasing alliance with classical antiquity continued throughout the fifteenth and

sixteenth centuries. This city state was unique in Renaissance Italy in that almost the

Page 6 of 125

entire populace participated in cultural pursuits.14 In the late sixteenth century, a group

of Tuscan poets and composers, convinced that the Greek tragedies were sung in their

entirety, developed the concept of novel dramatic works which were to be completely

sung. Giulio Caccini (1551-1618) later referred to the group who initiated this

movement as the Florentine Camerata.

Girolamo Mei (1519-1594), a scholar, and Vicencenzo Galilei (c.1520-

1591), a musician and music theorist, were members of the Florentine Camerata.

Beginning in 1572, they corresponded frequently in letters regarding Classical Greek

and Roman concepts and uses of music. Mei suggested to the Camerata that the Greeks

obtained powerful emotional meaning in their tragedies by the use of a single melody in

contrast to polyphony. In a letter to Galilei, Mei argued:

Modern practice produces an overly complex texture, a myriad of musical lines whose individual

affects end up working at cross purposes. They nullify each other, so that the end result is no

affect at all (Palisca 1980, xii, pp. 67-8).

Galilei, in his treatise of 1581 entitled Dialogo della Musica Antica et della

Moderna, also attacked the theory and practice of vocal counterpoint. He argued that

only a single line of melody, with pitches and rhythms appropriate to the text could

express a given line of poetry.15 Referring to the rules of counterpoint, Galilei stated:

There is no one who does not consider these rules excellent for the mere delight the ear takes in

the variety of the harmonies, but for the expression of conceptions they are pestilent, being fit for

nothing but to make the concentus varied and full, and this is not always, indeed is never suited

to express any conception of the poet or the orator (Katz and Dalhaus 1989, p 64).

The Florentine Camerata's ethos became the imperative that communicating

the meaning of the text should have higher priority than adhering to the rules and

conventions of music composition of the time. Their belief was that the function of

music was to amplify and/or modify the dramatic impact of words. Rhythm and

accentuation in the music were to follow that of speech. Dissonance could be used more

freely to heighten the emotion implied in the text. In contrast to polyphony, a

14 In other Italian city states, such as Milan, Ferrara and Mantua, participation in cultural matters was

confined to the ducal courts. Florentines had begun to consider themselves as citizens of “new Athens

on the Arno” (Kimbell 1991, p. 2).

15 The term “monody” is now used to describe all styles of solo singing practised in the early years of

the seventeenth century, including arias, recitative and madrigals (Grout and Palisca 2001, p. 265).

Page 7 of 125

predominant effect of text-driven music was dissonance. The Camerata sought to

establish the ascendancy of their concept of a synergetic combination of text, music and

drama. Donington (1978, p. 20) states that their ideal became "a continuously unfolding

drama all in music (drama tutto per musica) of which the poetical structure follows the

poetry as flexibly and as faithfully as possible".16 Jacopo Peri, a member of the

Florentine Camerata, wrote the first music work intended to be a vehicle for their ideal.

This work, Dafne, first performed in 1597, is considered to be the first opera. Within the

work, Peri used a method of setting dialogue to music that lay between speech and song.

This became known as the stile recitativo or the recitative style.

The sixteenth-century polyphonic style exemplified by Palestrina coexisted

for some time with monody during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Claudio

Monteverdi (1567-1643) coined the terms prima pratica and seconda pratica to

distinguish between the two styles of combining words and music. Prima pratica, also

referred to as stile antico, occurred where the music took precedence over the text. It

referred to the style of vocal polyphony codified by Zarlino in his treatise: Le Istitutioni

Harmoniche. Donington (1981, p. 41), noting the comparatively unstructured texture of

monody in comparison to polyphony, states: "monody is melody flexible enough to

combine dramatic action with musical expression". Seconda pratica became

established as an effective style for the combination of text, music and drama.

To create a drama tutto per musica or opera, a libretto,17 that is, a text

conducive to a dramatic musical setting, is required. Sources for libretti include

traditional stories and new stories. One source of traditional stories was the Commedia

dell'arte dell'improvvisazione. This term refers to a professional form of theatre

involving improvisation, which developed in Italy in the fifteenth century. The stock

characters and plots on which Commedia dell'arte performances were based were one

source for opera libretti. Jacopo Angello Nelli (1673-1767) wrote a play entitled La

Serva Padrona, based on Commedia dell'arte traditions. The play was published in

1731. Gennaro Antonio Federico (1726-1743) wrote a libretto for a staged musical work

16 Seeger (1958) stated that the humanist milieu in which seconda pratica arose was a general

Renaissance view that present efforts could equal and perhaps surpass classical achievements (cited in

Haynes, 2007).

17 The word "libretto" has been adopted into English. It comes from the Italian word meaning a small

book.

Page 8 of 125

based on Nelli's play.

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) set Federico's libretto: La Serva

Padrona as two intermezzi18 to be performed between acts of his opera seria: Il

Prigonier Superbo. The first performance was in 1733 at the San Bartolomeo theatre in

Naples. Forty-eight years later in 1781 Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816) set Federico's

libretto as two intermezzi with the same title: La Serva Padrona. At the time he was

employed in Saint Petersburg by Queen Catherine the Great as the musical director of a

small Italian opera company within her court. The work was first performed before a

court audience in 1781.

Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona enjoyed spectacular success throughout

Europe in the eighteenth century. In the first ten years after its premiere there were at

least twenty-four new productions at places that included Rome, Spoleto, Parma, Milan,

Fermo, Graz, Lucca, Venice, Munich, Dresden, Modena, Siena and Hamburg (Hucke

and Monson, 2007). When the work was presented in Paris in 1752 by a troupe of

travelling Italian singers, it polarised the audience. The style was thought by some to be

inferior to French tragédie lyrique genre. The resultant public war of words, referred to

as the querelle des bouffons, sowed the seed for development of a new French genre -

opéra comique - based on the Italian comic style. The work therefore had a profound

and long-lasting impact on French opera.

It is possible to advance a number of reasons for the success of Pergolesi's

La Serva Padrona. These could fall into the categories of characteristics of the music

and historical factors. Grout and Palisca (2001, p. 425) suggest that on the basis of the

writings of prominent critics of the period, audiences in the mid- and later eighteenth

century wanted music to be "natural". This is defined as "free of needless technical

complications and capable of immediately pleasing any sensitive listener". This attribute

of naturalness is in contrast to the perception of harmonic complexity, virtuosity, and

abstract grandeur of much of seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century music. Grout

and Palisca (ibid) maintain that the new "natural" style was typified by Pergolesi's La

Serva Padrona. Authors including Lazarevich (1971) and Troy (1979) suggest that the

18 During the second half of the seventeenth century, humorous elements were gradually removed from

opere serie and were placed exclusively in light-hearted interludes between the acts of the serious

works. These interludes eventually became known as intermezzi.

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work is the epitome of the Neapolitan Intermezzo - a music comedy genre characterised

by characters drawn from everyday life, accessible plots based on the Commedia

dell'arte and a freer, simpler musical style which facilitated the dramatic presentation of

comedy. Pergolesi's work had a number of stylistic features such as continuance of the

dramatic action in arias and duets, that anticipated those of the opera buffa genre.

Historical reasons for the work's success included the widespread dissemination of

intermezzi from Italy throughout Europe in the early eighteenth century, owing to

travelling troupes of Italian singers.

Paisiello clearly revered Pergolesi's work and had knowledge of its

widespread success. Scoccimarro (2010) refers to the following text from a letter to

Queen Catherine II, written in Paisiello's hand. It is included in the manuscript of his La

Serva Padrona held in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Musiksammlung in

Vienna:

L´intermezzo intitolato La Serva Padrona, che ho l´onore di presentare a vostra Maestà

Imperiale, è stato messo in musica più di 36 (o 40) anni fa dal famoso Pergolesi. La reputazione

di cui la musica di questo maestro gode in tutta Europa è la ragione per cui nessuno fino ad oggi

ne abbia composto di nuova sulle stesse parole, sia per rispetto per la memoria, sia per evitare il

pericolo del confronto, o per non incorrere nell´accusa di temerarietà da parte del pubblico.

[The intermezzo entitled La Serva Padrona, which I have the honour to present to your Imperial

Majesty, was set to music more than 36 (or 40) years ago by the famous Pergolesi. The

reputation which this maestro's music enjoys throughout Europe is the reason why no one until

today has composed a new work using the same text, be this out of respect for his memory, or to

avoid the risk of comparison, or so as not to incur the public's accusation of foolhardiness.]19

The letter suggests that Paisiello was well acquainted with Pergolesi's work. It might

also be inferred that he was aware of the risk of his own work being negatively

compared, but that he had enough confidence in its quality to take this risk.

Acknowledging the Florentine Camerata's ethos of an elaboration of the

drama entirely through music, it is pertinent to consider how drama, as defined, is

manifest. For the purposes of this study, the elements comprising the manifestation of

19 Two other Italian composers had set Federico's libretto: Girolamo Abos (1715-1760) and Pietro

Alessandro Guglielmi (1728-1804). These works, for which there are no surviving manuscripts or

editions, were first performed in Naples in 1744 and 1780 respectively. Paisiello appears to be

unaware of them.

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drama are: impulse, internal psychological and emotional phenomena in the characters,

and the human and societal context in which the ritual of performance occurs. "Impulse"

includes the unfolding, pacing, increase and decrease of tension and sense of forward

movement of the action, both physical and psychological. "Human and societal context"

refers to behaviours that were expected and acceptable within the social milieu of the

period, and the "ritual of performance" refers not only to what is being done in the

performance, but also to what its effect is on the audience. The latter consideration

encompasses the likely responses of the intended audience for the performance, and the

appropriate manner in which to communicate with such an audience.

Referring to Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Kerman (1956, p.108) maintains

that the drama in the work is the creation of the composer, rather than the playwright or

the librettist.20 He makes a point which is pertinent to this study, namely that the

composer can create drama that the librettist neither intended nor expected. Tomlinson

(1982), suggests that when composers of vocal music use a text written by another, they

have a certain autonomy in how they express their message, although the message is not

entirely their own. He states that the composer "welcomes to his work a second, distinct

language, one which corresponds to his own at most only partially in syntax and

significance". Downes (1961) states that throughout the eighteenth century many

compositional devices were used in recitative to create or modify the drama in the text.

In the context of this study, the "message" that the composers are aiming to express

refers to selected manifestations of drama within recitatives.

The existence of two settings of the same libretto by two eighteenth-century

Italian composers - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and Giovanni Paisiello - raises a number

of questions. (For example: How did each composer employ recitative to maintain a

nexus between musical continuity and the evolution of the drama? Did the composers

create different dramatic works as a result of the way in which they superimposed music

on the text?) Through a comparative analysis of the compositional devices in recitative

in the scores, this study will address the question: Do settings by different composers of

the same text portray distinct characters and emotional messages? It should be stated at

the outset that the comparative analysis will focus on a detailed examination of how the

20 Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838) wrote the libretto, based on a play by Pierre Augustin Caron de

Beaumarchais (1732-1799).

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composers have created drama in the written scores of recitative. However, the study

will take into account the likely stylistic differences between the composers' works,

based on the historical context, and how these may impact on the perceptions of the

creation of drama. Attention will also be given to the possible influences of performance

practice on the creation of drama.

The Development of Recitative

Recitative represents a manifestation of the Florentine Camerata's ideal of a

dramma tutto per musica. Arising from the Camerata's ideal, recitative started as a

novel way of expressing the drama in a text through the superimposition of music. In

the foreword to his opera Euridice, Jacopo Peri (1651-1633) stated that in his judgment

the ancient Greeks and Romans used in their sung tragedies "a harmony surpassing that

of ordinary speech but falling so far below the melody of song as to take an

intermediate form" (Peri, 1601). He indicated that the structure of his stile

rappresentativo involved using the bass to indicate harmonies which corresponded with

consonant notes on significant words in the text.21 Intermediate between these

consonances, he allowed words to be placed on dissonant notes.

Claudio Monteverdi developed Peri's concept considerably. He pioneered

the use of many compositional devices which were to become standard components of

composers' armamentarium for recitative setting. Tomlinson (1981 and 1982) provides

detailed analyses of compositional devices in the settings of verse in a selection of

Monteverdi's works. He refers to Monteverdi's use of "madrigalisms", meaning

rhythmic and melodic compositional devices that depict particularly vivid words and

images. For example, in the Lamento from his 1608 opera Arianna, Monteverdi used

chromaticism, tritone and seventh leaps and melodic contours to convey the character's

distraught emotions.

During the seventeenth century, opera increased in importance as a musical

genre. Hausswald (1974, p.18) maintains that the most important unifying element in

music in this period was the basso continuo, also termed figured bass. Referring to the

six continuo madrigals in Monteverdi's Book V, Buelow (2004) suggests that the use of

21 Stile rappresentativo is equivalent to the later term stile recitativo.

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basso continuo allowed the composer to fundamentally change his style.

It [basso continuo] freed him in terms of harmonic texture and enabled him to write long,

lyrically phrased melodic lines for one or more voices that need not be supported harmonically

through imitation or part writing in other voices (Buelow 2004, p. 67).

An advantage of this for Monteverdi's work was that continuo support of a solo voice

facilitated the nexus between music and dramatic action. It allowed the creation of

distinct characters and the simulation of characters responding to each other in a

rhetorical manner.

Hausswald (1974, p. 18) observes that the new style that developed after

1600 "consisted of the speech melody of the voice part, now subject to the rhetorical

theory of affections, and the bass part, which in the light of the growing consciousness

of harmony became thickened into chords, signified by figured bass". Polyphony was

replaced by melody, bass line and figured bass inner parts. Referring to stile recitativo

in early forms of comic opera, Hausswald states: "figured bass provided a concise

support for the quick-moving and gossipy dialogues which ... followed each other in

rapid succession"(ibid). He maintains that by the eighteenth century, the fusion of

speech-rhythm, rhetorical theory of affections and figured bass had become established

bases of music composition.

The major development of recitative occurred during the seventeenth

century (Glixon 1985, p.115). Gradually, recitative became the vehicle for plot

development, individual character revelation, and dialogue between characters. Arias

functioned in the main as a pause in the psychological and physical action, to amplify

and elaborate issues that had arisen in the recitative. Glixon posits that composers

increasingly used a stock armamentarium of compositional devices to express situations

and themes in the libretto.

Troy (1979, p. 27) suggests that between 1680 and 1700 a change occurred

in the recitative style of serious operas. The recitatives became more 'realistic', that is,

closer to animated conversation. They used less complicated rhythms, a slower

harmonic rhythm, and more repeated notes. The vocal line was set syllabically, in

quavers for the most part, moving mainly in a stepwise fashion. He notes that the style

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of the scene buffe recitatives of this period was similar.22 He posits that a comprehensive

study of recitatives in scene buffe from this period might show that the traditional lively

exchanges and animated dialogue of their comic characters led to the development of

more realistic declamation in recitativo semplice.

Buelow (2004, p. 461) counters Troy's statement to some extent. He

observes that towards the end of the seventeenth century changes in Venetian opera

were the result of opening the theatres up to a broader cross section of the populace. As

a result of the popularisation of opera among social classes who had not been part of the

traditional opera audience, there was a demand for virtuosic performance by singers in

the arias, as well as increasingly theatrical presentation involving, for example, complex

mechanical staging devices and extravagant costumes. Pauly (1948, p. 225) states that

the ordinary Venetian citizens who watched performances from the floor of the house

tended to be noisy and outspoken in their opinions of what was happening on the stage,

regarding the latter as "just another carnival entertainment".

Benedetto Marcello's literary work Il Teatro alla Moda, (reproduced in two

parts in The Musical Quarterly in 1948), provides a cynical account of Italian opera,

especially in Venice, in the early eighteenth century.23 The subtitle of the work is:

A sure and easy method to compose well and to produce Italian operas in the modern fashion.

Containing useful and necessary instructions for librettists, composers, for singers of either sex,

for impresarios, orchestra musicians, theatrical engineers, and painters of scenery, for those

playing comic parts, for theater tailors, pages, extras, prompters, copyists, for patrons and

mothers of female singers [virtuose], and for other persons connected with the theater (Pauly

1948 Part I, p. 371).

Some salient quotes from the work will serve to illustrate the decadent state of opera at

the time. Instructions for the librettist:

He should write the whole opera without any preconceived plan but rather proceed verse by

verse. For if the audience never understands the plot their attentiveness to the very end of the

opera will be ensured (ibid p. 373).

22 Scene buffe were comic scenes performed betwen the acts of serious operas. Initially they contained

minor characters from the parent opera, who acted out comic subplots.

23 The work was first published as a small pamphlet in Venice in about 1720. From 1733 onwards, there

were several subsequent editions and translations. Reference in this study is to the reproduction

published in 1948 in The Musical Quarterly, translated and edited by R. G. Pauly.

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The aria must in no way be related to the preceding recitative but it should be full of such things

as sweet little butterflies, bouquets, nightingales, quails, little boats, little huts, jasmine, violets,

copper basins, little pots, tigers, lions, whales, crabs, turkeys, cold capon, etc (ibid, p. 377).

Instructions for composers:

Every modern composer should drop an occasional remark that he wites in a rather popular style

and violates the rules frequently only in order to satisfy his audience. He will thus blame the

taste of the listeners who, it is true, sometimes like bad music because that is what is performed

and because they are not given a taste of better compositions (ibid, p. 384).

Instructions for singers:

To become a virtuoso a singer need not be able to read or write, or to pronounce correctly vowels

and diphthongs, nor does he have to understand the text. He must be an expert, however, at

disregarding sense and at mixing up letters and syllables in order to show off flashy passages,

trills, appoggiaturas, endless cadenzas, etc (ibid, p. 388).

The modern Virtuosa should sing cadenzas that last for an hour each, and stop frequently to take

a breath. She should always try to sing the highest notes, which are beyond her range, and during

every trill she must turn and twist her neck (ibid, p. 399).

Instructions for impresarios:

He will quietly put up with any impertinences of the virtuosi, remembering that in their

capacities as princes, kings, and emperors they have great authority and dignity and could easily

take revenge on him by singing out of tune or leaving out arias (Pauly 1948 Part II, p. 87).

Some conclusions which could be drawn from the foregoing quotes include

that the unruly and often inattentive audiences had enormous power in determining the

form, structure and performance practice of opera. As a result of the focus on the

virtuosic performance of arias, there developed increasing separation between recitative

and aria. This separation was one reason for the disjunct between dramatic action and

musical continuity which came to be deplored during the early eighteenth century.

Opera productions had became focussed on satisfying the audiences' desire for sensation

and gaudiness sacrificing, as a result, any concern for maintaining a synergetic

relationship between music and dramatic continuity.

Kerman (1956, p.46) suggests: "Between the time of Monteverdi and that of

Gluck, recitative erupted and decayed, while the aria developed, over-developed, and

finally realized itself." Kerman describes Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) as a

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product of the large Italian tradition of opera seria. This genre flourished in Naples,

Venice, Vienna and London from the early eighteenth century to about the year 1770.

Some of its best known earlier composers are Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725), Johann

Adolf Hasse (1699-1783), and George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). Gluck sought to

reform what he saw as the unnatural excesses of opera seria. These excesses included

da capo arias whose main function was to allow the singers to show off their virtuosity,

and the stultifying contrast between arias and long tracts of formulaic recitative.

Referring to earlier opere serie, Kerman (1956, p. 62) states:

The composers simply concentrated their attention on a series of "aria situations"; they were not

concerned with the necessary intricacy of the plot, for all the details were handled by means of

discussions, destined to be set in neutral, devitalised, secco recitative. No longer the emotional

carrier, recitative became simply a conventional manner of speech.

Against this background, Gluck strove to return opera to its function of

serving the poetry through continuous musical expression of its emotions and situations.

Kerman suggests that Gluck incorporated recitative into the dramatic impetus of arias

and ensembles. This is exemplified in Orfeo's strophic aria Chiamo il mio ben, in which

each verse is prededed by an expressive recitativo accompagnato. Kerman (1956, p. 71)

suggests that Gluck's work represents one successful solution to the central problem of

opera dramaturgy, namely the synergetic relationship between dramatic action and

musical continuity. A second solution, occurring contemporaneously in the eighteenth

century, occurred in the development of independent intermezzi and opera buffa.24

Downes (1961) describes some differences in style in recitativo semplice of

late Baroque opere serie compared with that of early Classic period works.25 He

provides examples from relevant scores of several of the compositional devices used in

these opere serie. A more vivid emotional content was created through melismatic

emphasis and the use of a larger variety of harmonies to depict strong emotion. The

latter practice changed in general towards the use of more straightforward harmonic

progressions in the Classic period. Downes is of the opinion that this change was not an

indication of composers' laziness or that recitative was of less importance and therefore

24 Gradually scene buffe characters became unrelated to the parent serious opera. The interludes were

then known as intermezzi. A further development was that intermezzi were performed independently.

25 For the purposes of this study, the time period for this comparison is from about 1730 to 1750.

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required less complexity. Rather, he suggests, it was a matter of the aesthetic preference

of the period (ibid, p. 68). He further states that the note lengths are longer in the scores

of opere serie and that there is more variation in rhythm and a greater use of dotted

rhythms. A further stylistic feature of opera seria recitative was the simultaneous

performance by two or more characters of identical text with identical rhythm. Downes

surmises that in general recitativo semplice in early Classical operatic works was closer

to natural speech and less stylized. In this way, it paralleled the 'naturalness' of recitative

in intermezzi and opere buffe, which was noted above.

Concepts of Recitative in Opera

Kerman (1956, p. 8) makes a comparison between poetic drama and

dramma per musica. He notes: "in each form, drama is articulated on its most serious

level by an imaginative medium, poetry in the one case, music in the other". He

maintains: "The function of dramatic poetry is to supply certain kinds of meaning to the

drama, meanings that enrich immeasurably, and enrich dramatically, and that cannot be

presented in any other way". Referring to the placement of persons in a play into

physical and psychological relationships, he notes: "The particular aspect or weight of

such relationships, of events and episodes, is determined by the quality of the verse; and

in the largest sense the dramatic form is articulated by the poetry in conjunction with the

plot structure". He states that the same can be said of music. Music, like poetry becomes

"a vital element of the action". As noted earlier, he puts forward that the central problem

of opera dramaturgy is how the synergetic relationship between dramatic action and

musical continuity is achieved. As background to this study, it is relevant to consider the

contribution of recitative to this relationship.

The 1986 New Harvard Dictionary of Music entry on 'Recitative' begins:

Recitative [Fr. recitative; Ger. Rezitativ; It. Sp. recitativo]: A style of text setting that imitates

and emphasizes the natural inflections, rhythms, and syntax of speech. Such a setting avoids

extremes of pitch and intensity and repetition of words, allowing the music to be primarily a

vehicle for the words. The term recitative is used most often in connection with dramatic music

—opera, oratorio, and cantata but this type of text setting is far more widespread historically and

geographically than are these genres.

Recitative became a particular concern of composers from the beginning of the 17th century

Page 17 of 125

onward [see also Monody, Baroque]. Peri, Caccini, Cavalieri, Gagliano and Monteverdi all

proclaimed a new style of declamation that is variously referred to as stile rappresentativo and

stile recitativo. In the first half of the 17th century, recitative was valued for its expressivity in

the sense that the music supported and emphasised the text rather than obscuring it.

After a brief description of the incorporation of the recitative style into

German, French and English music of the seventeenth century, the entry goes on to say:

By the end of the 17th century in Italy, perhaps in response to longer libretti with more involved

and complicated plots, a simpler and more perfunctory style of setting text evolved, recitativo

semplice. The sparse texture and slow harmonic rhythm of the accompaniment, played by

continuo instruments only allowed for the clear and rapid presentation of a large amount of text.

Two functions of recitative at this time may be distinguished: dramatic and musical. The

dramatic function was expository or narrative, advancing the action. The musical function was

one of modulation, creating a transition between one aria or ensemble and the next [see Aria].

The term recitativo secco, now used interchangeably with recitativo semplice, came into use in

the 19th century, after that style of recitative was no longer being composed.

By contrast, the entry in Grove Music Online (Monson et al, accessed 2012)

provides a more comprehensive description, refuting a number of the assertions in the

Harvard Dictionary entry. It refers to typical traits of early recitative which had been

influenced by the Florentine Camerata's ideals. These included a lack of repetition of

text, a correspondence of the rate of harmonic change with the affect of the text, an

overall slow harmonic rhythm over a fairly static bass line (giving an effect of

declamatory freedom), dramatic accents being reinforced by harmonic change, and

particularly affective phrases or words being highlighted by strong dissonance.

The Harvard Dictionary description of the change from expressive text

setting, exemplified by Monteverdi, to what it describes as "the perfunctory style of

recitativo semplice" by the end of the seventeenth century seems an inaccurate

oversimplification. The Grove Music Online entry suggests that by the late seventeenth

century recitative involved an armamentarium of compositional conventions that were

more-or-less routinely applied. Although there were certainly critics of recitative of this

period, such as Ludovico Antonio Muratori, the Grove entry notes that within these

compositional conventions a number of composers were able to closely tailor recitative

to create their interpretation of the drama. It further states that by the eighteenth century

recitative had become the principal vehicle for both dialogue and dramatic action in

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opera. The Harvard Dictionary's statements that the style was "perfunctory" and that it

avoided repetition and extreme melodic leaps are inaccurate generalisations, as will be

shown in the recitative excerpts used in this study. Furthermore, limitation of the

musical function of recitative to a bridge between the keys of arias seems an unfair

denigration of its importance.

Glixon's thesis on recitative in seventeenth-century Venetian opera also

refutes a number of the statements in the Harvard Dictionary entry. She notes that

extreme changes in direction in terms of melody, harmony and rhythm were allowable.

She states:

A composer could emphasize a word or idea through harmonic color, pitch selection, rhythmic

profile or duration, melismatic treatment, isolation, text repetition, or the contour of the basso

continuo (Glixon 1985, p. 98).

Such compositional devices, she notes, could also signal changes in mood,

attitude, intention in characters or indicate an aside in the text. In practise,

compositional devices were often used simultaneously. Kerman (1956) concurs with

these concepts. Comparing a play to an opera, he asserts that the characters in a play

never quite stop thinking, whereas those in an opera can give themselves over to

sensibility. He notes: "Music can be immediate and simple in the presentation of

emotional states or shades" (ibid p. 13).

The Grove Music Online entry distinguishes two types of recitative:

recitativo semplice and recitativo accompagnato (also known as stromentato or

obbligato). It cites John Brown's (1789) suggestion that eighteenth-century recitative

could be classified into two types depending not so much on how it was accompanied as

on its affective content: texts "of passion and sentiment, or such as are not so". In a

similar vein, Monelle (1978, pp. 248-250) describes two basic styles of recitative

writing: "historical" and "pathetic". These were associated with certain types of action

and emotion. Historical recitative was used for matter-of-fact narrative and dialogue

and for expression of noble and joyful sentiments. Pathetic recitative was used for

setting text involving, for example, romantic love or tenderness between parents and

children. He indicates that there is considerable overlap between these styles, and that

they often occur in close succession.

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Buelow (2004, p.484) disputes the Harvard Dictionary's suggestion that the

terms recitativo secco and recitativo semplice may be used interchangeably. Referring to

the recitative in late seventeenth-century Venetian operas and that in Handel's London

operas, he suggests the the term secco (dry) is misleading. While the accompainment

consists of continuo instruments only, the text settings are highly expressive, through

"means of harmonic progression, dissonance colourings, strong melodic design relying

on rhetorically expressive motives, leaps, sequential patterns, and rhythmic pacing".

Throughout this study, the term recitativo semplice will be used for recitative

accompanied only by continuo instruments.

There is a considerable body of literature on the subject of recitative in the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Corri (c. 1779) in his "Explanation of the Nature

and Design of the Following Work", refers to recitative as "..in itself, beyond a doubt,

the highest species of vocal music".

Downes (1961) presents a brief commentary on the opinions of various

writers from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries on the quality and value of recitativo

semplice. He notes that common stereotypes of the form include that it was shallow,

careless, superficial, unmusical, tedious, and expressionless. He refutes this, providing

analyses of compositional devices in opere serie. Lazarevich (1971) provides analyses

of the rhythmic, harmonic and melodic characteristics of the Neapolitan style, including

recitative settings of a number of early eighteenth-century Neapolitan composers. These

include Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Hasse and Pergolesi.

Monelle (1978, p. 274) suggests that Baroque period Italian composers had

a "regard for dramaturgy: dramatic rhythm, characterization, variety of diction and

expression within an overall plan". He provides a detailed analysis of the recitative in

Hasse's opera seria: Il Re Pastore. As noted above, he describes two basic styles of

recitative writing: "historical" and "pathetic", which were associated with certain types

of action and emotion. In terms of musical structure historical recitative was

predominantly major and diatonic, with no more dissonance than the dominant 7th.

Pathetic recitative, by contrast, was characterised by diminished 7ths both in melody

and harmony. It was largely in minor keys, used dissonant intervals including

diminished and augmented 4ths in melody and bass, and was often chromatic. These

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concepts are a useful springboard for more detailed analysis of the compositional

devices used in recitative settings.

Troy (1979) maintains that recitativo semplice is an ideal vehicle for

comedy because of the latter's special requirements. These include rapid dialogue,

asides, quick changes of mood. Recitativo semplice, with its freedom for declamation

with minimal musical support is ideal to achieve these requirements. He suggests that

an indication of its particular utility in comedy is that Italian composers continued to

use it in comic works long after they had stopped using it in serious works. He cites

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) as an example. Donizetti was still using recitativo

semplice in opera buffa in 1835 (Il campanello di notte), by which time he was not

using it in serious works such as Lucrezia Borgia (1833) (Troy 1979, p. 104).

Figure 1.1 provides an example of the use of recitativo semplice to deliver a

comic message, in this case through the figured bass notation. The excerpt is from the

first recitative of the second part of Hasse's 1726 intermezzo: Larinda e Vanesio. The

semiquaver arpeggios in the continuo bass line are musical metaphors for Larinda's brio

brillante (sparkling spirit) and ciglio lampeggiante (flashing eyelashes). Troy (1979, pp.

107-8) observes that this practice of notating musical figures in the bass line with the

aim of illustrating the meaning of the text was a distinguishing feature of the continuo

notation for recitativo semplice in intermezzi as compared to that in opere serie.

Figure 1.1

Donington (1981, p.42) maintains that a novel capability of monody as used

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in recitative is that its underlying harmony can define, modify and sharpen the

manifestations of drama inferred from the text. Modulation, he states, was necessary to

express musically the changes in and development of emotion and intent within

characters that a continuously unfolding drama requires.

Monson (1983) analysed the recitatives in several opere serie of Pergolesi

and those of a number of his contemporaries. He states:

The peculiarities of a composer’s interpretation of the dramatic impact of a text most often

resides in brief, concise expressive effects, such as large intervals, unexpected modulations,

dramatic pauses indicated by rests, an appoggiatura, or any other short expressive device

appropriate to the occcasion (Monson 1983, p.189).

His analysis includes the harmonic patterns in the recitatives, and the key relationships

between the recitatives and the arias. He provides a detailed commentary on interval

frequency and melody used in the recitatives. He also provides detailed analyses of the

harmonic progressions in the recitatives, indicating devices used to underline dramatic

effect. He indicates that the harmonic patterns in the recitativo semplice of Pergolesi's

opere serie showed "a definite plan and coherence, with a subtle manipulation to

express the text" (ibid, p. 145-6). He notes that almost all the recitatives in Pergolesi's

operas can be analysed with reference to three compositional devices: secondary

dominant chains, I-IV-V-I cadences,26 and relative major and minor juxtaposition (ibid,

p. 150). An example of a device he uses to stress meaning in the text or for dramatic

effect is interruption of a cadential figure. Monson lists five types of interruption. These

will be discussed further in chapter two with regard to the cadenza d'inganno. In

relation to the cadential figure I-IV-V-I in the key of C major, the types of interruption

are:

1. C-F-G-D

2. C-F-G-E

3. C-F-G-Ab

4. C-F-G-F

5. C-F-G-Am

26 Monson refers to a harmonic chains with a root progressions by 5ths as a “secondary dominant chain”.

He notes that almost all the recitatives end with a I-IV-V-I cadence (Monson 1983, p. 146-7).

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Glixon's PhD thesis (1985) gives a very detailed analysis of the dramatic

function of recitative in seventeenth-century Venetian opera during a 20-year period.

She provides a wealth of information on the musical structural devices which

composers employed for dramatic effects during that period. She posits that in contrast

to the structured and closed form of aria, the open form and lack of constraints

characteristic of recitative allowed great scope for highlighting the dramatic possibilities

of components of the libretto, such as individual words, phrases, sentences (Glixon

1985, p. 97) . The reduced texture27 of recitative, especially recitativo semplice, confers

on it a quick responsiveness to dramatic aspects of the text. She states:

Because recitative is responsive to the text word by word as well as at a larger syntactic level, the

composer had the freedom, at any point, to veer away from the prevailing logic in order to point

up an emotional change in the libretto or merely to draw attention to a particular word.

She maintains that during the seventeenth century, the "characteristic recitative idiom"

emerged in Venice as well as in other Italian centres (ibid, p. 115). She suggests that by

the end of the century recitative had become "a standard musical language that would

change little over the next century" (ibid, p. 272).

De'Ath (2009) describes a method for setting into music the rhythm of

spoken Italian. It is based on the presence of "rhythmic units" and "sense groups" in the

language. His method takes into account various features of the language, such as

stress-timed rather than syllable-timed rhythm, placement of primary and secondary

stresses on specific positions within the bar, the tendency of the spoken language to fall

into duple rhythm and the variable placement of secondary stresses depending on

context. Using his method De'Ath analyses excerpts of recitative settings by Wolfgang

Amadeus Mozart and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach from an identical libretto. He

illustrates how the composers have implied different intent and emotion in the

characters purely through the rhythmic setting of the text. The following two paragraphs

summarise how De'Ath's method will be used for the purposes of this study.

Spoken Italian can be said to have three types of stress: strong, secondary

and weak (Figure 1.2). Syllables with strong stresses are separated by no more than

27 'Reduced texture' in the context of recitativo semplice refers to the focus in composition and notation

on the synchronous relationship between the bass and melody lines. Skilled continuo players could

add inner parts at their discretion, without interrupting the dramatic flow of the text.

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three weakly stressed syllables. However, if there are more than three weakly stressed

syllables between strong stresses, a secondary stress occurs. A "rhythmic unit" contains

one strong stress which falls on the penultimate syllable. "Sense groups" contain words

that belong together grammatically, for example, an adverbial clause. Sense groups

contain as many rhythmic units as there are strong stresses. Figure 1.3 shows an excerpt

from the libretto of La Serva Padrona divided into rhythmic units and sense groups. The

phrase Gran fatto! is the first sense group. The following phrase: Io m'ho cresciuta

questa serva picina is the second sense group. Rhythmic units are delineated by fine

white vertical lines.

Figure 1.2 Types of stress in spoken Italian

Figure 1.3 Rhythmic Units and Sense Groups

During the eighteenth century, the dynamic of a note appears to have been

determined in part by its metrical position in the bar. This is termed 'Metrical

Accentuation'. Drawing on De'Ath's work, the relative stresses within a 4/4 bar depend

on the positions of the crotchet beats and on subdivisions within these beats. It should

be noted that, for the purposes of this study, these relative stresses refer to the notation

of scores, rather than to the placing of stresses used in the practice of performance.

Table 1.1 shows a hierarchy in descending order of Metrical Accentuation. In the study,

I will analyse how the two composers have used placement of strongly stressed

syllables in various metrical positions to indicate relative emphasis on particular words.

I will also make use of the "sense group" concept with regard to the composers'

continuity or fragmentation of phrases for possible dramatic purposes.

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A Distinction between the Notation and Performance Practice of Recitative

The creation of drama through recitativo semplice could be considered to

involve four components - the inanimate artefacts of text and written music and the

living, performance elements of singers and continuo players. Referring to opere serie

of the early eighteenth century, Downes (1961) maintains that we cannot be sure how

recitativo semplice sounded because our knowledge of performance practice is limited.

He notes that we do know that singers were expected to take considerable liberties with

both rhythms and pitches.

There is a wealth of literature on Baroque and Classic period opera

performance practice. Treatises such as those of Pier Francesco Tosi (1743) and

Domenico Corri (c. 1779) describe how recitative of the period should be sung and how

the continuo should be played. They provide advice on performance over and above

what is in the written scores. They include such matters as acceptable and advisable

vocal practice in variations in melody, ornamentation and appoggiaturas. Downes

(1961, p. 56) notes that performance parameters that are not usually written in the

scores, such as appoggiaturas, grace notes, sudden pauses, free rhythm and tempo, and

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Metrical

Accentuation value

Crotchet beat 1 1

Crotchet beat 3 2

Crotchet beats 2, 4 3

Quavers between crotchets 4

Semiquavers between quavers 5

Table 1.1: Hierarchy of Metrical Accentuation in a 4/4 bar

variations in volume can produce strong emotional effects.

The performance practice for cadences in recitativo semplice in the

eighteenth century requires some consideration, as it may be relevant to the interaction

between text and music in the creation of drama in the works being compared in this

study. Glixon (1985, p. 92) states that the notated delayed cadence - referring to the

continuo cadence being notated so as to be played after the vocal cadence - is seen

infrequently in manuscripts of Venetian opera of the early seventeenth century. When

used, it was for an intended dramatic effect: either a dying character or one in a strong

emotional state such as anguish or anger. The implication is that in this period the

delayed cadence was an intentional compositional device in recitative, to be performed

as notated for dramatic emphasis. However, in the eighteenth century cadences appear

to have been used in recitative in a different way.

Hansell (1968) suggests that in the eighteenth century the performance of

perfect cadences at the end of recitatives may have been different in the first half of the

century from that in the second half. Referring to the prosody of the Italian language, he

notes that the text at cadence points in recitative usually ends with an accented syllable

followed by a vowel. Standard performance practice for the singer was to use an

appoggiatura, which could move in one of two directions: either descending by a step to

the tonic or descending from the tonic by a perfect fourth to the fifth degree of the scale.

Performance practice in the second half of the century was to execute a 'delayed

cadence' - that is, to play both the dominant and the tonic chords after the final note in

the vocal line, even if the notation indicated that the penultimate note in the vocal line

should be simultaneous with the penultimate chord in the continuo.

However, drawing on the treatises of Francesco Gasparini28 and Pier

Francesco Tosi (1743), Hansell infers that in the first half of the century, the practice

would have been for the harpsichordist to play the chords in the timing as written. The

vocal appoggiatura note would be played in the continuo as an acciaccatura or crushed

note. The resultant dissonance was considered acceptable, or even admired at the time.

It may have augmented the affective meaning of the text. It was also considered

consistent with Italian prosody, the 'feminine' ending of the text word being imitated by

28 Gasparini's treatise entitled: L'Armonico pratico al cimbolo was first published in Venice in 1708.

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the continuo cadence. In the latter, the penultimate chord received the stronger metrical

emphasis. Hansell notes that Tosi's term for this practice was cadenza tronca, meaning

'truncated cadence'.

Later editions of early eighteenth-century opere serie and intermezzi

sometimes indicate that cadences in recitative are to be played in a delayed fashion,

regardless of how they are notated in original manuscripts. An example is Bettarini's

1974 edition of Hasse's Intermezzo in Tre Parti: Larinda e Vanesio. The manuscript on

which the edition was based clearly shows the penultimate bass note of cadences in the

recitative simultaneous with the penultimate note in the vocal line. Bettarini however,

places a bracket before the penultimate bass note and states in a footnote: Gli accordi

vanno eseguiti dopo la parola (the chords are performed after the word). Hansell

suggests that this is an incorrect extrapolation of late eighteenth-century practice to

works from early in the century.

The performance practice of cadences in recitativo semplice may have

relevance to Pergolesi's setting of La Serva Padrona. Monson (1983, p. 272) describes

several examples from Pergolesi's opere serie where the composer wrote out some of

the cadences in the delayed manner and others in the tronca manner. However, Monson

suggests that where the vocal and continuo cadences were notated simultaneously,

performers were at liberty to execute them with the continuo cadence delayed for

dramatic effect (ibid, p. 135). Nevertheless, it might be inferred that where Pergolesi

notated a cadenza tronca, he intended it to be performed in this way. I will discuss

instances where a cadenza tronca could be used to highlight dramatic aspects of the text

in Figures 2.3 and 2.19 of the study.

Troy (1979) discusses the comic style of intermezzi, termed the buffo style.

This style combines concepts of performance practice and music notation. He describes

the buffo vocal style as "comic realism". Audiences of the period commented that the

singers would laugh, howl, sigh, cough, and imitate physiological phenomena such as

heartbeats or inanimate object sounds like whip cracks. He is of the opinion that:

"Doubtless much of the realism that eighteenth-century commentators found so

delightful (or objectionable) resulted from the singers' performance practices." He

further notes that "Directions in libretti occasionally specify that lines of recitative were

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to be delivered ridendo ("laughing"), con ira ("angrily"), sospirando ("sighing"),

piangendo ("weeping"), smaniando ("raving"), and the like" (Troy 1979, p. 92).

Additional directions included variation in voice timbre including humming and

falsetto. Troy goes on to say: "Even a casual inspection of intermezzo scores however,

reveals that a good deal of 'realistic' humour is actually written into the music" (ibid,

p.92). Vocal representations of sobbing, sighing, laughing, stuttering and yawning were

also written into the notation. Troy's comments reinforce a central tenet of this study,

namely that it is valid to examine the creation of drama which is immanent in the

written music as a separate issue from how drama is created in performance.

A second element of the buffo style was constant repetition - which could be

of single words, phrases, or entire sentences. As well as text repetition, there could be

repetition of musical phrases, which may lead to motivic development. Repetition of

words and phrases was a common device in recitativo semplice, where it was used for

emphasis or comic effect. The device also added 'naturalness' to the sung dialogue.

Parody, especially of contemporary opere serie, was a third element of the

buffo style. Troy notes that this applied in particular to aspects of arias, such as the

sometimes tedious da capo repetition and the use of coloratura passages for reasons of

pretentious ornament rather than for dramatic purposes. Another common feature of the

buffo style was juxtaposition of extremely varied tempi and music styles. This applied

to arias and duets. Troy (ibid, p. 100) concludes that this attribute resulted from a

conscious attempt by composers to reflect changing moods in the text. Clearly, their

intent was to progress the drama during the pieces, in contrast to the generally static

dramatic effect of the da capo pieces of opere serie.

Nuti (2007, p.15) discusses the flexibility inherent in basso continuo

notation and the resultant possibilities for the continuo player to respond

sympathetically during performance to the emotional content of the text being sung.

Referring to the Florentine Camerata's role in fostering the development of basso

continuo, she suggests:

For the success of the stile rappresentativo a means of accompaniment that freed the singer

completely to conjoin words and music was necessary. When reading from basso continuo the

accompanist can support the voice and change the texture and, consequently, the volume

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acording to the affetti required by the words.

The Neapolitan Intermezzo and Opera Buffa

Whereas the operatic tastes of the seventeenth century had been dictated by the Venetian school

of composition, in the next century Naples became the centre for operatic developments

(Lazarevich 1971, p. 297).

Two comic musical forms developed primarily in Naples during the eighteenth century.

These were the intermezzo and opera buffa. Early in the century, a number of composers

known primarily for opere serie also wrote comic works for various theatres in Naples.

These composers included Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725), Leonardo Vinci (1690-

1730), and Johann Hasse (1699-1783).

During the second half of the seventeenth century, humorous elements were

gradually removed from opere serie and were placed exclusively in light-hearted

interludes between the acts of the serious works. These interludes were initially called

scene buffe. They contained minor characters from the parent opera seria, and the

characters acted out comic subplots. Gradually these interludes developed into separate

works with plots and characters unrelated to the serious works in which they were

interspersed. These works were termed intermezzi.29 The plots and characters were

drawn from the Commedia dell'arte tradition. A further development was the

"independent" intermezzo, that is a work intentended to be performed on its own.

The main period during which the Neapolitan intermezzo was written and

performed was from 1685 to 1750. In the early eighteenth century, independent

intermezzi were staged in Venice. Performance of independent intermezzi however,

became common in Naples after the first few decades of the eighteenth century. Naples

was the only centre of opera performance in which nearly every serious opera staged

between 1700 and 1735 was accompanied by scene buffe or intermezzi (Troy 1979, p.

47). Troy records that several libretti for intermezzi were printed in Venice between

1706 and 1709. He refers to these libretti as the first examples of the "international"

intermezzo repertoire. They became the core material for composers to set into comic

29 Troy (1979) draws distinction between intermezzi comici and intermezzi dramatici in eighteenth-

century Italy. Both were music comedy interludes, but the former were performed within plays, while

the latter were performed within serious operas. A significant difference between these genres was that

the singers of intermezzi comici would have been primarily actors, while those in intermezzi dramatici were professional opera singers.

Page 29 of 125

music works.

By 1710, travelling troupes of singers had access to a large collection of

intermezzi. Owing to performances of the genre by these troupes, intermezzi were the

first form of Italian dramatic music heard in many European countries in the first few

decades of the eighteenth century. After 1730 travelling opera companies disseminated

the genre to every part of Europe (Troy 1979, p. 55).

The comedic style of the Neapolitan intermezzo resulted in part from an

amalgam of the literary conventions of the Commedia dell'arte and the southern Italian

temperament. The latter could be said to be characterised by exuberance, extroversion,

overt sentimentality, colourfulness, and a tendency to melodrama (Lazarevich 1971, p.

297). Troy (1979, p. 22) observes that around the turn of the seventeenth century, a

change occurred with regard to the typical dramatis personae in scene buffe. The

lascivious older woman preying on a young man gave way to the characters of an older

man and a beautiful young woman. This latter combination of characters allowed a

variety of plots, which could be more believable in terms of everyday social

interactions. For example, the man could have amorous designs on the young woman or

vice versa; the young woman's intent could be to use her wiles to gain the older man's

fortune. Lazarevich suggests that in the classic period of the Neapolitan intermezzo, the

plot typically involved a domineering young maidservant who cunningly tricks her

older master into marrying her.30 La Serva Padrona is an example par excellence of the

genre. Against the background of a variety of character intents and emotions that could

be drawn around these two protagonists, Pergolesi and Paisiello had considerable

license with regard to how to interpret the relationship between Uberto and Serpina in

Federico's libretto.

Weiss (accessed 2011) notes that: "the term opera buffa was first applied to

the genre of comic opera as it rose to popularity in Italy and abroad over the course of

the eighteenth century". He further states that the true birthplace of opera buffa was

Naples. From its inception, Neapolitan opera buffa dealt with both serious and comic

characters and situations. Characters were believable, drawn from everyday life. The

30 Lazarevich (1971, p. 295) suggests that the classic period of Neapolitan intermezzo composition is

1720-1740.

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language in the texts was that common to the lower social classes. Griggs (1971, p. 555)

indicates that additional features of the genre included a flexibility and quick

adaptability to changing dramatic situations, and the discarding of formality wherever

possible. In the 1730s and 1740s, the genre of opera buffa quickly gained popularity in

other centres in Italy, including Rome and Venice. By the 1750s, opere buffe were

regularly performed throughout most of Europe. After 1750, works which were called

intermezzi were usually longer than those composed earlier and were closer to opera

buffa in structure and style. Paisiello's setting of La Serva Padrona falls into this

category.

Lazarevich (1971, p. 294) refutes the often-held notion that opera buffa

developed as a maturation of the comic intermezzo:

Although by the mid eighteenth century opera buffa and the intermezzo shared a common

musical language, dramatically and textually they represented two coexisting, but distinct forms.

Troy (1979) concurs, noting that works from the two genres were performed during the

first half of the eighteenth century in the Venice and Naples, the main centres of opera

production in Italy at that time. However, he notes that in Venice few full-length opere

buffe were performed before 1743, while the performance of independent intermezzi had

been common there since 1706. In Naples on the other hand, the staging of full-length

comic operas such as Michelangelo Faggioli's La Cilla began in 1706, and by 1714 such

works had usurped the production of serious works at the Teatro dei Fiorentini. Troy

suggests that the concurrent performance of the two genres to different extents in

disparate parts of the Italian peninsula makes it difficult to infer a causal relationship

between the proliferation of independent intermezzi and the development of the opere

buffa genre. He proposes that a more reasoned conclusion could be that the appearance

of the first independent intermezzi may have stimulated an expansion of the production

of opere buffe (Troy 1979, p.134).

Lazarevich (1971) contends that the two genres could be differentiated in

three aspects: origin, function and structure. While the original function of intermezzi

was to present a contrast in plot content and musical style with the serious work into

which they were inserted, Opere buffe were from the start intended to be stand-alone

works. Their function as a genre was to provide incisive, assessible caricatures of

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persons of various ranks in contemporary society and to reflect the prevailing mood of

questioning established social structures (Weiss, accessed 2011). With regard to

structure, opere buffe were larger scale works with at least six main characters, all of

whom performed several arias. Intermezzi were shorter, with fewer arias and only two

singing characters, any other characters being mimes.

Lazarevich (1971) suggests that the essential spirit of opera buffa, with its

Neapolitan Italian comedic style, influenced the music as well as comic literary works

of the mid- to late eighteenth century. An example of the latter is Pierre Beaumarchais'

play Il Barbiere di Siviglia, written in 1773 and first performed in Paris in 1775.

Giuseppe Petrosellini wrote a libretto based on this play. Paisiello set this libretto into

an opera buffa, which was first performed in St Petersburg in 1782.

Some consideration of the difference in music styles between intermezzi and

opere serie is relevant background for the comparative analysis in this study. Troy

(1979) draws distinctions between the arias of intermezzi and those of contemporaneous

opere serie in terms of dramatic development. Arias in intermezzi were almost always

da capo in form, as were those in contemporary opere serie. There were three broad

types of intermezzo aria: buffo, pathetic and dance rhythm. Pathetic arias were written

for texts which were intended to have a mock-serious affect (ibid, pp 114-116). Troy

observes that dramatic action tended to continue during the arias in intermezzi, while it

was more static in those of opere serie. The reason for this, he maintains, lies in the

nature of the libretti. Intermezzi libretti contained short, separate verbal phrases in prose

which are suited to repetition in musical settings, and which lend themselves to motivic

development. Opere serie libretti tended to contain longer verbal phrases, mainly in

verse, which lend themselves to correspondingly long melodic phrases and subsequent

melodic development (ibid, p. 97). In addition, intermezzi arias could contain

juxtaposed musical styles, with extreme contrasts in tempo if necessary. In this way they

could progress the dramatic action as each style related to a change in the physical or

psychological action (ibid, p. 102). An example of an aria in which pathetic and dance

rhythm elements are combined is Serpina's aria A Serpina penserete in Pergolesi's La

Serva Padrona. The piece is a tongue-in-cheek lament, interspersed with a minuet

rhythm section in which Serpina gloats over the distress she is causing to Uberto.

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Consideration of the music style of intermezzi in comparison to opere buffe

is also relevant to this study. Kerman (1956, p. 90) suggests that although most of the

action in opera buffa occurred in the recitativo semplice, the more important

development of the drama occurred in the ensembles. Duets invariably occurred at the

ends of intermezzo parts. There may have been others within the part, but they were

generally shorter. Troy (1979) notes that the duet's main function was as an "ensemble

finale". He suggests that duets in intermezzi can be seen as analagous to those in later

eighteenth-century opere buffe only up to a point. This, he suggests, is because

intermezzo duets in general maintained the da capo form. As such, their capacity to

progress the dramatic action was limited in the same way as it was in da capo arias. He

states that by contrast ensemble finales in opere buffe could advance the dramatic action

within a less formal musical structure. He further opines that the texts for duets in

intermezzi were such that, like aria texts, they merely elaborated on the dramatic

situation achieved in the preceding recitative (ibid, p. 118).

A clear exception to Troy's opinion of the function of duets in intermezzi is

found in the duet Lo conosco a quegl'occhietti in Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona. This

duet, which occurs at the end of the first part, does not have a da capo form. It clearly

advances the drama. For example, Uberto's initial shunning of Serpina's advances gives

way to a progressive weakening of his resolve. This is shown in his asides: Ah! costei

mi va tentando.. and Quanto va, quanto va che me la fa? (Ah, she's testing me..How

much, how much can I take?). Uberto's text O ch'imbroglio (O what a mess) occurs first

about three quarters of the way through the duet and is repeated a number of times,

including in the last line.

Figure 1.4

It is noteworthy that two of Uberto's notes in the penultimate bar of the vocal section of

the duet are a third higher than Serpina's. As shown in Figure 1.4, these are set on the

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text: ..egl'è per me ("..this is for me"). This is an example of the device Metabasis

Transgressio which is described in Table 2.2. In this duet, it implies an emotional

involvement between the characters. This is further evidence of progression of the

psychological action right up to the end of the duet.

Troy (1979) refers to another duet that has several stylistic features in

common with the opera buffa style of ensemble. This duet occurs at the end of Act 1 of

Alessandro Scarlatti's full-length comic opera Il trionfo d'onore (first performed in

Naples in 1718). It too does not have a da capo form. Troy suggests that this duet looks

forward to the ensemble finales of later eighteenth-century opere buffe, including those

with libretti by Carlo Goldoni and Lorenzo Da Ponte with their musical settings by

Baldessare Galuppi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart respectively (ibid, p. 140). In this

context, it is pertinent to note the forward-looking structure of the duet Lo conosco a

quegl'occhietti in Pergolesi's work. Its deviation from the usual limited dramatic

function of duets in intermezzi may be a relevant pointer to the significance of

Pergolesi's work in the development of later eighteenth-century music drama. This may

be an example of one significant point of interception between the musical development

of intermezzi and opere buffe.

La Serva Padrona

Gennaro Antonio Federico (1726-1743) was a lawyer and very highly

regarded comedy writer in Naples in the eighteenth century. Three settings of his libretti

by Pergolesi received strong acclaim and achieved great popularity. These were: Lo

Frate 'nnamorato (1732), La Serva Padrona (1733) and Il Flaminio (1735). La Serva

Padrona was an intermezzo, the other works being commedie musicali.31 Although

written in standard Italian of the time, his libretto for La Serva Padrona is said to adopt

the rhythms and inflections of Neapolitan dialect, which Federico exploited for comic

and dramatic effect. Hucke and Monson (2007) suggest that this libretto provided

composers with a vehicle which facilitated a natural expression by the characters of

their emotions and intents.

Pergolesi's setting of La Serva Padrona was first performed at the Teatro

31 The term Commedia musicale meant a full-length comic opera in early eighteenth-century Italy.

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San Bartolomeo, the principal theatre in Naples, on 5th September 1733. It was

commissioned as part of the birthday celebrations for the Empress Christina, wife of

Charles VI. The two intermezzi were performed between acts of Pergolesi's opera seria

Il Prigionier Superbo. The latter received lukewarm reception, but La Serva Padrona,

by contrast, was enthusiastically received. By public demand it was subsequently

performed on its own for several nights. Aided by performances of travelling troupes of

Italian singers, the work's fame spread quickly throughout Italy, and thence to other

countries, being performed in some sixty European theatres during the next twenty

years. Hucke and Monson (2007) note that Pergolesi's work remained largely unedited

during the eighteenth century, a tribute to the quality of the setting.

On its first performance in Paris in 1746, it received little attention.

However, performances in the Grand Opera in 1752 by a troupe of Italian singers led by

Eustachio Bambini had far-reaching effects. The troupe performed four intermezzi:

Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona and his Livietta e Tracollo, the pasticcio: Il Maestro di

Musica and Orlandini's Il Marito Giocatore. These performances, particularly that of La

Serva Padrona, in the presence of King Louis XI and the Paris court polarised the

Parisian theatre-going public, leading to the querelle des bouffons. This manifested as a

war of words in pamphlets and newspaper articles by factions who supported or

opposed the new Italian comic style exemplified by Pergolesi's work. The quarrel

centered on an attempt to compare the merits of the style with those of the French

tragédie lyrique genre. Supporters included Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot and

André Ernest Modeste Grétry. The royal family also took sides, and the king eventually

expelled the troupe from France. Nevertheless, the seed had been sown for development

of a new French genre - opéra comique - based on the Italian comic style. Troy (1979,

p. 57) notes that the episode began a new chapter in the history of French opera, and as

such it represented a significant climax to the dissemination of the intermezzo by

travelling Italian singers.

Lazarevich (2007) suggests that the French gradually assimilated the Italian

comic idiom, adapting it into the opéra comique genre. Champions of this new genre

included Rousseau and Pierre Baurans. Rousseau's intermezzo: Le Devin du Village

(1752) was an early example. Baurans translated Federico's libretto of La Serva

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Padrona into French, added some music and substituted spoken dialogue for recitative.

His work, entitled La Servante Maitresse, was first performed in 1754. Pergolesi's work

was performed in English translations in London, and it also inspired several English

adaptations. One example was He Wou'd if he Could (1771) with text by Isaac

Bickerstaffe and music by Charles Dibdin.

Paisiello's setting of Federico's libretto in 1781 came about as a matter of

expediency. At the time of his appointment in St Petersburg in 1776, the court poet

Marco Coltellini was responsible for providing texts and libretti for Paisiello's

compositions. Coltellini died in 1777, and was not replaced. Paisiello was required to

produce a comic operatic work in 1781 for a festive occasion. Early in 1779, Catherine

had declared that Paisiello's operas for the Russian court should last no longer than an

hour-and-a-half.32 Aresi (2006) posits that after some unsuccessful attempts to get an

alternative librettist appointed, Paisiello had to fall back on a proven libretto with which

he was familiar. Lazarevich (2007) states that Pergolesi's setting of La Serva Padrona

had been performed in St Petersburg during the 20 years after its 1733 premiere. Aresi

(2006) suggests that discrepancies in the text with Pergolesi's setting may have been due

to Paisiello using only his recollection of the text, a printed libretto being unavailable to

him.

Unlike the Pergolesi work, Paisiello's setting was an independent

intermezzo. Its indended audience was a court audience, whereas that for Pergolesi's

work was the general theatre-going public.33 As noted earlier, intermezzi of the late

eighteenth century tended to be longer works than their earlier counterparts, and to have

a structure and musical style closer to opera buffa. That said, it is intriguing to note the

detailed similarities between Paisiello's setting and Pergolesi's. These similarities

include the presence of dotted rhythms and deceptive cadences in similar places in the

recitative settings, the use of recitativo accompagnato in an identical position in the

libretto. One explanation could be that Pergolesi's work was so well-known and revered

that Paisiello wanted to exploit the audience's likely familiarity with it to place in sharp

focus the differences in his own setting. The dramatic implications of differences in his

32 This explains why Paisiello's works for the Russian court were mostly short, in contrast to his full-

length opere buffe performed later in Naples (Robinson, accessed 2011).

33 Aresi (2006) indicates that the Paisiello's work was well received by Catherine and her court, as

evidenced by the presentation of expensive jewelry to the singers and composer after the performance.

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work would stand in sharp focus alongside the similarities. The similarities and

differences between the settings will be discussed further in the comparative analysis in

chapter 2.

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Pergolesi's initial musical training was in violin, his teacher being the

maestro di cappella in his home town of Jesi. He studied music at the Conservatorio dei

Poveri di Gesu Cristo from the early 1720s to approximately 1731. While at the

Conservatorio, his compositional and performance skills were noticed. He received his

first commission to write a sacred opera: San Guglielmo in 1731. His first comic opera

commission, Salustia, written under adverse circumstances was performed in 1732. It

was not well received. Notwithstanding this, his renown as a composer spread rapidly,

and he subsequently enjoyed the patronage of several Neapolitan royal families.

From the time he left the Conservatorio, Pergolesi regularly wrote comedic

works for the Teatro San Bartolomeo and for several minor theatres in Naples. He

became maestro di cappella to Prince Ferdinando Colonna Stigliano in 1732. His first

musical comedy work: Lo Frate 'nnamorato (1732) with a libretto by Gennaro Antonio

Federico, was very popular, and was performed over several months. Hucke and

Monson (2007) suggest that this work was so well liked that parts of it were recited and

sung in the streets over the next two decades. With the arrival of Charles Bourbon, the

Spanish claimant to the Neapolitan throne, Stigliano accompanied by Pergolesi retreated

to Rome. Here Pergolesi's Mass in F was received with great interest.

He became maestro di cappella to the Duke of Maddaloni in 1734. In this

position he was commissioned to write an opera seria and intermezzo for the birthday of

King Charles' mother. He set Metastasio's libretto Adriano in Siria and Tommaso

Mariani's libretto Livietta e Tracollo respectively. The latter intermezzo, which has the

title La Contadina Astuta became one of his most popular comic works.

Pergolesi never enjoyed good health, having in particular a chronic painful

leg condition which resulted in a limp. He died of tuberculosis in March 1736 at the age

of 26. Prior to his death, he had moved into a Franciscan monastery in Pozzuli. Here, he

is said to have written two of his best known sacred works: Salve Regina for soprano

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and strings and Stabat Mater for two solo voices and strings. The latter was first

published in London in 1749, and became the most frequently printed single piece of

music of the eighteenth century (Hucke and Monson 2007, p. 6).

Although highly regarded during his lifetime, Pergolesi had greater fame

posthumously. His music exemplified the features of what became known as the Galant

musical style.34 This compositional style is said to be partly attributable to the influences

of Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730), Leonardo Leo (1694-1744) and other earlier

composers. Pergolesi's music is said to have a distinctive Neapolitan style with

universal appeal, freshness and spontaneity (Hucke and Monson 2007, p. 7). Pergolesi

was praised in particular for his skill in text setting. Recitatives in his opere serie

involved expressive text setting usually associated with opera buffa. This included for

example, the use of repetition. Hucke and Monson (2007) suggest that Baldessare

Galuppi, Johann Hasse, Niccolò Jommelli and others used Pergolesi's text setting as a

model for their own works. Geiringer (1925) and Hucke and Monson (2007) suggest

that Pergolesi's use of short discrete melodic fragments, typical of the Neapolitan

intermezzo style, could adapt to the quickly developing drama in comic libretti.35

Lazarevich (1971 and 2007) comments on the compositional style of the arias and

ensemble pieces in Pergolesi's work. She notes that his use of short repeated melodic

segments, octave intervals and frequent repetition of cadential phrases as exemplified in

La Serva Padrona was the forerunner of the eighteenth-century preclassical style.

Some of Pergolesi's works mirror the socio-political undercurrents of early

eighteenth-century Neapolitan society. The city state had been under Austrian rule since

the beginning of the century, and came under the rule of the Spanish claimant Charles

Bourbon in 1734. Il Flaminio and La Serva Padrona in particular touch on the ambition

34 For the purposes of this study, the Galant style is defined as "a freer more chordal style of

composition with an emphasis on melody made up of short, often repeated motifs organized in 2- 3-

and 4-bar phrases, simple harmony and frequent cadences" (Grout and Palisca 2001, p. 427).

35 Troy (1979, pp. 44-6) maintains that the importance of other intermezzo composers such as Guiseppe

Maria Orlandini (1688-1760) has been understated. Many of Orlandini'a intermezzi - such as Il Marito Giocatore and La Preziosa Ridicola - were often performed in cities scattered throughout Italy

between 1712 and 1742, and the works were widely popular. The former work was performed in Paris

with Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona prior to the eruption of the querelle des bouffons. In addition, Troy

suggests that Orlandini is the most "international" of the intermezzo composers as his works enjoyed

early widespread success in countries outside Italy. It is interesting to speculate on whether Orlandini's

works were as important as Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona in the dissemination of the Italian comic

opera style.

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and rise of the middle class. Il Flaminio deals with the reversals of social status under

the Spanish regime (Hucke and Monson 2007, p. 7).

Pergolesi's main output was vocal music. There are few instrumental pieces

which can be reliably attributed to him. One such work, his Concerto for two

harpsichords in C major, is said to be one of the earliest examples of a keyboard

concerto composed in Italy (Hucke and Monson 2007, p. 9).

Giovanni Paisiello

Giovanni Paisiello was a prolific and highly respected composer of Italian

opera in the late eighteenth century. From the time he completed his formal musical

training at the Conservatorio di S Onofrio in 1763 to his death he was almost

continuously employed as a composer and musician, receiving in addition numerous

commissions. His output until 1778 consisted almost exclusively of operatic works.

From this year onwards, he produced predominantly sacred works. Robinson (2007,

p.1) notes that Paisiello considered himself to be a Neapolitan, preferring to live and

work in Naples.

His first appointment was in Bologna in 1763 as musical director of a small

opera company formed by the nobleman Guiseppe Carafa. This appointment led to

commissions for operatic works to be performed in a number of northern Italian

theatres. In 1766 he returned to Naples to work as a freelance composer, his main work

being composing comic operas for local theatres. He also wrote serious operas on

commission. King Ferdinando IV of Naples is said to have approved of his music.

In 1776, Paisiello accepted an appointment from Queen Catherine II of

Russia as maestro di cappella in St Petersburg. Catherine was determined to bring

contemporary European societal values and customs to her subjects. Aligned to this, her

aim was to increase the international respect of Russia with regard to cultural matters.

Accordingly, she invited Italian architects to modernise the city, and encouraged

intellectuals such as Voltaire, Denis Diderot and Friedrich Melchior von Grimm to visit.

She acquired important literary works and prominent paintings, and held ceremonial

balls and dinners (Molloy, 2005). Aresi (2006) notes that Catherine considered that it

was important for Russia to be seen to be in the vanguard of current trends in music,

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especially opera. Paisiello's duties included composing all the theatrical music the court

required, directing the court orchestra and the court opera company. Robinson (2007,

p.1) notes that the latter was a small Italian opera company that Queen Catherine

maintained for political prestige motives, rather than for any personal love of opera.

In Russia, Paisiello wrote Italian operas for a court audience whose normal

spoken language was not Italian. Robinson (2007, p.4) suggests that to compensate for

this he honed his abilities to communicate the text through musical means. These

included more illustrative orchestrations and increased warmth in his melodies.

His employment in St Petursburg continued until 1784, when he returned to

Naples to take up the position of compositore della musica de' drammi of the

Neapolitan court. Here he was required to write an annual 'heroic' opera and other

occasional music for the court as required. In 1787, King Ferdinando of Naples also

offerred him the position of maestro della real camera, which effectively put him in

charge of all secular music at the court. From 1787, he began to receive commissions

from monasteries and convents to write sacred works. In 1796, he was appointed

maestro di cappella of Naples Cathedral.

Napoleon Bonaparte had admired Paisiello's music since commissioning

him to write a funeral march for one of his generals in 1797. In 1802 Napoleon

appointed him as his private maître de chapelle in Paris. The composer's work consisted

in the main of reconstituting the choir and orchestra of Napoleon's private chapel. In

1804, he helped prepare music for Napoleon's coronation as emperor. This included

composing a new mass and reviving his Te Deum of 1791. He returned to Naples in

1804. However, he continued to receive monetary support from Napoleon, in return for

which he sent the emperor one or more sacred works per year.

In 1806, he was again appointed maestro di cappella and compositore della

real camera, this time by Napoleon's brother Joseph, who had been installed as King of

Naples. He continued to be highly favoured by Napoleon and his relatives until

Napoleon's fall in 1815. In that year, King Ferdinando returned to Naples and, in spite

of Paisiello's service to Joseph, retained him in his current positions. He continued in

this employment until his death in 1816.

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Paisiello's operatic output was prodigious. He composed twenty-seven

serious operas, and fifty-one comic operas of which eight were intermezzi. Robinson

(2007, p.4) summarises the characteristic musical features of Paisiello's operatic works

as a light melodic style with minimal ornamentation, relatively simple harmonies and a

strong sense of rhythm. Aresi (2006, p.9) adds that a characteristic of Paisiello's style,

which is a legacy of his Neapolitan roots, is the "predominance of unpredictable

harmonic twists". Weiss (accessed 2011) refers to Paisiello as one of the prominent new

composers of opera buffa of the later eighteenth century. He was clearly aware of the

Zeitgeist of the period, his setting of Il Barbiere di Siviglia being performed in St

Petersburg the year after his La Serva Padrona.

There are suggestions in the literature of Paisiello's possible influence on

Mozart. Paisiello studied with Francesco Durante (1684-1755) in 1755. Gjerdingen

(2007, p. 225) describes Durante as one of the early Neapolitan masters of the Galant

style. Some years later, in 1782 during his tenure in St Petersburg, Paisiello published a

collection of partimenti dedicated to the future Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, then Grand

Duchess of All the Russias.36 Gjerdingen provides a number of examples of Mozart's

use of partimenti contained in Paisiello's collection. It is interesting to speculate on

whether Mozart was influenced directly by this publication, or whether the two

composers' knowledge of the Galant style developed in parallel.

Robinson (2007, p. 5) suggests that during Paisiello's tenure in Russia there

appeared "in his melodic style certain turns of phrase reminiscent of Mozart". He further

notes that Mozart heard Paisiello's Il Re Teodoro in Venice in 1784 and probably his Il

Barbiere di Siviglia in 1783. The influence of Paisiello's works, he suggests, is evident

in parts of Le Nozze di Figaro (1786) and Don Giovanni (1787).37

Kerman (1956, p. 102) suggests that Paisiello's setting of Il Barbiere di

Siviglia was probably at the pinnacle of what could be done with the "rather simple-

minded technique of opera buffa". He suggests that this work was one of the models

36 Williams and Cafiero (2012) define partimento as: "A term used fairly frequently in the late 18th and

early 19th centuries to denote exercises in figured-bass playing, not so much as accompaniments to a

solo instrument as self-contained pieces."

37 For example, there is a striking similarity between the second half of Rosina's Act III aria: Gia riede primivera in Paisiello's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Barberina's cavatina: L'ho perduta in Le Nozze di Figaro.

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Mozart used for his opere buffe. He notes however, that the latter were more

sophisticated than Paisiello's best works in terms of the compexity of the interplay

between dramatic action and musical continuity.

Expected Similarities and Differences in their Settings of La Serva Padrona

Pergolesi and Paisiello have a number of attributes in common. Both had a

background of living, studying and composing opera for performance in Naples. Both

were considered to be leading proponents of the "Neapolitan style"38. Both were native

Italian speakers, and would therefore be expected to have an intimate consciousness of

the prosody of the Italian language and the Neapolitan dialect. They would be expected

to be aware of the dramatic possibilities inherent within Federico's libretto.Their output

was predominantly vocal music, mainly opera, especially comic, with a lesser output of

sacred works. Instrumental works formed a minor component of their output.

Both works were comic intermezzi. As discussed earlier, Pergolesi's work

was intended to be performed between the acts of an opera seria. It had to gain the

audience's attention quickly, to be sharp and 'punchy' with minimal space for reflective

arias. By contrast, Paisiello's work was an independent intermezzo, intended to be

performed in its own right. Notwithstanding Queen Catherine's instruction to Paisiello

that operas were not to exceed one-and-a-half hours in length, faithful adherence to

Federico's libretto would have resulted in a work that was too short. The overall length

of Pergolesi's setting, even with an added overture, would be about one hour. Therefore,

Paisiello's setting needed to be longer. This may explain, for example, the addition of

the aria Donne vaghe studi nostri and the duet Donne infeste all'altrui bene. The overall

structure of the settings is shown in Tables 1.1 and 1.2.

38 Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) dominated the Neapolitan scene for 35 years as composer and

teacher. He educated an entire generation of Neapolitan composers. He acquired the reputation of

founder of the "Neapolitan school". Salient features of this Neapolitan compositional style included

smoothe melodious vocal writing, clarity of tonal direction and imaginative and beautiful expression

of emotion (Lazarevich 1971, p. 299).

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Table 1.1: Structure of the settings of the First Part

First Part

Pergolesi setting Paisiello setting

Title and form Key/Meter Title and form Key/Meter

Start End Start End

U:39 Aspettare e non venireAria

Bb Bb Overture Bb Bb

4/4 U: Aspettare e non venireAria

Eb Eb

2/4

U and S: Questa è per me disgraziaRecitativo semplice

D F U: Questa è per me disgraziaRecitativo semplice

D D

U and S: Ma quando la finisciDuet

G G

4/4

U ad S: Ola dove si sta?Recitativo semplice

D D

U: Sempre in contrastiAria

F F U: Sempre in contrastiAria

D D

4/4 4/4

U and S: In somma delle sommeRecitativo semplice

D E U and S: In somma delle sommeRecitativo semplice

D G

S: Stizzoso, mio stizzoso!Aria

A A S: Stizzoso, mio stizzoso!Aria

Bb Bb

2/4 2/4

U and S: Benissimo! Hai tu inteso?Recitativo semplice

D G U and S: Benissimo! Hai tu inteso?Recitativo semplice

D G

U and S: Lo conosco a quegli occhiettiDuet

G G U and S: Lo conosco a quegli occhiettiDuet

G G

4/4 2/4

39 U = Uberto, S = Serpina.

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Table 1.2: Structure of the settings of the Second Part

Second Part

Pergolesi setting Paisiello setting

Title and form Key/Meter Title and form Key/Meter

Start End Start End

U and S: Or che fatto ti sei dalla mia parteRecitativo semplice

A Bb S: Donne vaghe studi nostriAria40

Eb Eb

2/4

U and S: Or che fatto ti sei dalla mia parteRecitativo semplice

D C

U and S: Donne infeste all'altrui bene41

Duet

F F

6/8

U and S: Io crederei che la mia serva adessoRecitativo semplice

D D

S: A Serpina pensereteAria

Bb Bb S: A Serpina pensereteAria

Gm Gm

4/4, 3/842 4/8

U and S: Ah, quanto mi fa maleRecitativo semplice

C F U and S: Ah, quanto mi fa maleRecitativo semplice

G D

U: Peraltro io pensereiRecitativo accompagnato

F C U: Ah poveretta lei43

Recitativo accompagnatoC Gm

4/4 4/4

U: Son imbrogliato io giàAria

Eb Eb U: Son imbrogliato io giàAria

C C

4/4 4/4

U and S: Favorisca, signor! Recitativo semplice

F A U and S: Favorisca, signor!Recitativo semplice

D A

U and S: Contento tu saraiDuet44

A A U and S: Contento tu saraiDuet

D D

3/8 2/4, 6/8,

2/4

40 The text of this aria is not part of Federico's libretto.

41 The text of this duet is not from Federico's libretto. It is interpolated into his recitative text.

42 The aria is in da capo form and it ends with a 4/4 section.

43 The text of the two composers' recitativo accompagnato is the same, apart from the first phrase A poveretta lei. This phrase ends the previous recitative in Pergolesi's setting.

44 Troy (1979, p. 88) notes that the duet Per te io ho nel core is frequently substituted for Contento tu sarai in editions of La Serva Padrona. Pergolesi wrote this duet for his comic opera Flaminio, first

performed in 1735.

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The additional aria and duets, and the inclusion of an overture45 in the

Paisiello setting is consistent with the difference in purpose of his work. However,

Lazarevich (1979) in the preface to her edition of Hasse' Larinda e Vanesio, comments

that from the mid-eighteenth century it was common performance practice for

intermezzi to be preceded by overtures.46

Troy (1979, p. 27) maintains that throughout its history the comic

intermezzo retained the overall musical organisation of the seventeenth-century scene

buffe - that is, each part contained one or two arias for each of the two characters, with

intervening recitatives and a concluding duet. This does not hold true for Paisiello's

setting, as he has inserted additional duets within the recitatives in both parts. Paisiello's

setting contains features of opera buffa. These include a greater reliance on duets to

progress the drama, arias which do not correspond to the standard types expected in

intermezzi, and more complex orchestration. Paisiello's score includes woodwinds and

horns, as well as strings and continuo, whereas Pergolesi's score is for string quartet and

continuo.

In terms of music style, both works would be expected to have features of

the Neapolitan comic style and the Galant style, which were described earlier in this

study. This holds true. Both strongly incorporate the buffo style - including repetition of

syllables, words and phrases, parody of elements of serious opera, justaposition of

varied tempi and meters and comic realism in the vocal settings. These features apply

both to arias/duets and to the recitatives. The arias and duets in both works exhibit the

Galant style, with a melodic emphasis on short, repeated motifs, simple harmony and

frequent cadences.

The aria Donne vaghe studi nostri (Lovely ladies, we study grace and

charm), which is the first piece of the second part of Paisiello's setting, is an addition to

the libretto. The text is not Federico's and its author is unknown. In the aria Serpina

sincerely indicates that she plans to use her wiles to try to secure the heart of the older

Uberto. This aria does not seem to fall into any of the three standard types of intermezzo

45 Troy scrutinized some one thousand manuscripts of early eighteenth-century intermezzi. He did not

find a single example of an intermezzo that was to be played between the acts of an opera seria having

an overture (Troy 1979, pp. 127-8) .46 Performances of Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona in Paris in 1746 and 1752 were preceded by overtures

composed by Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli and Georg Phillipp Telemann respectively.

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aria - buffo, pathetic or dance-like. It has a similarity in terms of musical style and

heartfelt sentiment to the Countess' cavatina Porgi amor in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.

It suggests a more mature Serpina than the character in Pergolesi's setting.

The text of the duet Donne infeste all'altrui bene, che rapite i cuori altrui

(Ladies replete with others' belongings, who steal others' hearts) is not part of Federico's

libretto. It is interpolated into the recitative text in the second part of Paisiello's setting.

The duet does not have a da capo form and it further develops the contest of wills

between Serpina and Uberto and the latter's gradual weakening. This duet clearly does

progress the drama, as Uberto implies that if he allowed himself to tolerate Serpina's

advances, he would lose his free will. As noted earlier, similar emotional and character

developments are evident in the duet Lo conosco in quegli occhietti which concludes the

first part of Pergolesi's setting.

Paisiello's setting of the final duet Contento tu sarai (You will be contented)

contains changes in meter and tempo, signifying a crescendo of emotional connection

between Serpina and Uberto. In common with Pergolesi's setting, it does not have a da

capo form. The latter, however, does not have changes in meter.

To sum up, it can be concluded that some of the expected differences

between the settings in terms of structure and style of the arias and duets are present. It

could be argued that the recitatives may be the component least likely to have changed

significantly in the forty-eight years between the settings. Both works would be

expected to have the style of recitative which developed early in the eighteenth century

for intermezzi, as discussed earlier. Changes in the conventions of harmonic patterns and

bass figures may have occurred over the interval. However, it might be inferred that

differences between the recitative settings were in the main attributable to the

composers' interpretations of the drama in the text, as well as to their individual tastes.

Aims of the Study

A central tenet of this study is that it is valid to examine the drama which is

immanent in the written music of recitatives as a separate issue from how drama is

created by the singers and instrumentalists in performance. Kerman (1956, p.6), in

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discussing operatic activity, be this performance, study or informed listening, suggests

that a "serious search for dramatic values with an informed respect for tradition" ought

to be the basis for the development of standards. He further asserts: "To estimate the

meaning of a work of art of the past, to reconstrue the composer's conception in terms

that are meaningful now - this takes an imaginative effort, as always" (ibid, p. 22). He

postulates: "The critical procedure involves a sharpening of musical awareness and an

expansion of our range of imaginative response to drama." As noted earlier, he puts

forward the view that the main issue that composers have to grapple with in operatic

dramaturgy is the relationship or interplay between action and music (ibid, p. 98). He

maintains that "Composers of the past left, not a series of immature experiments, but a

number of solutions, each distinct, and each with the potentiality of artistic success

within its own limitations" (ibid, p. 5).

Monelle (1978, pp. 245-6) posits that a feature of recitativo semplice in

Neapolitan opera seria was an "extreme subtlety" in its musical impact which, he

suggests, escapes most modern listeners. Although the musical effect of recitative in

Neapolitan comic operatic works might be more obvious, it is still appropriate to

attempt to tease out the underlying mechanisms involved in its creation of drama.

This study seeks answers to two broad questions. How have Pergolesi and

Paisiello used music compositional devices for the rhetorical delivery of text in the

recitatives in their settings of La Serva Padrona to create and convey selected

manifestations of drama? What are the explanations for the differences in their settings

of the recitatives? The manifestations of drama which will be considered are: the intent

of the characters,47 the emotion within the characters, and the dramatic impulse.48

Compositional devices for the rhetorical delivery of text in recitative will be

examined under four broad headings: those concerned with rhythm, those concerned

with melody or pitch, those concerned with harmony and those concerned with keys. To

facilitate the comparison, I will derive a taxonomy of compositional devices.

Compositional devices within this taxonomy will be chosen on the basis that they are

47 For the purposes of this study, the 'intent of the characters' means their wants and desires, aspirations

and needs.

48 For the purposes of this study, 'dramatic impulse' includes the unfolding, pacing, increase and decrease

of tension and sense of forward movement of the action, both physical and psychological.

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the most relevant to recitative composition of the resources available to composers at

the time for the rhetorical delivery of text through music. In deriving the taxonomy, I

will draw on eclectic sources. These include relevant published theses, especially those

of Monson (1983) and Glixon (1985).49 I will use writings on compositional devices in

recitative in the Baroque and Classic periods, such as those of Lazarevich (1971 and

2007), Downes (1961), Monelle (1978), Tomlinson (1981 and 1982), Rosen (1971) and

Agawu (1991). I will extrapolate from concepts within Musica Poetica, as described by

Bartel (1997), and will consider conventions of Italian poetry structure and declamation

(Carroli, 2008).

Significance of the Study

The study will be a systematic comparative analysis of the use of

compositional devices in recitative to create and convey selected manifestations of

drama. It will test the concept that the application of music to text, in the context of

recitative writing in eighteenth-century Italian opera, can significantly condition

selected manifestations of drama within a libretto. A systematic comparison of the

recitative in the two works chosen appears not to have been done. The analysis will be

an unique documentation of the potential dramatic outcomes resulting from the use of

compositional devices available in the eighteenth century for the rhetorical delivery of

text through music.

It is acknowledged that a limitation of this study is that it focuses on the

creation of drama in recitatives only, whereas the foregoing discussion indicates that the

dramatic action, in terms of revelation of character emotion and intent, progressed in the

arias and duets of works of the type to be compared. However, where appropriate in the

study, consideration will be given to dramatic developments occurring in arias and duets

adjacent to the recitative sections being compared.

A practical application of the methodology used in the study is to assist

performers, stage directors, conductors and dramaturgs in the realisation of the

recitatives in operatic works. It may also help listeners and music scholars appreciate

more fully the function of recitative in works such as those compared in this study.

49 I will draw in particular on Glixon's 1985 analysis of the dramatic functions and uses of musical

devices in the recitative of seventeenth-century Venetian operas.

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Chapter 2: The Study

The aim of the analysis is to compare how Pergolesi and Paisiello have used

compositional devices in the recitatives in their settings of La Serva Padrona to create

and convey selected manifestations of drama. Further detail of the analytic method was

given in the 'Aims of the Study' section. In this context, Kerman's discussion of the

composer's ability to realize the potential drama in the libretto is pertinent. He notes that

the libretto is at once the inspiration for and the limitation of the composer's task as a

dramatist. Composers will succeed to varying degrees in realizing the dramatic

possibilities in elements of the libretto. Their success or otherwise will depend on how

well the element suits their particular skills (Kerman 1956, p. 29).

In this chapter, I will list compositional devices which I have identified

during analysis of the two settings. Devices related to Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Keys

and any combination of these are listed. For the purposes of this study, I have given

each device a short title. I will then compare the settings of a selection of recitative

sections from the two works. Recitative sections are chosen on the basis that they are

pivotal to the elaboration of the drama and because they highlight the use of specific

compositional devices. The contrasting dramatic implications for the works will be

discussed.

Selected Compositional Devices

Rhythm used in setting the text

Glixon (1985), comparing the closed form of text for aria with the free verse

form of text for recitative, comments:

While an aria moves in phrases that are more-or-less predictable and regular, recitative,

following a freely metrical text, moves in phrases that are essentially unpredictable, often

irregular, and of indeterminate length: the composer can present as many or as few words in a

phrase as he wishes, and within the phrases, the possibilities of rhythmic organisation are

numerous (Glixon 1985, p 66-7).

Table 2.1 lists compositional devices related to rhythm used for setting text

into recitative.

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Elongation Setting a syllable, word or phrase over long note values for

emphasis.

Metrical de-emphasis Deliberate placement of syllables which would be accented in

normal speech on beats with weak metrical accentuation values.

It can be used to draw attention to a word. This relates to

De'Ath's text rendering method described in chapter 1. The

device can also be used to indicate an aside or parenthesis. For

example, it could convey a feigned attitude of confusion, or of

being downtrodden (Glixon 1985, p. 112 and p. 125).

Metrical emphasis Placement of words/syllables on beats with strong metrical

accentuation values in order to emphasize them.

Parola tronca Deliberate shortening of Italian words by removing the final

vowel syllable. (This might also be done by the librettist.) It

enables the composer to use the 'masculine cadence' for

emphasis as opposed to the expected 'feminine cadence' (Glixon

1985, p 54). An example is amor for amore.

Repetition Repetition of a syllable, word or phrase for emphasis or comic

effect.

Silence Intentional use of silence to slow the perception of text pacing.

Synaeresis/Diaeresis Synaeresis occurs where two vowels within the same word are

pronounced in the time of one syllable. This is common in

spoken Italian. Diaeresis means intentionally not applying

synaeresis for the purpose of emphasising the word. It is

signified by two dots over the first syllable. For example:

passïone indicates that the "i" and "o" syllables are each to be

pronounced as opposed to more usual practice of pronouncing

them in the time of one syllable (Carroli, 2008).

Table 2.1 Compositional devices related to rhythm.

Other compositional devices related to the rhythm of text setting include the

use of discrete phrases as opposed to phrases that run together without gaps, and

varying the number of words in musical phrases. This relates to the concepts of 'sense

groups' and metrical emphasis described in chapter 1.

Melody used for setting the text

Although recitative is intended to be speech-like, it is usually melodic in

nature. As such, it proceeds in phrases and complies with many of the standard features

of melodic design - such as leaps being compensated by returns in direction, phrases

having contours with carefully determined high and low points, resolutions toward the

tonic being prepared by melodic contours that emphasize the leading note and the

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seventh. Table 2.2 lists relevant compositional devices related to melody used for setting

text into recitative.

Anabasis, ascensus An ascending musical passage which expresses ascending or

exalted images or affections (Bartel, 1997 p. 179).50

Bass/melody relationship

The relationship of the melody in the voice part to that in the

figured bass.51

Catabasis, descensus A descending musical passage (usually chromatic). 52

Dissonance Accented and unaccented dissonance can be used to emphasize

a word or phrase (Glixon, 1985 p. 34).

Imitated intervallic pattern

A melodic sequence copied by characters in dialogue may imply

empathy, shared emotion, similar intent or that one character is

parodying the other (Glixon 1985, p. 200).

Metabasis, Transgressio

Crossing of one voice part by another signifies some form of

involvement between the characters (Bartel, 1997 p. 319).53

Non-directional melodic segment

A series of phrases whose melody does not seem to have an

apparent direction. 54

Pitch highlight Setting a word or syllable on a high (or low) pitch for

emphasis.

Reciprocal phrases The placement side-by-side of two opposite phrases - falling

and rising for example. This device is used to express circular or

opposing ideas, emotion or action.55

Repeated notes Repeated notes may be used for poetic declamation.

Sequence A repeated set of intervals with an identical or very similar

contour, usually with identical or similar rhythm. Sequences can

emphasize the similarity of ideas in the sections of text.

Shift in tessitura A sudden shift in tessitura can be used to signal parenthesis or

an aside (Glixon 1985, p. 112). 56

Vocal arpeggiation The harmony remains constant while the vocal line moves in an

arpeggio fashion. This can be used to slow the forward

movement or to signal an aside (Glixon 1985, p. 81).

Table 2.2 Compositional devices related to melody.

50 An example unrelated to recitative is in Et Resurrexit from Johann Sebastian Bach's B Minor Mass.

51 Downes (1961) notes that an unusual melodic interval in the bass line could be used to draw attention

to an important dramatic event.

52 May express descending, lowly, or negative images or affections (Bartel 1997, p. 215).

53 An example is the last line of Pergolesi's setting of the duet Lo conosco in La Serva Padrona. Here,

Uberto's notes are above Serpina's, signifying his inextricable emotional involvement with her.

54 This can heighten impact of neighbouring directional phrases (Glixon 1985, p.75).

55 The Musica Poetica term for a similar device is Circulatio, Circulo, Kyklosis. This usually refers to 8-

note phrases, and can be a text-expressive device or simply an ornament (Bartel 1997, p. 216).

56 An example is a drop in the melody to the point of sounding like another voice: for example down a

4th or 5th.

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Harmonies used in setting the text

The overall structure of recitative is achieved through the harmonies implied

in the figured bass and the types of cadence used. In contrast to compositional devices

involving rhythm, devices related to harmony do not interrupt the flow of text. They can

therefore provide a more abrupt effect. As noted in chapter 1, Donington (1981, p. 41)

states that modulation was a necessary ingredient that enabled music to contribute to the

Florentine Camerata's ideal of continuously unfolding the drama in the text through

music. Glixon (1985, p. 66) adds to this that the possibility of exploring tonal areas that

are loosely related "keeps the musical action in motion, and avoids tedium in recitative".

She also suggests that tonal ambiguity is an inherent feature of recitative, and that

composers are free to exploit this. They could do this by establishing a tonal centre and

then by moving away from it at will. She uses the term being "on" as opposed to "in" a

key (ibid, p.73). Cadences, depending on their type, can close sections of recitative

more or less effectively.

There are a number of possible dramatic implications of the relationship

between the figured bass line and the melody. The bass line can remain stationary while

the melody moves, or it can move in parallel direction with, or in a contrary direction to,

that of the melody. For example, a stationary figured bass line below a moving melody

can imply stability, nobility or resolve. Another possibility was commonly seen in the

setting of the word costanza - constancy. The second syllable of this word was often set

to a sustained note, while the figured bass line moved rapidly (Glixon, 1985 example

2.32). Movement in a parallel direction tends to emphasize the approach to a

musical/textual climax. Movement in contrary motion could cast doubt on the validity

of the vocal line text, implying a countering idea.

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Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741) proposed that recitative be allowed to

deviate from the rules of harmony that he laid down in his 1725 treatise Gradus ad

Parnassum. He noted that since the bass does not move in the manner in which

dissonances are usually resolved, the harmony cannot proceed towards resolution in the

usual manner. He explained that this dispensation could be allowed because in the

recitative style one aims not so much at the satisfaction of the rules of harmony but at

the expression of emotions. The latter, he noted was the reason for the development of

recitative (cited in Hansell, 1968). Downes (1961, p. 59) also states that recitativo

semplice is ordered by a different system of harmonic "rules" from those that govern

four-part vocal writing. A feature of this system, he notes, is the "liberal use of

secondary dominants". Almost every chord is a dominant of the following chord. The

resultant continual cadencing is well suited to the build-up and release of tension that

characterises conversational speech. Table 2.3 lists harmonic compositional devices.

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Ambiguous tonality Passages which do not have an implied harmonic direction or

where the tonality is unclear can either slow down or speed up

the forward movement.57 They can be used to contrast with

adjacent passages with clear tonality or harmonic direction.

Cadenza d'inganno The music seems to lead to a cadence, but then does not end on

the expected tonic.58

Chromatic approach

The chord used to approach a cadence can lend additional

emphasis or colour to it.59

Dominant harmony passage

Setting a section of text over dominant or other unstable harmony

affects the listeners' interpretation of the pacing of the recitative.60

First inversion chord passage

Passages of first inversion chords (either acending or descending)

may express frustration or longing (Glixon 1985, p. 249).

Harmonic rhythm A change in harmonic rhythm can signal a change of mood.61

Harmonic shift A sudden juxtaposition of different tonality can be used for a

number of dramatic purposes, including new ideas or emotions.

Imperfect cadence A cadence ending on the dominant chord can be used to express

a question or exclamation. It implies that there is more to come.

Inversions Inversions, in particular inversions of the dominant chord, are

inherently less stable than root-position chords, creating an

expectation of resolution.62

Pathopoeia A vivid representation of an intense or vehement affect through

chromaticism (Bartel 1997, p. 359).

Secondary dominant chain

A harmonic sequence in which the root of the harmonies

progresses by 5ths. This device can be used to accelerate the

perceived motion.63

Unexpected modulation

For example, going to the major key when the relative minor of

the current major key is expected, can suggest confusion or

vacillation.

Table 2.3 Compositional devices related to harmony.

57 It can also imply that the character is confused or distraught (Glixon 1985, p. 71 and p. 186).

58 This affects the impression of pacing in that an expected pause may not occur. It may also imply a

change of idea or emotion.

59 Examples are secondary dominant and chromatic approaches like the Neapolitan approach, in which

the bII6 chord precedes the dominant.

60 An extended passage based on a dominant chord can slow the perception of dramatic pacing, while

maintaining tension (Glixon 1985, pp. 74-5).

61 For example, a section of sustained harmony over a pedal followed by a section of rapidly changing

harmonies could indicate calmness and assurance in the first section, and agitation or anger in the

second section.

62 The resolution of these chords provides an automatic highlighting of the text. The first inversion

dominant chord is the frequent hallmark of the emotional, if not affective or pathetic, in recitative

(Glixon 1985, p. 78).

63 The note arrived at becomes the dominant of the next note. This can be used in a lively exchange

between characters, for example.

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With regard to the cadenza d'inganno, the combinations of bass movement

and figures used by the composers for recitatives in this study are shown below:

In C major, these correspond to:

a) G dominant 7th to E major first inversion

b) G dominant 7th to A flat major

c) G major to D major first inversion

d) G major first inversion to F major first inversion

As noted in chapter 1, an additional formula is that where the V chord is followed by the

VI. There appear to be no instances of this in the recitative excerpts examined in this

study.

Keys used for setting the text

Steblin (1986) discusses the use of individual keys to signify specific moods

or meanings. Alluding to the hexachord system, Geiringer (1925) comments that in

Pergolesi's setting Uberto's arias are in flat keys, emphasising his downtrodden affect,

while Serpina's tend to be in sharp keys, suggesting her youthful exuberance. The

hexachord system was based on the natural hexachord, which was a six-note mode

without a key signature. Although originating in the medieval period, it was well-known

to late seventeenth-century composers, and had remained a basis for composition.

Halton (2011, p. xxiii) notes that keys with one or more flats in the key signature were

based on the 'soft hexachord', while those with one or more sharps were based on the

'hard hexachord'. She observes that by the late seventeenth century instrumental timbre

and tuning influenced the affective colour of the keys. In the sharp keys the violins

tended to have a more strident sound, resulting in the use of these keys for "strong

assertive emotional affect". She proposes that a greater variety of keys was used in

opera, in comparison to solo voice pieces, for the purposes of implying contrasting

dramatic parameters of character emotion and intent (ibid). As shown in Tables 1.1 and

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1.2, Geiringer's assertion holds true, except for Serpina's mock-serious aria A Serpina

penserete. However, in Paisiello's setting, all three of Serpina's arias are in flat keys.

This could have relevance to the type of personality that the composers are trying to

paint - a confident, brash adolescent for Pergolesi's setting and a more calculating,

shrewd persona in Paisiello's. Whether exploitation of key colours applies to recitativo

semplice settings is unclear, although it would be expected to be relevant to recitativo

accompagnato.

In this context, the tuning systems used for the keyboard instruments may

have had an influence on the composers' use of harmonies and keys. Meantone tuning

was the predominant tuning system from the late fifteenth century until the early

eighteenth century. The system focusses on producing as many pure major thirds as

possible. However, as a result the intervals for four major thirds are too wide. One

perfect fifth interval is also too wide. The sound of a triad which includes any of these

intervals is jarring and unpleasant. In a meantone tuning cycle starting on C, the

unpleasant major thirds are those above Db, F#, Ab and B. The unpleasant perfect fifth

is Ab - Eb. These problems render some keys unuseable. The resultant effect on

compositional style was a tendency to use a limited number of major and minor keys.

Gann (1997) notes that the acceptable keys in this temperament were eight major keys

and their relative minor keys. These were C, D, Eb, E, F, G, A and Bb major and a, b, c,

c#, d, e, f# and g minor respectively.

It is not known whether meantone was the most common tuning in early

eighteenth-century Italian opera. However, Monson's analysis of the recitatives in four

of Pergolesi's opere serie suggests that his works may have been written for keyboard

instruments tuned in meantone temperament. He notes that the harmonic palette used

was limited, being mainly confined to the seven keys: C, D, E, F, G, A, and Bb and their

relative minors (Monson 1983, p. 198). Although Pergolesi occasionally used

harmonies outside these confines, it could be inferred that he was intentionally

employing their jarring sound for effect.

Well temperament came into widespread use during the eighteenth century.

It is likely that Paisiello's works were written to be performed with keyboard

instruments in this temperament. In this type of temperament, all keys on the 12 pitches

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were useable, but each key had a slightly different sound. The perfect fifths were all

useable, but the accuracy of the major thirds varied. For this reason, the keys had

different 'colours'. Gann (1997, chapter 3) states that the major triads on C, D, F, G, and

Bb were most accurate and sounded best. Major triads on Eb, E, A and B sounded less

pleasant, perhaps having a tense or unsettled or sound. Those on Db, F# and Ab were

unattractive to the ear. Minor triads grouped around A minor on the cycle of fifths

sounded best: d, e, f, b and a.

Tense triad or chord: For the purposes of this study, this term will be used

for triads of chords which would sound jarring, unpleasant or unsettled in the tuning

system that may have been used.

Compositional devices involving any combination of rhythm, melody, harmony and key

The compositional devices listed in the preceding sections on rhythm,

melody, harmony and key may be used simultaneously. For example, Downes (1961, p.

61) describes a number of stereotypical combined melodic/harmonic devices used to

indicate questions. These include the falling fourth followed by a rising second, the

falling second followed by a rising third. The accompanying harmony could be an

imperfect, Phrygian or deceptive cadence (cadenza d'inganno). A musical

representation of parenthesis or an aside in the text can be achieved in a number of

ways, including vocal arpeggiation, shift in tessitura, harmonic shift and combinations

of these. Lazarevich (1971, p. 313) notes that tirata were early devices for achieving a

symphonic-dramatic effect in intermezzi. Table 2.4 lists combined compositional

devices.

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Contrasting music styles

Contrasting styles of music, including harmonies or thematic

material may signify opposing ideas or affections. A contrasting

style may indicate an emotional distance between the characters.64

Dubitatio An intentionally ambiguous rhythmic or harmonic progression

can signify hesitation, doubt or confusion (Bartel, 1997 p. 242).

Exclamatio, Ecphonesis

A musical exclamation, frequently associated with exclamation in

the text. Examples are fermatas over each syllable; a rapidly

descending dotted passage; large intervals signifying

astonishment, a joyous shout or encouraging command; ascending

passage, using consonances in joyous events or dissonances in

sorrowful ones (Bartel, 1997 p. 265).

Interrogatio Musical questions rendered through various combinations of

pauses, rises at the end of the phrase or melody, imperfect

cadences or cadenze d'inganno (Bartel, 1997 p. 312).

March-like flourish65

Repeated orchestral chords in cut-dot and/or syncopated rhythm.

Suggests either resolve towards an action, or authority.66

Melisma Melisma ocurs where a syllable is set over two or more notes. It

can be used to emphasize a word, or for word painting.67

Mimesis For the purposes of this study, mimesis refers to an emulation in

music of the meaning of the text .68

Text repetition Repetition, particularly with the same pitch and rhythm,

emphasizes the meaning of the text.69

Tirata A rapid scalar passage, spanning a fourth to an octave or more

(Bartel, 1997 p. 409).

Table 2.4 Combined compositional devices.

64 The Musica Poetica term for such devices is Contrapositum, Antithesis, Antitheton (Bartel 1997, p.

197).

65 Rosen (1971, p. 72) uses this term in reference to Mozart's symphonic works. Agawu (1991, p. 30)

lists 'march' in his compendium of 'topics' in Classic music.

66 It may signify the tapping of the judge's gavel.

67 An example is melisma to illustrate the shimmering of stars. A melismatic cadential formula may

indicate an impassioned state (Glixon, 1895, p. 107).

68 An example outside recitative is the setting of the text "the double, double, double beat of the

thundering drum in the chorus Come if you dare from Henry Purcell's semi-opera King Arthur. Here,

both the melody of repeated descending 4ths and the syncopated rhythm depict the drums in music.

Glixon (1985, p.99) notes that the most mimetic text representations occurred in relation to a

physiological process such as breathing. An example is the low repeated note phrase on the syllables

in "Ta-pa-ta" in Pergolesi's duet Per te io ho nel core from La Serva Padrona. This represents the

supposed 'love drum' beating in Uberto's heart. A corresponding Musica Poetica term is Assimilatio, Homoiosis, defined as a musical representation of the text's imagery (Bartel, 1997 p. 207).

69 Text repetition can also have a melodic function. For example, it can change the balance in phrases in

the libretto, which might otherwise be inconsistent with good melodic structure.

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The Analysis

The libretto is in prose form except for Uberto's recitative soliloquy Ah

poveretta lei! Per altro penserei, which is in verse. The dramatic possibilities raised by

this difference will be considered in the analysis.

Selected recitative sections for comparison

The recitative sections which are compared occur in chronological order in

the works. Tables 1.1 and 1.2 provided the overall structure. The subheadings for the

sections describe the evolution of the drama at that point.

The first four sections are all from the opening recitative Questa è per me

disgrazia. As noted in Tables 1.1 and 1.2, this occurs after Uberto's first aria Aspettare e

non venire. In this aria, he repeatedly complains that he has been waiting three hours for

Serpina to bring his hot chocolate, and that she shows no gratitude for his good

treatment of her. Both composers chose a flat key for their setting of this aria. These

first four recitative sections could be seen as an initial exposition of the two

protagonists' characters, emotions, intents and of the relationship between them. They

set the scene for the ensuing drama.

Uberto bemoans Serpina's tardiness: Questa è per me disgrazia

Uberto bemoans his maidservant's increasing disobedience, arrogance and haughtiness. He tells his manservant to go and see why she's late with his chocolate.

Dramatically this section sets the scene for the subsequent physical and

psychological action and for the conflict between Uberto and Serpina. Uberto expresses

his annoyance at Serpina's failure to bring him his morning hot chocolate - he has been

waiting for three hours, and cannot go out until he has had it. He states in general terms

his annoyance with Serpina's behavour. He then takes out his annoyance on Vespone,

ordering him to go and find Serpina and see what is the problem. The section finishes

with the phrase addressed to Vespone: Sollecita, vedi che fa. The text suggests Uberto's

indecisiveness and pampered character. It shows his condescending, dismissive

relationship with the mute manservant Vespone. A translation follows.70

70 Translations are by the author.

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Uberto

Questa è per me disgrazia; son tre ore che aspetto, e la mia serva portarmi il cioccolatte non fa grazia, ed io d'uscire ho fretta. O flemma benedetta! Or sì, che vedo che per esser sì buono con costei, la causa son di tutti i mali miei. Serpina ... Vien domani. (A Vespone): E tu altro che fai? A che quieto ne stai come un balocco? Come? che dici? eh sciocco! Vanne, rompiti presto il collo. Sollecita; vedi che fa.

I find this a disgrace – I've been waiting 3

hours, and my servant girl hasn't deigned

to bring my chocolate, and I'm in a hurry

to go out. Oh curses!

Now yes, I see that by being so good to

her I'm the cause of all my troubles.

Serpina ... she'll come tomorrow.

(To Vespone): And you, what are you

doing? Standing mute like a statue? Eh?

What do you say? Eh twit! Go, shake a

leg. Stir her up; see what she's doing.

The settings, shown in Figures 2.1 and 2.2, illustrate contrasts in the use of

rhythmic, harmonic, melodic and key devices. The most striking contrast is in the

harmonies used. Pergolesi does not use any minor tonalities, whereas Paisiello uses

minor tonalities in bars 4 and 5. The placements of grazia on an E minor chord and

fretta (hurry) on an A minor chord in Paisiello's setting serve to emphasize Uberto's

frustration.71 The sudden move to a B major triad on the accented syllable of the word

aspetto (I am waiting) in Paisiello's setting also emphasizes Uberto's frustration. As

noted earlier, B major in Well temperament has a rather unsettled sound.

I believe that Paisiello's harmonic treatment creates a different kind of

emotion from that apparent in Pergolesi's setting. The minor tonalities impart a

brooding, almost ominous mood. The B major triad adds to the impression of Uberto's

distress at the loss of his usual routine. It helps convey the impression that things are out

of the ordinary. The apparent superficiality of Pergolesi's setting, by contrast, could be

in keeping with the imperative that an intermezzo had no time to create too much depth

early on in the work. It had to grab the audience's attention quickly.

The descending bass line with parallel movement in the vocal line in bars 1-

6 of Paisiello's setting emphasizes the movement to the dramatic climax of Uberto's

exclamation Oh flemma benedetta! Similarly, the stepwise ascending bass line in bars 8-

11 ending on the cadenza d'inganno to F major tonality emphasizes a dramatic climax -

Uberto states that Serpina is the cause of all his troubles. This climax leaves space for

71 The phrase non fa grazia translates as 'she hasn't the good grace'.

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his attempt to summon her. The expected final chord of the I-IV-V7 progression in these

bars would be A. Pergolesi uses a similar device in bars 7-9, with a I-IV-V7 progression

in C ending on a cadenza d'inganno to a first inversion E major chord. However,

Pergolesi's setting does not employ as strong a stepwise movement in the bass line. It is

noteworthy that both composers use a cadenza d'inganno at the same point, with the

bass rising by a semitone, albeit to a different destination harmony. This could suggest

that both composers respond to the text in the same way, that is, both want to highlight a

change from Uberto's introspection to his physical action in summoning her. Perhaps

both wished to set the scene for a demonstration of Serpina's intransigence. It could also

suggest that Paisiello, being well versed in Pergolesi's setting, chose to create the drama

at this point in a similar way.

With regard to rhythm, the noticeable difference in the settings of the first

sentence is that the accented first syllable of the word serva (female servant) is placed

on the beat 4 in Pergolesi's setting, while Paisiello places it on beat 1. This placement on

a beat with a stronger metrical accentuation could suggest that Paisiello wants to

emphasize the master servant aspect of Uberto's relationship with Serpina. The diagram

below shows a comparison of the metrical accentuation positions and indicates

Paisiello's compositional devices for the sense group: son tre ore che aspetto and the

rhythmic unit: e la mia serva.

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Figure 2.1 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.2 Giovanni Paisiello

The settings of the repetition of Serpina's name when Uberto attempts to

summon her are significantly different. In both settings, the text is preceded by a

cadenza d'inganno in the same metrical position. The differences in the settings of the

text which follows could suggest that Paisiello wanted a different effect in terms of

dramatic pacing. Pergolesi spreads the repetition of Serpina over 6 beats, with a minim

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on the accented syllable Serpina in bar 10. This is shown in the following diagram.

Paisiello, by contrast, sets the two words over fewer beats. He sets the

repetition on a V 4/2 chord. Downes (1961, p. 66) provides evidence that that V 4/2

chords were commonly used for emphasis in the recitativo semplice of eighteenth-

century opere serie. Paisiello's setting is shown in the following diagram.

By spreading these words over a longer time Pergolesi's setting serves to

emphasize the inherent drama in Serpina's lack of response, allowing a heightening of

the sense of Uberto's frustration. The settings have a subtly different significance in

terms of the meaning of the Italian text. Pergolesi's text means 'Serpina, Serpina! She'll

come tomorrow'. Paisiello's text Serpina. Serpina vien domani means 'Serpina. Serpina

will come tomorrow'. Pergolesi's setting allows more space for Serpina's lack of

response to sink in. At this point, I believe that Pergolesi's setting creates the dramatic

situation of Serpina's disobedience more clearly. Nevertheless, Paisiello may have

intentionally set this text with fewer pauses in order not to detract from the impression

of Uberto's agitated impatience.

The increase in harmonic rhythm in Paisiello's setting when Uberto is

addressing Vespone - from balocco onwards - reinforces the perception of Uberto's

frustration and agitation. I believe that Paisiello's harmonies more effectively signify the

dramatic situation - namely Uberto's emotions - at this point.

Uberto reveals his feelings for Serpina: Gran fatto!

Uberto reveals his feelings for Serpina, stating that he'll have to do something about her bad behaviour before too long.

This section continues immediately after the first section. It is pivotal to the

exposition of the principal male character, Uberto. It is a short racconto, that is a section

of libretto in which a character describes his or her background or reports on past events

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(Glixon 1985, p. 58). In adddition, it sets the scene for the plot of the work - the

maidservant becoming mistress. Uberto reflects on his experience of raising his maid

Serpina, providing some information about the history of their relationship. There is an

opportunity for the musical setting to help define Uberto's feelings for her - that is, how

he has felt about her in the past, and how he feels about her recent change in behaviour.

In the final sentence, Uberto refers to his manservant Vespone as a baboon. This

description defines Uberto's attitude to his manservant, and depending on how it is set,

can also emphasize his frustration. A translation follows.

Uberto

Gran fatto! Io m'ho cresciuta questa serva piccina. L'ho fatta di carezze, l'ho tenuta come mia figlia fosse! Or ella ha preso perciò tanta arroganza, fatta è sì superbona, che alfin di serva diverrà padrona. Ma bisogna risolvermi in buon'ora ... e quest'altro babbion ci è morto ancora?

What a situation! I've raised this little girl

servant myself.

I've caressed her, I've held her as though

she were my own daughter! Now she's

taken on such arrogance,

become so haughty,

that she'll go from being maid to mistress.

Well I'll have to do something soon ... and

that other baboon, has he died already?

The most noticeable devices in Paisiello's setting of this section are in the

harmonies used to create mood and imply emotion, the use of rhythmic devices to

emphasize the master-servant relationship, and a combined melodic and harmonic

device to create a dramatic climax at the end of the passage. The settings are shown in

Figures 2.3 and 2.4.

Paisiello again uses a B major triad, continuing the unsettled mood. The use

of minor triads on the accented syllables of piccinina (little girl) and ora (time) adds

emphasis to these words and emphasizes Uberto's brooding, self-pitying mood.72 By

contrast, Pergolesi uses only major tonalities.

72 Paisiello changes the word piccina to piccinina. The alteration emphasizes 'littleness'.

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Figure 2.3 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.4 Giovanni Paisiello

Figures 2.5 and 2.6 show the placement of syllables in the first sentence.

The placement is subtly different between the settings. The word 'cresciuta' (past

participle of 'crescere' - to bring up or raise) is spread over a full two crotchet beats in

the Pergolesi setting, while the same word takes two quavers in the Paisiello setting .

The first syllable of the word 'serva' (maidservant) has a metrical accentuation value73

73 An explanation of metrical accentuation values is given in chapter 1.

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of 2 in the Paisiello setting and 3 in the Pergolesi setting.

Figure 2.5 Position of syllables in Pergolesi

Figure 2.6 Position of syllables in Paisiello

In bars 9-10, Paisiello places the accented syllables of both serva (servant)

and padrona (mistress) on metrical position 1, wheras Pergolesi places them on the

metrically weaker positions 3 and 2 (bars 24-5). In addition, Paisiello places rests after

serva and diverrà. This intentional use of silence, spreading out the sense group, serves

to focus the listener's attention on these words. Pergolesi's setting, by contrast, runs the

sense group without any interruption. This raises the issue of notation versus expected

performance practice. As discussed in chapter one, we do not know how recitativo

semplice actually sounded. For Pergolesi's setting, it would be up to the performer to

insert pauses if he wished to highlight this aspect of the drama - that is a servant rising

to the position of mistress of the house. It may be that Pergolesi would have expected a

performer to do this. Nevertheless, Paisiello's setting indicates that he clearly wished to

guide the performer to insert the pauses and ensure the placement of strong emphases.

Bar 25 of figure 2.3 may be an instance where Pergolesi intended a cadenza

tronca effect in performance.74 The clash of a Bb appoggiatura on padrona with A and C

in the continuo could be a musical metaphor for the social dissonance between

maidservant and mistress.

An interpretation of the differences in these settings is that Pergolesi implies

that Uberto's predominant feeling for Serpina is tenderness. By contrast, Paisiello's

setting implies that Uberto's predominant consideration is that Serpina is a servant, and

that her rising to the position of mistress would be a threat to his social standing. The

rise in station from maid to mistress is the central paradox of the drama in this work.

74 As discussed in chapter 1, common performance practice would have been to sing an appoggiatura on

the penultimate syllable. Padrona would be sung as Bb-Bb-F, possibly with a continuo acciaccatura.

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Paisiello's setting could be interpreted as an invitation to the performer to emphasize the

contrast between maidservant and mistress in a comic manner as a way of anticipating

the ensuing drama. These differences in the settings may also be a reflection of the

expectations of the intended audiences for the works - the general theatre-going public

for Pergolesi's work versus a court audience for Paisiello's.

Pergolesi's setting of the word tenuta (past participle of the verb tenere - to

hold) is a mimesis. The accented second syllable is given a full crotchet on the

metrically strongest position. This holding of the syllable is a metaphor for Uberto

cradling Serpina. The word is given no particular emphasis in Paisiello's setting. This

adds to the impression of a stronger emphasis on Uberto's tenderness for Serpina in

Pergolesi's setting.

Paisiello uses a combined melodic and harmonic device to emphasize

Uberto's added frustration with his manservant Vespone. The accented second syllable

of babbion (baboon) is placed on a high chromatic note, reached by leap of an

augmented 4th. This is an example of Pathopoeia - a representation of Uberto's intense

frustration through chromaticism. The underlying harmony is a bVI-V progression. This

chromatic approach to the dominant occurs within an imperfect cadence in G minor.

The cadence, which stresses the question to be answered - "has that baboon died on

me?" - is given more emphasis by the chromatic approach.

Serpina reveals her agenda: Adunque perch'io son serva

Serpina tells Uberto that she won't take orders from the manservant. She wants to be respected, revered, as though she were the mistress of the house.

Serpina has begun to berate and hit Vespone because, at his master's

bidding, he has told her to hurry up with preparation of the chocolate. Uberto scolds her

for chiding a fellow servant in his presence. In this passage of recitative Serpina

assertively states that she is no longer prepared to be treated as a servant. She reveals

her agenda to climb the social ladder and be treated as the mistress of the house. This

recitative section is pivotal to the exposition of the plot.

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Serpina

Adunque perch'io son serva, ho da esser sopraffatta? Ho da essere maltrattata? No signore, voglio esser rispettata, voglio esser riverita come fossi padrona, arcipadrona, padronissima.

So ... just because I'm a servant, must I be

trampled on? Do I have to be maltreated?

No sir, I want to be respected, I want to be

revered as if I were the mistress, the great

mistress, the exalted mistress.

I believe that the composers portray Serpina's character differently in this

section (Figures 2.7 and 2.8). In Pergolesi's setting, she is more strident and overt about

her intentions, as though she doesn't mind Uberto being aware of them. She doesn't

hesitate to openly express her ambitions in his presence. This is consistent with an

existing rapport between them, which is more apparent in Pergolesi's work in general.

The rapport is also signaled by the motivic exchange in bars 44-5. By contrast, in

Paisiello's setting, her intention is less forthright, more subtle, and probably aimed more

at the audience than at Uberto. She appears more calculating, emotionally aloof.

Figure 2.7 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.8 Giovanni Paisiello

The most noticeable contrast in the settings is the difference in devices used

to convey Serpina's intent. Pergolesi's use of a combined melodic and harmonic device

is a metaphor for Serpina's ascent of the social ladder. This consists of a melodic

sequence rising in a stepwise fashion underpinned by a chromatically ascending figured

bass line. The harmonies are a chain of secondary dominants. This combined device

emphasizes the climax on the accented syllable of the word padronissima (the exalted

mistress). This climax is heightened by the B dominant 7th chord in its most tense

position (#4-2), and by the subsequent cadenza d'inganno.

Paisiello uses an extended dominant passage (bars 3-5) to slow the

perception of the pacing of this section, and to emphasize Serpina's dissatisfaction with

her current downtrodden situation. This contrasts with the acceleration in harmonic

rhythm in the following bars. He uses a sudden harmonic shift to F minor tonality to

emphasize Serpina's intent to be respected (rispettata), revered (riverita), as though she

were the mistress (padrona). The passage reaches a melodic climax on archipadrona

(the great mistress). The Bb harmony, the dominant of a cadence to Eb on padronissima

(exalted mistress), is extended over bars 9-10 for emphasis. This final word is on a

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metrically and melodically weaker position than archipadrona. Compared to Pergolesi's

setting, this almost seems an anticlimax. However, it could be interpreted as an aside, a

'wink and a nudge' to the audience.

The similarity between the settings in the position and type of compositional

devices and the metrical placement of syllables in the first five bars is noteworthy. It

brings into sharp focus the differences in the remaining bars.

Uberto decides to act: Di che ride quell'asino?

Uberto decides that he'll be patient and lenient with Serpina no longer, that he'll put her in her place at last.

Vespone has begun to laugh at his master's cynical joke about having

enjoyed his non-existent morning chocolate. Serpina asks what has amused Vespone

(What's this ass laughing at?). Uberto's rising annoyance at Serpina's recalcitrance is

evident in the text. By the end of the section he arrives at a decision to take matters in

hand. This recitative immediately precedes Uberto's aria Sempre in contrasti con te

(Always at odds with you), in which he expands on his annoyance, and his resolution to

take decisive action.

Uberto

Serpina: Di che ride quell'asino? Uberto: Di me, che ho più flemma d'una bestia. Ma bestia non sarò, più flemma non avrò, il giogo scuoterò, e quel che non ho fatto alfin farò!

Serpina: What's this donkey laughing at?

Uberto: At me, for I'm more tolerant than a

beast. But I won't be a beast, I'll be

tolerant no longer, I'll throw off my

shackles and do at last what I haven't done

yet!

The settings show contrasting use of harmonic and rhythmic devices to

imply Uberto's rising agitation and resolve (Figures 2.9 and 2.10). Paisiello sets the last

sentence as recitativo accompagnato with repeated 'march-like flourishes'. The latter are

a musical symbol of his military-like resolve to take Serpina in hand. They sound like

the tapping of a judge's gavel, indicating that a decision has been made. Pergolesi uses

the device of a stationary figured bass note with the vocal line moving in an arpeggio-

like sequential ascending melody to indicate Uberto's rising resolve. In Paisiello's

setting, Uberto's rising resolve is signalled by stepwise ascending sequences in bars 3-5

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and the chromatic ascent in the bass to a G minor triad in bar 6.

Figure 2.9 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Figure 2.10 Giovanni Paisiello

Pergolesi uses an ascending repeated sequence with climaxes being on the

high pitches of il giogo (shackles) and farò (I'll do). The bass note with F major tonality

remains constant throughout bars 2 to 5, while the melody ascends in a sequence. The

approach to the I6-IV-V-I cadential figure in bars 6 and 7 is prepared by the use of the

secondary dominant in bar 5. This device makes the cadence more emphatic.

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Paisiello also uses an ascending sequence, which is repeated twice. The

sequences are punctuated by repeated chords in the ensemble. These march-like

flourishes stand out like exclamation marks. Uberto's vocal line echoes this march-like

rhythm. The bass line ascends chromatically via secondary dominants. The parallel

movement of the melody and bass line lead to the climax on farò (I'll do). Uberto's

frustration is vividly painted by placing the word fatto (done) on a high chromatic note.

The sudden harmonic shift in bar 7 - A dominant 7th in third inversion which resolves

to D major at the beginning of the following aria - implies hurried decisiveness. The

orchestral cadence moving into the aria without delay is an effective metaphor for

Uberto's sudden change of mood. There is no orchestral introduction in the aria, the

vocal part commencing in the first bar. In Pergolesi's setting by contrast, there is a pause

in the musical action as we wait for the recitative's cadence. The aria then has a seven

bar introduction before the vocal part starts. I believe that here the music in Paisiello's

setting more clearly relates to the pacing of the psychological action in the drama.

Serpina's emotional blackmail: Insomma delle somme

Serpina complains that in return for looking after Uberto, he insults her and treats her badly. He agrees eventually that perhaps he's been a bit unfair.

This recitative section comes immediately after Uberto's aria Sempre in

contrasti con te (Always in conflict with you), in which he has berated Serpina for her

increasing impertinence, and intensified his resolve to take decisive action. She begins

to manipulate him, feigning misery about her downtrodden status. Uberto responds to

her complaining with mock sympathy, finally insouciantly admitting that it's been hard

on her. Figures 2.11 and 2.12 show the settings.

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Serpina and Uberto

Serpina: In somma delle somme per attendere al vostro bene io mal ne ho da ricevere? Uberto: (a Vespone) Poveretta! la senti?

Serpina: Per aver di voi cura, io, sventurata, debbo esser maltrattata? Uberto: Ma questo non va bene. Serpina: Burlate, sì! Uberto: Ma questo non conviene.

Serpina: What it all boils down to is that

no good will come to me for attending to

your needs?

Uberto: (to Vespone) Poor little thing! do

you hear her?

Serpina: For taking care of you, I, poor

wretch, must be mistreated?

Uberto: Well that's too bad.

Serpina: Mock me, yes!

Uberto: Well it's not nice.

In Pergolesi's setting, Serpina has a more melodramatic style, exemplified

by the prolongation of the sense group: io, sventurata, debbo esser maltratta (I, poor

wretch, must be maltreated). The elongation of the word io seems in particular to be an

attempt to evoke sympathy. Uberto's nonchalant asides are effectively signaled by vocal

arpeggiation. There are imitated intervallic patterns in both settings, but the difference is

that in Pergolesi's setting Uberto repeats Serpina's motifs, while in Paisiello's setting the

reverse occurs for the most part.

Uberto has the upper hand in Pergolesi's setting, with his jocular responses

to Serpina. This is signaled by the pitch of his responses - they are equal to or higher

than Serpina's phrases, and they are within the tenor range. The impression in the

exchanges is that Uberto is leading the rises in pitch of the passage. In Paisiello's setting

Serpina is responding to his insouciance with increasingly harping comments. She

appears to have the upper hand.

A noticable difference in the settings is the way in which Paisiello

emphasizes Serpina's harping responses to Uberto's insouciant comments. This is

achieved by imitated intervallic patterns and similar tonalities. Her rapid responses with

similar melodic sequence on Per aver and similar pitch and tonality on Burlate, sì!

suggest that she is keenly monitoring his mood with a view to ramping up her emotional

blackmail.

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Figure 2.11 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.12 Giovanni Paisiello

Uberto decides to take a wife: Sì, fermati, guardami

Exasperated at Serpina's impudence, Uberto tells Vespone to go out at once and find him a wife - anyone, even if she's a hag. In this way, he will spite Serpina, and be free of her domination.

This section occurs during the recitative which begins: Benissimo. Hai tu

inteso? (Great. Did you get that?) Having already provoked Uberto by not bringing his

morning chocolate, Serpina has decided to escalate the conflict, apparently with the

hope of forcing him into a decision about her future with him. She has locked the door

to the house and hidden the key so that Uberto cannot go out. Prior to this section of the

recitative, Uberto with mock resignation has told Vespone to put all his clothes back in

place because 'his mistress' has forbidden him to go out. Serpina reiterates this order

telling Vespone to hurry up and get on with it. Vespone hesitates, apparently confused

about who is giving the orders - his master or his fellow servant. Uberto sarcastically

tells Vespone to mock him. There follows a pivotal point in the libretto - Uberto, the

wealthy middle-aged comfortable bachelor suddenly decides to take a wife. His strategy

is to install a third party, bereft of the emotional baggage that exists between him and

Serpina. He believes that his wife would be able to keep Serpina in her place. This is

pivotal for the plot development because it plays into Serpina's aspirations to marry him

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herself. A translation follows.

Uberto and Serpina

Uberto (a Vespone): Sì, fermati, guardami, meravigliati, fammi de' scherni, chiamami asinone, dammi anche un mascellone, ch'io cheto mi starò, anzi la mano ancor ti bacierò ...Serpina: Che fa ... che fate? Uberto: Scostati, malvagia. Vattene, insolentaccia. In ogni conto vo' finirla. Vespone, in questo punto trovami una moglie, e sia anche un'arpia, a suo dispetto io mi voglio casare. Così non dovrò stare a questa manigolda più soggetto.

Uberto (to Vespone): Yes, stop,

stare at me, gape in wonder, poke fun at

me, call me an ass, give me a slap in the

face too, so I'll shut up ... I'll even kiss

your hand ....

Serpina: What ... what are you doing?

Uberto: Begone, wicked girl! Clear out,

insolent hussy! I want this to stop at all

costs. Vespone, at this instant go and find

me a wife, even if she's a hag, I want to get

married to spite this one. That way I'll no

longer have to be subject to this rogue.

Pergolesi's setting paints Uberto as suddenly changing to a swashbuckling

devil-may-care character, roused by circumstances out of his usual effete passivity into

sudden decisive action. The change in Uberto's character is well marked in Pergolesi's

setting. Paisiello's setting does not clearly indicate the change. Instead, Paisiello's

setting seems to continue to imply a brooding, troubled Uberto, even though he is

making the (for him) momentous life-changing decision to take a wife. The settings are

shown in Figures 2.13 and 2.14.

Both composers use vocal arpeggiation initially to signal an aside in

Uberto's thought processes, as he addresses Vespone before he proceeds towards his

decision to take a wife. Pergolesi uses very directional harmony with a parallel rising

bass/melody device in the first part of this section (bars 11-15) to imply an acceleration

in Uberto's emotional movement towards his decision to take a wife. The sequences in

the melody serve to emphasize the similarity of ideas in the phrases. The climax occurs

with his sarcastic statement that he will even kiss his manservant's hand (ancor ti

bacierò). Pergolesi highlights this by chromaticism on the word ancor. Paisiello's setting

of this part (bars 3-6), by contrast, has a descending melodic contour and figured bass

line with minor harmonies. This parallel bass and melody relationship emphasizes the

approach to the mournful climax where he asks his servant to slap his face. It is a

climax of self-pity, rather than the sarcasm implied in Pergolesi's setting. Perhaps

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Paisiello intended to slow down the perception of Uberto's thinking, indicating that he is

undecided about what to do next.

Both composers signal Serpina's astonishment at Uberto's sudden change in

behaviour by a cadenza d'inganno followed by the tense B major triad on fa-te.

Pergolesi heightens the perception of her astonishment by repetition. Both composers

use secondary dominant chains in the part where Uberto is rebuking Serpina (bars 16-19

in the Pergolesi setting and bars 9-11 in Paisiello's setting). This device creates a

perception of accelerated movement towards Uberto's command to Vespone to find him

a wife. Both composers then use a device of slowed harmonic rhythm over a pedal to

indicate Uberto's resoluteness to take a wife. Again the similarity between the settings

with regard to compositional devices used and their placement is noteworthy.

Figure 2.13 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.13 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Continued

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Figure 2.14 Giovanni Paisiello

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Serpina's deception begins: Io crederei

In parallel soliloquies, Serpina and Uberto blithely talk about the game they are playing. Serpina then pretends to Uberto that her game is over.

This section of recitative occurs early in the second intermezzo. Uberto is

initially unaware of Serpina's presence on the stage. Their utterances are effectively

consecutive asides. Each character's intent is similar in that they are scoffing at the

other's assumption that they have the upper hand. Their affect is a kind of bravado.

When Uberto notices Serpina, they begin a dialogue. In the last sentence of this section,

Serpina states with mock contrition that she intends to trouble Uberto no longer. After

this sentence, she tells him of her resolve to marry forthwith. The audience is aware

from the recitative preceding this section that her 'intended ' will be Vespone disguised

as Capitan Tempesta. The settings are shown in Figures 2.15 and 2.16.

Uberto and Serpina

Uberto: Io crederei, che la mia serva adesso, anzi, per meglio dir, la mia padrona, d'uscir di casa mi darà il permesso. Serpina: Ecco, guardate: senza la mia licenza pur si volle vestir. Uberto: Or sì, che al sommo giunta è sua impertinenza. Temeraria! E di nozze richiedermi ebbe ardir! Serpina: T'asconderai per ora in quella stanza e a suo tempo uscirai. Uberto: Oh qui sta ella. Facciam nostro dover. Posso o non posso? Vuole o non vuol la mia padrona bella?Serpina: Eh, signor, già per me è finito il gioco, e più tedio fra poco per me non sentirà.

Uberto: I would think that my servant girl,

or to put it better, my boss, will now grant

me permission to leave my house.

Serpina: Well, look: he's even dared to get

dressed without my permission.

Uberto: Oh yes, her impudence has gone

to the limit. What cheek! And she dared to

ask me about marriage!

Serpina (to Vespone): Hide in that room

for now, and then come out on cue.75

Uberto: Oh, there she is. We'll carry on as

we must. Can I or can't I? Does my lovely

mistress wish it or not?

Serpina: Oh sir, the game is over a far as

I'm concerned, and you won't be troubled

by me for much longer.

The most striking difference between the settings is the compositional

devices used in the asides part of the section. Paisiello sets each character's text in a

different tonality, begun with a sudden harmonic juxtaposition, although the same pitch

may be used at the exchange point. This combination of devices suggests that each of

75 This sentence is not included in Paisiello's setting of this section. The reason is that Serpina tells

Vespone to hide during the recitative Or che fatto. Paisiello changes the text in order to accomodate

the duet Donne infeste all'altrui bene, the text of which is not part of Federico's libretto.

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the characters has a different agenda and a different affect. This is consistent with the

emotional distance between them, which has been noted in earlier sections. By contrast,

Pergolesi's use of melodic and harmonic devices in the asides part suggests that the

characters have similar affects, albeit very different intents. The harmony is maintained

at points where the characters exchange. In addition, each character begins with either a

sequence similar to that with which the other finishes or on the same pitch. The

directional harmony progresses round the cycle of fifths in a subdominant direction

through the exchanges. The effect of Pergolesi's setting for the listener is a kind of tense

irony: although the musical setting seems to imply that the characters are thinking along

the same lines, the audience is already well aware of their different intents. (Serpina has

concocted a plot with Vespone, of which Uberto is blissfully unaware.) Pergolesi's

setting also points to the emotional rapport which exists between Serpina and Uberto, as

noted in earlier sections.

Figure 2.15 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.15 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi continued

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Figure 2.16 Giovanni Paisiello

Paisiello uses a slowing of harmonic rhythm from the point where the

dialogue begins (bar 12). The melody in this dialogue part contains vocal arpeggiation,

which implies a change of idea and a pause in the pacing of the action. Pergolesi uses a

change in harmonic rhythm at the point where Serpina states her resolve to stop

annoying her master (bars 23-26). In this case, the slowed harmonic rhythm and vocal

arpeggiation contrast with Uberto's preceding line, and thereby give added prominence

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to the new idea which she is about to reveal.

Serpina finds a 'fiancé': Cred'io che sì: fa d'uopo ancor ch'io pensi a' casi miei.

Serpina tells Uberto that she must look after her own interests, and that she is also getting married. Uberto is stunned at this sudden revelation.

This excerpt follows soon after the previous section. Serpina has asked

Uberto if he is definitely taking a wife. He has responded in the affirmative, asserting

that it will not be her. Serpina accepts this and states that she has to consider her own

interests, too. She then breaks the surprising news that she has also found a person to

marry.

Serpina and Uberto

Serpina: Cred'io che sì: fa d'uopo ancor ch'io pensi a' casi miei. Uberto: Pensaci, far lo dei. Serpina: Io ci ho pensato. Uberto: E ben? Serpina: Per me un marito io m'ho trovato. Uberto: Buon pro vi faccia. E lo trovaste a un tratto così già detto e fatto? Serpina: Più in un'ora venir suol che in cent'anni. Uberto: Alla buon'ora!

Serpina: I believe that's so: it's necessary

to consider my own interests, too.

Uberto: Think of them, do it.

Serpina: I already have.

Uberto: And so?

Serpina: I've found a husband for myself.

Uberto: Good for you. And to find him in

a flash, no sooner said than done?

Serpina: More can happen in an hour than

in a century.

Uberto: Good timing!

The noticeable difference in settings is that Paisiello's contains a faster harmonic rhythm

and more harmonic shifts. These occur where each character is about to introduce a new

idea. Pergolesi's harmonic progression does not deviate from the cycle of fifths in

subdominant direction, the pattern continuing unchanged through exchanges in the

dialogue. Paisiello's setting contains other devices that heighten the drama in the text,

such as the pathopoeia and chromatic approach on marito (spouse).

It is interesting to speculate about why Pergolesi's setting of this section

seems bland and unremarkable, while there are many more compositional devices

conveying dramatic manifestations in Paisiello's setting. This is after all an important

point in the plot development - Serpina revealing her ploy to put pressure on Uberto to

marry her. The contrasts between the settings are consistent with differences in the

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characters and their relationhip, which the composers have consistently implied.

Uberto's self-pitying moroseness continues in Paisiello's setting, as exemplified by the

minor tonalities on E ben? and faccia. Pergolesi's setting, with its lack of dramatic

compositional devices, paints Uberto as more affable, as if he is not fazed at first by

Serpina's revelation. This is consistent with the 'bumbling buffoon' type of character that

Pergolesi's settings have been suggesting. Paisiello's setting indicates a separation in

emotion and intent between Uberto and Serpina. Each character seems to function

independently in terms of these dramatic parameters. The distance between them is

emphasised through the drama implied in the harmonic and other compositional

devices. Pergolesi's setting, on the other hand, with similar music styles and

uninterrupted harmonic pattern, suggests an emotional closeness between them. This

aspect of their relationship is consistently emphasised right from the opening recitative

in Pergolesi's setting. By contrast, Paisiello consistently emphasizes the master-servant

class difference, emotional closeness being incompatible with a relationship based on

this situation. The settings are shown in Figures 2.17 and 2.18.

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Figure 2.17 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi76

76 There appears to be an error in bar 31 of the edition. Ma duopo should be Fa d'uopo.

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Figure 2.18 Giovanni Paisiello

Uberto is concerned about Serpina's fate: Vuol vedere il mio sposo?

Serpina offers to introduce her fiancé - a military man named 'Captain Stormy' with a terrible temper. Uberto reflects that perhaps Stormy will put her in her place. He expresses some concern for her, though.

This section is the second half of the recitative in which Uberto has

commenced with the statement: Ah! quanto mi stà male di tal risoluzione! (Ah! how

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distressed I am by such an outcome!). Prior to this Serpina successfully convinced

Uberto that her husband-to-be has a violent temper. Uberto has reflected on how she

might be mistreated, consoling himself that it's not his fault. Serpina unexpectedly asks

if Uberto would like to see her fiancé. The settings are shown in Figures 2.19 and 2.20.

Serpina and Uberto

Serpina: Vuol vedere il mio sposo?

Uberto: Sì, l'avrei caro. Serpina: Io manderò per lui; giù in strada ei si trattien. Uberto: Va'. Serpina: Con licenza. (Esce) Uberto: Or indovino chi sarà costui! Forse la penitenza farà così di quanto ella ha fatto al padrone. S'è ver, come mi dice, un tal marito la terrà fra la terra ed il bastone. Ah! poveretta lei!

Serpina: Would you like to see my fiancé?

Uberto: Yes, I'd dearly like to.

Serpina: I'll send for him; he's waiting

below in the street.

Uberto: Go.

Serpina: By your leave. (She goes)

Uberto: Now I wonder who he'll be!

Perhaps this will be her punishment for

what she's done to her master. If what she

tells me is true, such a husband will

ground her with his cane. Oh! the poor

little thing!

In this section, Pergolesi sets Serpina's announcement of her fiancé's

proximity in an unexpected minor tonality (bars 9-10: giù in strada ei si trattien). This

sounds like mock resignation to her fate - it seems to be a continuation of her emotional

blackmail. Uberto's response picks up on this mood by continuing the minor tonality.

This is one of very few places where Pergolesi settles on minor tonalities for any length

of time in the recitatives.

Paisiello's setting of this section contains nothing that implies Serpina's

intent so strongly. After the imperfect cadence on costui, a reflective pause in Uberto's

thinking is signaled by the vocal arpeggiation in bars 8-9. However, the tonality is major

throughout. The emphatic delayed cadence in the continuo after bastone sounds like a

self-righteous echo of his last phrase - as though reinforcing Uberto's statement that her

cruel husband-to-be serves her right. As before, this suggests that he has little affection

or concern for her.

In Pergolesi's setting, the mood suddenly lightens in bar 17, after a

prolonged minor passage, with the pitch highlight and cadenza d'inganno on Ah!

poveretta... Again, this seems to imply Uberto's tender feelings for Serpina. It is

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possible that Pergolesi could have notated the cadence as a cadenza tronca - that is the

dominant chord on F being simultaneous with the Bb on bastone. The dissonance this

creates could have served to emphasize the pain caused by the cane.77

It is curious that the settings of this section go against the trend - Paisiello

has used minor tonalities throughout the recitative so far to indicate Uberto's self-

pitying moroseness. It is possible that Pergolesi's intentional use of minor tonality here

is a further example of emphasis on the emotional closeness between Serpina and

Uberto. Uberto seems to ingenuously assume that her sad sounding phrase implies her

resignation to having a cruel husband. His continuation in minor tonality would imply

empathy with her.

77 As noted in Appendix 1 there is no autograph manuscript of Pergolesi's work in existence. The edition

relied on for this study was compiled in 1752.

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Figure 2.19 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.20 Giovanni Paisiello

Uberto in turmoil: Ah poveretta lei! Per altro penserei..

Uberto thinks out loud: could he marry Serpina? After all, it isn't unknown for a gentleman to marry his servant. But a stern voice within him keeps warning of the social consequences of marrying such a lowly-born woman.

This section of recitative immediately follows the end the previous section.

Serpina has announced that she is engaged to Capitan Tempesta - a military man with a

fierce temper. In reality, her fiancé is the manservant Vespone in disguise. (Serpina has

indulged in emotional blackmail.) In this recitative, Uberto weighs up the social

consequences of marrying a lowly born servant against his strong affection and

protective feelings for her. He is in a state of moral vexation. Although it is a soliloquy,

Uberto is in dialogue with his censorious superego. This is implied tongue-in-cheek at

the end of the text by the phrase e siam da capo (and we are back to the start). Each

composer uses different devices to signal the interjected comments by the superego.

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Uberto

Ah! poveretta lei! Per altro io penserei ... ma ella è serva ... (Q)

ma il primo non saresti ... dunque, la sposeresti?Basta! Eh no, non sia. Su, pensieri ribaldi, andate via! (E)

Piano, io me l'ho allevata, So poi com'ella è nata ... Eh! che sei matto! (Q)

Piano di grazia! (Q)

Eh, non pensarci affatto! Ma io ci ho passïone! ...78 E pur quella meschina ... Eh torna ... O dio! ... (Q)

E siam da capo! (Q)

Oh! che confusione!

Oh! the poor little thing!

On the other hand, I could consider ...

but she's a servant ...

well it wouldn't be the first time ...

so, would you marry her?

Enough! Oh no it mustn't be.

Away, foolish thoughts, leave me!

Calm down, I brought her up,

I know where she was born ...

Oh! you're so crazy!

Quiet, for goodness' sake!

Oh, just don't think about it!

But I have a passion for her! ...

And yet such a lowly woman..

Oh it's circular ... Oh God! ...

And we're back to the start!

Oh! what confusion!

This is the only section of the libretto which is written in verse. It may be a

reference to the libretti of opere serie, particularly those of the preceding century, whose

recitative texts consist of long tracts of verse. This is a deliberate interpolation of a

different style of text to the libretto. It appears to be an intentional poking fun at opera

seria. As noted in chapter 1, one of the aims of Neapolitan intermezzi was to provide a

contrast to the artificiality and gravitas of the serious operas into which they were

interspersed. The composers have the opportunity to exploit this difference by using a

musical setting which contrasts with the rest of the recitative.

Both composers set the section as recitatitivo accompagnato. Geiringer

(1925) comments that recitativo accompagnato in opera seria was exclusively reserved

for passages of great importance. Lazarevich (1971, p.313) notes that the function of

recitatitivo accompagnato in the intermezzo was to satirize or parody similar passages

in opere serie. Troy states that in general composers of intermezzi reserved the style for

similar situations to those in which they employed it in opere serie, namely for

references to the supernatural or "in conditions of extreme moral torment" (Troy 1979,

p. 109). It is significant that Paisiello chose the same section of the libretto as Pergolesi

78 The double dot diacritic on the 'i' in the word passïone indicate that the poet wants the vowels to retain

their full syllabic value. That is, synaeresis is not to occur. Carroli (2008) states that this is done for a

special effect. In this case, the word is pivotal to the underlying reason for Uberto's turmoil.

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to set as accompagnato. It is further evidence that Paisiello may have been well-versed

in Pergolesi's work. However, Paisiello's setting is different in style, being an

instrumental arioso with interjections of recitativo accompagnato.

Gluck may have provided a model for Paisiello's treatment here. As noted in

chapter 1, Gluck's reforms of opera also included attention to recitative. Kerman (1956)

suggests that Gluck incorporated recitative into the dramatic impetus of arias and

ensembles. Paisiello's setting of the section begins in C major and ends in G minor.

Uberto's aria Son imbrogliato io già (I'm really entangled) then begins immediately in C

major, and it has no orchestral introduction. By contrast, Pergolesi's setting of this aria

has eleven bars of introduction. It is interesting to speculate about whether Mozart drew

influence from Gluck and/or Paisiello for his setting of Susanna's recitativo

accompagnato: Giunse alfin il momento in Le Nozze di Figaro. This expressive

recitative immediately precedes her aria Deh vieni non tardar. As noted earlier, Mozart

may well have been influenced by Paisiello's operas, such as Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

The settings suggest different characters for Uberto. As in previous sections,

Pergolesi implies a buffoon-like character, albeit with some emotional depth. Pergolesi's

extraordinary instrumentation appears to be a dramatic departure from the expected. His

setting uses varied rhythms to indicate changes in Uberto's level of agitation, and

declamatory passages with tirate to signal the interjections of the supergeo. Lazarevich

(1971) suggests that the tirata was one of the earliest compositional devices by which

composers attained a dramatic effect through the use of symphonic notation. The

passages "were devoid of thematic material, but the instrumental figurations gave rise to

a thick, rich, orchestral sound" (Lazarevich 1971, p. 313).

In Pergolesi's setting the tirate seem to create a caricature of the profundity

of the censorious superego to the extent of mocking it. Troy (1979, p. 109) suggests that

eighteenth-century audiences probably associated emotive vocal gymnastics and tirate

like those in this section with much more significant crises in opere serie. The setting

opens up an opportunity for comic realism in performance. Uberto could mock the

interjections through physical gestures and changes in voice timbre and dynamics.

Paisiello's setting takes more time to create a brooding, indecisive, troubled

character. This is consistent not only with the character he has implied for Uberto in

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earlier recitative sections, but also with the stand-alone performance mode for which his

work was intended. Grove Music Online defines arioso as "a style that is songlike, as

opposed to declamatory; a short passage in a regular tempo in the middle or at the end

of a recitative" (Oxford Music Online, accessed 2011). Glixon (1985, p. 103) defines

arioso as "aria-like music, often with significant text repetition, that is set to recitative

verse". She suggests that arioso could employ melody to heighten the emotional impact

of the text in a way that recitative could not, or could by its very difference from

recitative draw attention to the text. Indeed, Glixon (ibid, p.110) states that arioso gains

its dramatic power through contrast with the more declamatory style of the adjacent

recitativo. As noted by Robinson (accessed 2011, p.4) increased warmth of melody was

one of the compositional features of Paisiello's Russian operatic works. These attributes

of contrast between instrumental arioso and declamatory passages and warmth in the

melody are apparent in Paisiello's setting of this section.

The number of syllables per line and the rhyming pattern of the text are

typical of Italian poetry of the period (Carroli, 2008). The verses are either quinari (5

syllables), settenari (7 syllables) or endecasillabi (11 syllables). Most of the verses are

settenari. The quinari and the one endecasillabo are marked in the translation box. The

natural syllabic division is often modified by phenomena related to spoken Italian.

These include: elision, hiatus, synaeresis and diaeresis.79 The application of these

phenomena means that the verses may not have literally the number of syllables

specified. When declaimed, each type of verse has a fixed stress on the penultimate

syllable. Quinari usually have another stress on the first or second syllable. Settenari

may have a second stress on any on of the first four syllables. Endecasillabi have two

other stresses, commonly on the 4th and 8th syllables.

Paisiello's setting implies that the superego is a sincere concerned persona,

to be taken seriously rather than mocked. This is achieved by straightforward directional

harmony (for example, a I-IV-V progression in G minor in bars 15-17) and by repeated

syncopated dotted rhythm chords in the orchestration - "march-like flourishes". The

79 Elision means the last vowel of a word and the first vowel of the next word are pronounced as one

syllable. Hiatus means intentionally not applying elision - that is giving each vowel its full value.

Synaeresis occurs where two vowels within the same word are pronounced as one syllable. Diaeresis

means intentionally not applying synaeresis - this is signified by two dots over the first syllable. For

example: passïone.

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latter were stylistic markers of authority in the period. Figures 2.21, 2.23 and 2.25 show

the Pergolesi setting. Figures 2.22, 2.24 and 2.26 show the Paisiello setting.

Figure 2.21 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.22 Giovanni Paisiello

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Figure 2.22 Giovanni Paisiello continued

The most notable contrast between the settings is Paisiello's instrumental

arioso style versus Pergolesi's recitativo accompagnato. While Paisiello inserts brief

declamatory passages of recitativo accompagnato, the overall effect of his setting is

song-like, with an easily singable melody, fairly regular tempo, text repetition and vocal

phrases balanced with instrumental ostinato phrases in a call-response manner. The

"march-like flourishes" in bars 15 and 16 of Paisiello's setting suggest the benevolent

authority of Uberto's superego, sounding much like the tapping of a judge's gavel.

The second part of this section (Figures 2.23 and 2.24) has a change of

mood - Uberto is trying calm himself, to be rational about the consequences of his

designs on Serpina. In Pergolesi's setting this change is marked by an harmonic shift

from D minor to E major tonality. Paisiello also uses harmonic shift via a cadenza

d'inganno in bar 18. This goes to E flat major, rather than the expected G minor. The

instrumental ostinato in bars 18 and 20 of Paisiello's setting helps to mark Uberto's

change of mood. The word matto (crazy) is emphasized metrically and by a tirata in

Pergolesi's setting. Paisiello emphasises the word by a harmonic shift from A flat major

to a G dominant seventh chord, as well as "march-like flourishes" in the orchestration.

In his setting the phrase Eh! che sei matto! begins an interjected declamatory passage in

bars 22 to 27. This signifies Uberto's struggle with his superego. Paisiello maintains a C

minor tonality throughout this passage until this part ends with an emphatic cadence

after affatto (don't think about it at all). In this way, the grave sincerity of the superego

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is emphasized. Pergolesi by contrast sticks to major tonality, apart from a brief touching

on A minor in bars 14-15, ending on G major.

Figure 2.23 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.24 Giovanni Paisiello

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In the last part of this section, Pergolesi implies Uberto's conflicting

emotions by alternating between major and minor tonalities (Figure 2.25). Beginning on

the unexpected G minor in bar 17, he goes to F major in bar 19, quickly changing to F

minor, then finally to a cadence in C major. The final two phrases, Oh Dio! E siam da

capo.. and Oh! Che confusione are "reciprocal phrases", emphasising that Uberto is

thinking in circles.

Paisiello marks the change in mood in this part by an abrupt shift from C

minor to D major in bar 29 (Figure 2.26). This tonality becomes the dominant of G

minor, into which this part finally settles. Paisiello emphasizes Uberto's first person

statement ma io (but I..) by the crotchet rest in bar 28. The pause breaks up the sense

group, drawing attention to Uberto's internal wrestling. The syncopated figures in the

violins in bars 29 and 31 also create a sense of agitation. The word passïone (passion)

receives emphasis through notating each of the internal syllables (diaeresis). The

ascending instrumental ostinato sequences (bars 29 and 31) over a stationary bass pedal

imply a mounting emotional turmoil. The harmony is without direction in bars 29 to 32.

Having shifted to D dominant 7th in bar 29, it then returns to C minor in bar 32. This is

an example of Dubitatio - the intentionally ambiguous harmonic progression signifying

confusion. It contrasts with the clear harmonic direction of bars 33 to 35: I6-IV-V-I

progression in G minor. This clear harmonic direction and the "march-like flourishes" in

bars 33 and 34 signify the authoritative intrusion of the superego.

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Figure 2.25 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.26 Giovanni Paisiello

The overall effect of the settings of this passage of verse is markedly

different. Pergolesi's setting implies a more compelling crescendo of emotional turmoil

in Uberto. He achieves this by a fast harmonic rhythm, rapidly alternating major and

minor harmonies, and dramatic if not melodramatic tirate. Paisiello's setting also

implies emotional turmoil, but perhaps more subtly, with a brooding, troubled mood

implied by the minor tonalities, and at a slower pace. The instrumental arioso with

interjected recitativo accompagnato passages seems to allow more time and space for

the listener to perceive Uberto's state of mind. The listener is drawn into his frame of

mind gradually, albeit inexorably.

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The Dénouement - Serpina becomes Mistress: L'ha detto ... Sì, signore.

Serpina has told Uberto that 'Captain Stormy' insists that unless Uberto pays him a very large dowry, he must marry her himself. Uberto says that if Fate intends for him to marry Serpina, he will do so. She asks for his right hand to seal the betrothal in Stormy's presence. Serpina reveals Stormy's identity. Finally, Serpina and Uberto are happily betrothed.

This is the final section of the last recitative in the libretto. It contains two

"punch lines", one for Uberto and one for Serpina. Serpina has introduced her fiancé

Capitan Tempesta, who is really Vespone in disguise. In accordance with the ruse they

have concocted, Tempesta has supposedly told Serpina that unless Uberto gives him a

very large dowry, Uberto himself must marry her. When Uberto scoffs at this, Tempesta

feigns fury and begins to draw his sword. Uberto quickly pacifies him. He then delivers

the momentous statement that if fate has decreed he must marry Serpina, he will do so.

A short-lived altercation occurs when Serpina reveals Vespone's disguise as Tempesta.

This is quickly smoothed over, and Serpina finally delivers her statement that she has

risen from maidservant to mistress. This section of recitative contains the climax of the

action, both physical and emotional, in the recitative of the libretto. The settings are

shown in Figures 2.27 and 2.28.

Uberto and Serpina

Uberto: L'ha detto ... sì, signore. Eh! non s'incomodi, che giacché per me vuol così il destino, or io la sposerò. Serpina: Mi dia la destra in sua presenza.

Uberto: Sì. Serpina: Viva il padrone. Uberto: Va ben così? Serpina: E viva ancor Vespone. Uberto: Ah! ribaldo! tu sei? E tal inganno ... lasciami... Serpina: E non occorre più strepitar. Ti son già sposa, il sai. Uberto: È ver, fatta me l'hai: ti venne buona. Serpina: E di serva divenni io già padrona.

Uberto: He did say it ... yes, sir. Eh! Settle

down, if this is what Fate intends for me,

now I will marry her.

Serpina: Give me your right hand in his

presence.

Uberto: Yes.

Serpina: Long live the Master.

Uberto: (to Tempesta) OK now?

Serpina: And long live Vespone!

Uberto: Ah! You rotter! It's you? What a

trick ... let go of me ...

Serpina: And no more nonsense. I'm your

betrothed now, you know it.

Uberto: True, you've done for me: good

has come your way.

Serpina: And from a servant, I've become

the mistress.

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Figure 2.27 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Figure 2.28 Giovanni Paisiello

The composers treat this section very differently. Pergolesi's compositional

devices almost suggest that nothing unexpected is happening. This seems to be in

keeping with his take on the libretto that there is a longstanding emotional closeness

between Serpina and Uberto, and that their union is almost inevitable. Indications of

their emotional involvement include the metabasis, transgressio in bars 52 and 60 and

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the similarity of their tonalities and harmonic direction. Harmonic shifts occur only in

relation to Uberto's interactions with Tempesta/Vespone (bars 53 and 60), and Serpina's

gentle admonition telling him that she is now his betrothed (bar 63). The latter, with the

tense B major triad, is the only clue that something out-of-the-ordinary has just

happened. Uberto's punchline che giacché per me vuol così il destino, or io la sposerò

does not receive any special treatment. It is almost as if it is a foregone conclusion.

Serpina's final punchline receives very strong emphasis with the anabasis, ascensus.

The latter receives emphatic reinforcement by the placement of the continuo cadence on

beats one and two of the following bar. In common with a similar device in the section

Adunque perch'io son serva, the setting of this line is a musical metaphor for Serpina's

ascent up the social ladder.

In Paisiello's setting, Uberto's punchline is emphasized by two harmonic

shifts (bars 2 and 4). These are shown in the following diagram. This strongly suggests

that something unexpected and out-of-the ordinary is happening.

Serpina's final statement is highlighted by metrical emphasis and the use of a harmonic

device. Paisiello puts the emphasized syllables in both serva and padrona on the

strongest metrical positions, whereas Pergolesi only does this for serva. This seems to

be in keeping with Paisiello's stronger emphasis on social class differences between the

protagonists in comparison with Pergolesi. Paisiello places a V 4/2 chord on the

accented syllable of the word divenni (I have become). The following diagram shows a

comparison of the metrical positions of the text and compositional devices.

The similarity in tonality, rhythm and intervallic patterns in the composers' settings of

Serpina's final sentence is noteworthy. It is further evidence for the supposition that

Paisiello had an intimate knowledge of Pergolesi's work. However, the similarity in

these attributes may draw attention to the differences in metrical accentuation and

harmonic treatment in Paisiello's setting.

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Chapter 3: Conclusion

My aim in this study has been to investigate systematically how

compositional devices in recitative settings can create and convey manifestations of

drama. Addison (1995, p. 7) suggests that an opera director "must never relinquish the

conviction that the music is a reflection of what is happening on stage". He sums up this

concept in the following quote:

In short, the director should pay the composer the compliment of assuming that every note, every

choice of orchestration, every expression mark, rhythm, melody, and harmonic progression is

part of his response to the thoughts, emotions, and/or actions of the characters in the drama.

A composer of vocal music superimposes a second language, namely

music, on the text he or she is using. The dramatic potential of the resultant combination

of two languages depends on the composer's concept of music's capabilities, on the

ways in which previous composers have combined text and music, on the prevailing

beliefs and expectations of his or her culture and on the traditions behind the text itself

(Tomlinson 1982, p. 565).

Music on its own can convey emotion, but it can neither fully indicate the

intent and psychological action occurring within characters, nor place an interpretation

on the actions occurring on the stage. It takes a combination of music with another

medium, such as words, to clearly define the thought or action which the music may

suggest. Conversely, the superimposition of music clarifies ambiguities in the text and

adds meaning to what can be understood from the words alone (Addison 1995, p. 5).

Opera is generally accepted to be 'larger than life'. Stage movements,

gestures and interactions between characters are often exaggerated responses to the flux

of emotions from the characters. Behaviour that might be considered ridiculous in real

life is perfectly appropriate in conveying the drama of the musical theatre of opera.

Recitative, I believe, is a heightened form of the language used in an opera libretto. In

analysing the recitative from two settings of an identical libretto, I have tried to

investigate whether the superimposition of music on the text can result in creation of

two different theatrical works. The pertinent questions which I have attempted to

answer in this study are: Have Pergolesi and Paisiello told a different story by the way

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in which they have applied music to the same words? And, if so, how did they use the

compositional devices at their disposal to achieve this?

In order to effectively execute a role, a performer needs to have in their

mind a clear interpretation of the character they are portraying. This includes the

character's emotions, intents and desires. The performer needs to be cognizant of how

these dramatic manifestations form a continuum in the unfolding drama of an opera.

Stage directors, who may not have a strong background in music theory, may benefit

from an understanding of how compositional devices embedded in the score imply these

dramatic parameters within the characters. They also need an awareness of how musical

settings affect the dramatic impulse of a work - that is the unfolding, pacing, increase

and decrease of tension and sense of forward movement of the action, both physical and

psychological. A practical application of the methodology used in the study could be to

assist performers, stage directors, conductors and dramaturgs in the realisation of

operatic works.

The first task for a director in staging La Serva Padrona, or indeed any

opera, is to ascertain the interpretation put on the drama by the composer. This includes

formulating the characters' background, their emotional states, their relationship and

their intents (Addison 1995, p.35). This will inform performance of the work not only in

terms of acting and musical performance, but also for stage movements, costuming and

set design. Addison (1995, p. 33) notes that Federico's libretto of La Serva Padrona

provides little information about the background and ages of Serpina and Uberto, or

about the relationship between them. Uberto could be any age from "fortyish" to

"sixtyish". He could be wealthy or not. Serpina, though usually assumed to be in her

teens, could be any age up to the late 30s. She could be genuinely fond of him, owing to

a long term father-daughter type of relationship. Alternatively, she could be a young

woman who is attracted to older men. At the other extreme, she could be a desperate

ageing spinster, unmarriageable on the open market, determined to secure a life of ease

and status, with no real regard for Uberto, even prepared to drive him to an early grave

in order to inherit his fortune. There is also ambiguity about Serpina's strategy with

regards to her provocative behaviour (Addison 1995, p. 34). Is she trying to bypass the

formal master-servant, youth-age, barrier with the aim of engendering a more intimate

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relationship? Is she trying to worry and befuddle him, setting the scene for him to make

rash, impulsive decisions? Ambiguities in the libretto give ample scope for composers

to use compositional devices to imply their choice of these manifestations of drama.

Nevertheless, there will always remain scope for interpretation of what a given

combination of music and text, such as occurs in the recitatives, implies.

In comparing the settings of several sections of recitative where pivotal plot

or character developments occur, I have drawn conclusions about Pergolesi's and

Paisiello's interpretations of the drama. Their interpretations of the two protagonsists,

Serpina and Uberto, are clearly different. While my inferences from the recitative

settings are not the only ones that could be made, I believe that it is appropriate to state

how I as a director, conductor or dramaturg would use inferences made through the

analytical method in this study to inform performance of the two works.

Pergolesi's Uberto is an affable, impulsive buffoon. These traits can be

inferred in the recitatives right from the beginning. In his opening recitative (Figures 2.1

and 2.3), his frustration with Serpina's tardiness is set in major tonalities. The setting of

this recitative indicates superficial annoyance, and we are still left with the impression

of a buoyant character, puzzled as to why he has been put out. His reactions to Serpina's

provocative behaviour are those of a good-humoured confident man, naively unaware of

Serpina's guile. This is particularly apparent in his patronising ebullient sarcasm in

response to Serpina's manipulative efforts in the recitative Insomma delle somme

(Figure 2.11). Here, the impression is that he believes he is on top of the situation, not

overly fazed by her behaviour. This is signaled by the pitch of his responses. Similarly,

the shift in tessitura in bar 13 of the recitative Sì, fermati when Uberto is stating that his

manservant can keep him quiet, indicates a jocular attitude to the situation (Figure

2.13). His impulsive decision to take a wife of any sort is clearly marked in bar 19 by a

sustained shift to first inversion D major harmony from the point where he commands

Vespone to find him a wife. His good-natured gullibility is apparent in his ingenuous

responses to Serpina's surprise revelation that she has found a husband for herself

(Figure 2.17). The bland melodic and harmonic structure of the setting of this section

indicate that he is at least superficially unfazed by Serpina's revelation. His quick mood

changes and ingenuousness are apparent when he sends Serpina to bring her fiancé to

Page 111 of 125

meet him (Figure 2.19). Initially, he echoes Serpina's minor tonality, but then quickly

changes to major tonality, consoling himself that her ill-tempered husband may provide

the discipline she needs. His precipitate annoyance is apparent in his explosive

response to the revelation of Vespone's disguise (Figure 2.27, bar 60). In the recitativo

accompagnato: Per altro penserei Pergolesi clearly emphasizes Uberto's quick,

impulsive mood changes. This is achieved by rhythmic changes, interspersed

declamations, tirate, fast harmonic rhythm and harmonic juxtapositions. An obvious

interpretation of this recitative is that Uberto is prepared to flout the cautions of his

superego. His statement that he will marry Serpina after Tempesta has threatened him,

with the major tonality and lack of dramatic devices, maintains the impression of a man

who, without too much consideration or calculation, is prepared to take what he wants

(Figure 2.27). His quick pacification after the revelation of Vespone's disguise and his

good-humoured capitulation to Serpina reinforce the sense that he is a likeable

impulsive buffoon.

Paisiello's Uberto is a neurotic, troubled, self-pitying, unassertive man.

There are occasional flashes where Paisiello's setting implies some decisiveness, but

overall his Uberto comes over as indecisive, grudgingly accepting the control of

circumstance. One decisive moment is that where Uberto states that he's going to throw

off his shackles (Figure 2.10): march-like flourishes, ascending sequence and dotted

rhythms suggest decisiveness. This, however is an exception. The frequent use of minor

tonalities, fast harmonic rhythms, harmonic shifts and tense chords all serve to connote

his troubled nature. These attributes are apparent in his opening recitative (Figure 2.2).

The descending figured bass and melodic contour towards O flemma benedetta in bar 6

imply a passive man, overwhelmed by circumstances. The same device is used in Figure

2.14 where Uberto with grim sarcasm says that his manservant can tell him to keep

quiet (bars 2-6). The minor chord on in buon'ora (Figure 2.4, bar 11) is telling. He

sounds unconfident of his ability to do something about Serpina's impertinent

behaviour. Similarly, the minor chords on E ben and faccia in Figure 2.18 suggest a

resigned acceptance of fate. The setting of his decision to take a wife (Figure 2.14, bars

12-14) again sounds like a passive acceptance of fate. The rhythmic stress and

elongation of the word anche suggests that even marrying a harpy would be a lesser evil

Page 112 of 125

than being subject to Serpina's dominance. In the recitativo accompagnato: Ah

poveretta lei the warnings of Uberto's superego are meant to be taken seriously (Figures

2.22, 2.24 and 2.26). This is evident in the march-like flourishes and strongly

directional harmony. Even when he does express his passion for Serpina, this is quickly

overturned by his censorious superego (bars 32-35). Again, he is passively submitting to

fate. Uberto's 'punchline' in the final recitative section: "if fate has declared that I must

marry her, I will do so" is set with unexpected harmonic shifts, again suggesting that

fate is directing his actions (Figure 2.28 bars 3-5). This setting of the punchline has

none of the tongue-in-cheek second meaning that is in the Pergolesi setting.

Pergolesi's Serpina is full of youthful enthusiasm. She knows what she

wants, and is open about her intentions to get it. She has a generosity of spirit, never

intending to really hurt Uberto, while manoeuvering him into a situation that is mutually

beneficial. Her forthright declamation of her desire to become the mistress of the house,

with the harmonic and melodic devices implying a climbing of the social ladder,

exemplifies the exposition of her character (Figure 2.7). Her brash melodrama in

Insomma delle somme.. implies an openly playful manipulator (Figure 2.11). Similarly,

her statement that the game is over and that she won't trouble Uberto much longer, is

rendered melodramatic by slowed harmonic rhythm and vocal arpeggiation (Figure

2.15, bars 23-26). Her statement that her fiancé is nearby, waiting to meet Uberto

(Figure 2.19) is set with an unexpected minor modulation, giving the statement added

pathos. Her final triumphal statement in Figure 2.27 that she has succeeded in her aim to

rise from servant to mistress is a playful recapitulation, with similar compositional

devices, of the statement of her ambition in the first recitative.

Paisiello's Serpina is calculating, shrewd, almost a harpy. She has little real

concern for Uberto's feelings or welfare, concentrating on manipulating him at every

turn. The statement of her ambition to rise from servant to mistress has several

harmonic shifts, suggesting that it is not so much a forthright statement as a shrewd

reflection on her current position and where she wants to be (Figure 2.8). Her harping

responses to Uberto's sarcasm are exemplified in Figure 2.12. These, with minor

tonalities and harmonic shifts, are serious attempts at emotional blackmail, as opposed

to the playful melodrama of Pergolesi's Serpina. The melodic beauty of her aria Donne

Page 113 of 125

vaghe i studi nostri, directed towards the ladies in the audience, appears to suggest a

softer side to her character. However, in it she is stating that she wishes to use the

studied charms of her gender to procure the heart of an old man and to lead him towards

her ultimate goal. In the final recitative, Serpina's statement does sound like triumphal

gloating that she has risen from servant to mistress. This is achieved by the strong

emphases on both serva and padrona (Figure 2.28).

The composers have a different 'take' on the relationship between Uberto

and Serpina. Pergolesi's settings indicate a warmth, an emotional closeness. While

historically this may have been of a father-daughter nature, it has developed into a

romantic attachment. The latter clearly troubles Uberto, particularly with its social

consequences, but not so much that he is not prepared to override his misgivings. This is

evident in the devices which suggest scoffing at the admonitions of his superego in the

recitativo accompagnato: Per altro penserei (Figures 2.21, 2.23 and 2.25). Other

attributes of their relationship are evident in a number of compositional devices. In the

section Gran fatto ..., Uberto emphasizes the tenderness for Serpina through rhythmic

devices (Figure 2.3). Motivic exchanges without changes in harmonic direction (Figure

2.12), and similar music styles in dialogue recitatives (Figure 2.15 and Figure 2.19) also

suggest an emotional rapport.

Paisiello's settings indicate a distance between Serpina and Uberto, an

aloofness. This relates to their personalities and intents. Uberto is too self-absorbed to

have much romantic interest in her. He is genuinely concerned about the social

consequences, and does not wish to override his superego's admonitions. Serpina has

divined his character, and realising the challenge of her task, takes every opportunity to

confuse and goad him, steering him towards a precipitate decision to marry her. This

emotional distance is evident particularly in harmonic devices. There are several

instances in dialogue recitatives where each character's statement suddenly shifts to a

different harmony (Figures 2.16, 2.18). Uberto's predominant connection with Serpina is

that of master and servant. This is evident in the rhythmic devices in Figures 2.2 and

2.4, where s er va is given strong metrical emphasis. It is also manifest by the absence of

devices like similar music styles and harmonic progressions through exchanges in

dialogue that would indicate an emotional rapport (Figure 2.20).

Page 114 of 125

In the twenty-first century, we are remote from the period when recitativo

semplice and recitativo accompagnato were fresh, innovative and imaginative vehicles

for the communication of drama through a synergetic combination of words and music.

We cannot know how recitative sounded or was actually performed in the eighteenth

century, and even if we could, we would be listening to it with ears which have heard

several subsequent genres that involve a combination of music and words, as well as

very different harmonic and melodic vocabularies. We are also in a vastly different

social and cultural milieu. As a result, much of the subtlety of the form is almost

certainly lost on the modern listener or performer. In this study I have aimed to develop

a methodology for understanding how composers use music compositional devices to

create drama in recitative, according to their interpretation of opera libretti. Through

detailed comparative analysis of the musical settings of the recitatives in two

eighteenth-century operatic works with an identical libretto, I have aimed to

demonstrate that compositional devices in recitative can have a potent effect on the

manifestations of drama immanent in the libretto. I have attempted this search for

dramatic values in the notation of recitative, informed by study of its history and

development up to the late eighteenth century, and by an understanding of the context in

which the works were written and performed. The taxonomy of compositional devices

used in the study may be useful for an appreciation of the musical vocabulary and

dramatic functions of recitative in eighteenth-century Italian comic operatic works. I

believe that an understanding of these devices may inform performance, and that the

study may be a useful addition to the available information on performance practice. My

hope is that this type of analysis may help persons who listen to these works or who are

involved in their performance, to understand the composers' interpretations of characters

and their actions more fully.

Page 115 of 125

Appendix 1: Notes on scores used in the study

There is no autograph manuscript score in existence for Pergolesi's setting

of La Serva Padrona. The most authoritative score I was able to access for Pergolesi's

setting is the mini-score referenced as follows:

Pergolesi, Giovanni Pattista. La Serva Padrona = Die Magd als Herrin =

La servante maitresse. Foreword by K. Geiringer (Philharmonia Partituren ; no. 84

Mini score, Wien: Universal Edition, 1925)

This score is based on an edition compiled after a performance in Paris in

1752. The Werner Icking Music Archive website provides public domain scores based

on this mini-score. These are available at URL:

http://icking-music-archive.org/ByComposer/Pergolesi.php

In the study, I have used excerpts from the portable document format scores

on this website. I have checked them for consistency with the mini-score.

There is only one printed edition of Paisiello's setting:

Paisiello, Giovanni. La Serva Padrona (1781) Intermezzo comico in due

parti. (Pro Musica Camerata, Warsaw: Edition, 1993)

This edition is based on a complete manuscript preserved in the music

library of the Lancut Palace in Poland. In the foreward to the edition, Marta Pielech

suggests that the manuscript is probably a copy made soon after the first performance in

St Petersburg. It provides a realised keyboard part for the recitatives, but does not

indicate bass figures. I have used as an additional authority a microfiche of a score in a

library in Paris:

Paisiello, Giovanni, 1740-1816. Intermezzo in Musica La Serva Padrona

[microform] del Sig. Giovanni Paisiello.(Microfilm. Paris : Bibliothèque Nationale de

France. 1 microfilm reel : negative : 35 mm, 19--?)

The microfiche used was made from one of four manuscript copies held in

the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. It is not stated when the copies were made, but

none is an autograph manuscript. Scoccimarro (2004) notes that the Österreichische

Page 116 of 125

Nationalbibliothek, Musiksammlung in Vienna holds what is considered to be the

autograph copy of the score. The title page contains a dedication to the Empress

Catherine of Russia signed by Paisiello, dated 30 August 1781. Scoccimarro maintains

that this copy would be the closest score to the premiere performance. I was not able to

access this manuscript for the purposes of this study.

The microfilm copy used for this study has no dynamics, accentuations, bass

figures etc. I have made the excerpts in this study based on these two sources, using

"Sibelius First" notation software. Downes (1961) notes that keyboard harmonies,

though almost never indicated in early Classic period scores, are usually obvious from

the voice part. I have inserted the bass figures in the excerpts in the study based on the

two sources.

Page 117 of 125

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Sound Recordings

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, La Serva Padrona. Mariella Adani, S. Leonardo Monreale,

Uberto. Pomeriggi Musicali del Teatro Nuovo di Milano, Ettore Gracis,

conductor. LP; (Nonesuch Records, New York H-71043, 1961).

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, La Serva Padrona. Maddalena Bonifaccio, Serpina.

Siegmund Nimsgern, Uberto. Collegium aureum. LP; (EMI Electrola

GmbH, Köln IC065-99 749A, 1969).

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, La Serva Padrona. Katalin Farkas, Serpina. Jozsef Gregor,

Uberto. Pal Nemeth, Conductor. Capella Savaria. CD; (Hungaraton, 1986)

Giovanni Paisiello, La Serva Padrona. Cinzia Forte, S. Antonio Abete, Uberto. La

Cetra, Attilio Cremonesi, conductor. CD; (Harmonia Mundi, Basel.

Recorded in the Théâtre de Poissy, on 5th and 6th May, 2006)

Page 125 of 125