Early Baroque Opera
Transcript of Early Baroque Opera
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Introduction
to
Ba
Art
and
Music
M,rrt.
historians
agree,
with
unusual
unanimity,
that
Baroque
music
first
appeared
in
northern Italy in
the early
seventeenth century. To be
sure,
around
1600,
certain
qualities of
the Italian
madrigal-virtuosic
solo
singing,
for
ex-
ample-came
to
be
emphasized
in
a
way
that
created
an
entirely
new
sound.
The
older
equal-voiced
choral
polyphony of
the
Renaissance
receded
in impor-
tance
as
a new,
more
flamboyant
style
gained
in
popularity Eventually,
the
new
style
was
given
a
new
name:
Baroque.
Baroque
is the
term
used
to
describe
the
arts
generally during
the
period
1600-1750.k
is
taken
from
the
Portuguese
wordbarroco,
meaning
a
pearl
of
irregular
shape
then
used
in
jewelry
and
fine
decorations.
Critics
applied
the
term
"Baroque"
to
indicate
excessive
ornamentation
in the
visual
arts and a
rough,
bold
instrumental
sound
in
music.
Thus,
origin
ally,Baroque
had
a
nega-
tive
connotation:
it signified
distortion,
excess,
and extravagance.
Only
during
the twentieth
century,
with
a
new-found appreciation of the
painting of
Peter
Paul
Rubens
(1577-1640)
and
the music
of
Antonio
Vivaldi
(1678-1741)
and
J
S
Bach
(1685-1750),
among
others,
has
the
termBaroQue
come
to
assume
a
positive meaning
in Western
cultural
history
BAROQUE
ARCHITECTURE
AND
MUSIC
Whar
strikes
us
most-
when
standing
before
a
monument
o[
Baroque
design,
such
as
the basilica
of
Saint
Peter
in Rome
or
the
palace
of
Versailles
outside
of
Paris,
is
that
everything
is
constructed
on
the
grandest scale.
The
plazas,
buildings,
colonnades,
gardens,
and
fountains
are all
massive
Look
at
the
ninety-foot-high
altar canopy inside Saint
Peter's,
designed
by Cian
Lorenzo
Bernini
(1598-1680),
and
imagine
how
it
dwarfs
the
priest
below
(Fig.
10-1).
FIGURES
1O-1
AND
1O-2
(left)
The high
altar
at Saint
Peter's
Basil-
ica, Rome,
with
baldachin
by
Gian
Lorenzo
Bernini. Standing
more than
ninety
feet
high, this
canopy
is marked
by twisted
columns
and curving
shapes,
color, and
movement,
all typical
of
Baroque
art.
(right)
Saint
Peter's
Square, designed
by
Bernini in
the mid-seventeenth
century,
The
expanse
is so
colossal it
seems [o
swallow
people,
cars,
and
buses.
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outside the
basilica,
a circle
of colonnades
forms
a courtyard
large
enough
to
encompass
several
football
fields
(Fig.
10-2).
Or
consider
the
French king's
palace
of
Versailles, constructed
during
the reign
of Louis XIV
(1
643-17
l5),
so monumental
in scope
that
it formed
a
small independent
city, home
to
sev-
eral thousand
court
Functionaries
(see
Fig tZ-Z)
The music
composed
for
performance
in such
vast expanses
could
also be
grandiose.
While
at ftrst
the
Baroque orchestra
was
small,
under
King
Louis
XIV
it
sometimes
swelled
to
more than
eighty
players.
Similarly,
choral
works
for Baroque
churches
sometimes
required
twenty-four,
forty-eight,
or even
fifty-three
separate
lines
or
parts
These
compositions
for massive
choral
forces
epitomize
the
grand
or
"colossal"
Baroque
Once
the exteriors
of the
large
Baroque
palaces
and
churches were
built,
the artists
of
the
time
rushed
in to
fill
these expanses
with
abundant,
perhaps
even excessive,
decoration
It
was
as
if the architect
had created
a
large
vac-
uum, and
into
it
energetically
raced
the
painter,
sculptor,
and carver to
fill the
void. Examine
again
the
interior
of Saint Peter's
(Fig.
t0-1),
and notice
the
ornamentation
on the
ceiling,
as
well
as
the
elaborate
twists and
turns
of
Bernini's
canopy.
Or
consider
the
Austrian monastery
of
Saint
Florian
(Fig
10-3)i
there
are massive
columns,
yet the
frieze
connecting
them
is
richly
decorated,
as is
the
ceiling
above.
Here elaborate
scrolls
and
floral
capitals
add
warmth and humanity
to
what would
otherwise be
a
vast,
cold
space
Similarly,
when expressed
in
the music
of
the
Baroque
era, this
love of en-
ergetic detail
within
large-scale
compositions
took the
form
of
a
highly
orna-
mental
melody
set upon
a solid
chordal foundation
Sometimes the
decora-
tion almost
seems
to
overrun
the fundamental
harmonic
structure of the
piece
Notice
in Figure
10-4 the
abundance
oF
melodic
flourishes
in
just
a few
mea-
sures
of music
for
violin
by
Arcangelo
Corelli
(1653-1713).
Such ornaments
were equally
popular
with the
singers
of
the
early
Baroque
period,
when the
cult
of the
vocal virtuoso
first
emerged
FIGURE
1O-3
Church
of the
monastery
of Saint
Florian, Austria
(1686-1708)
The
powerful pillars
and
arches
set a
strong
structural
framework,
while
the
painted
ceiling
and
heavily foliated
capitals
provide
decoration
and
warmth,
Introduction
to
BaroQue Art
and M'"tsic
.
c
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10
1O3
palaces
and
chr,rcbes
oJ
greal
size
flkd
witb decoration
musical
decoration abooe
a
sohd support
FIGURE
1O-4
Arcangelo
Corelli's sonata
for violin
and basso confinuo,
Opus 5,
No 1,
The bass
provides
the structural support,
while
the
violin
adds elaborate
decoration above,
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FIGURE
,IO-5
Rubens's
The
Horrors
of War
(1638)
is a
reaction
to the
Thirty Years'
War
(1618-1648) that
ravaged
Europe
at this
time
Here
Mars, the
god
of war
(center,
wearing
a military
helmet), is
pulled
to the
right
by Fury
and
to the left
by a mostly
naked
Venus,
goddess
of
love. Beneath
these flgures,
the
populace
suffers
FIGURE
10-6
Judith
Beheading
Holofernes
(c'1
61 5)
by
Artemisia
Gentileschi
The
grisly
scene
of Judith
slaying
the tyrant
general
was
painted
several
times
by Gentileschi,
perhaps
as a
vivid
way of demonstrating
her
abhorrence
of
aggressive male
domination.
I
BAROQUE
PAINTING
AND
MUSIC
Many
of
the
principles
at work
in
Baroque
architecture
are
also
found
i
Baroque
painting and
music.
Baroque
canvases
are
usually
large
and
colorfu
Most
important,
they
are
overtly
dramatic
Drama
in
painting is
created
b
means
of contrast,
bold
colors
are
pitted
against
one
another,
bright
hght
set
against darkness;
andlines
are
placed atright
angles
to
one
another,
whlc
suggests
tension
and
energetic
movement
Figure
10-5
shows
Peter
Pa
Rubens's
TbeHorrors
oJ War
The
large canvas
swirls
with
a
chaotic
scene
that
extravagant
yet
sensual,
typical
qualities
of
Baroque
art.
Barely
vis
ible
in the
right
lower
foreground
is
a
woman
with
a
broken
lute
which
symbolizes
that
harmony
(music)
cannot
exist
beside
the
di
cord
of
war
Figure
10-6
paints
an
even more horriftC
sce
fl:
Judi
visiting
retribution
upon the
Assyrian
general Holofernes,
as
d
picted
by
Artemisia
Centileschi
(1593-1652).
Here
the
play
of
hg
and
dark
cre
ates
a
dramatic
effect,
the
stark
blue
and
red colors
ad
intensity,
while
the
head of
the
victim,
set
at
a
right
angle
to
his
bod
suggests
an unnatural
motion
Baroque
art
sometimes
delights
in
th
pure
shock
value
of
presenting
grLlesome events
from
history
or
my
in
a dramatic
way.
Music
of
the
Baroque is
also
highly
dramatic
We
observed
in
th
music
of
the
Renaissa
nce
(1475
1600)
a
growing awareness
of
the
c
pacity
oI
this
art
to sway, or
affect,
the emotions.
This
led in
the
ea
seventeenth
century
to
an aesthetic
theory
called
the
Doctrine
Affections
The
Doctrine
of Affections
held
that
different
music
moods
could
and
shor-rld
be
used
to
influence
the emotions,
or
affe
tions,
of
the listener
A musical
setting
should
reinforce
the
intend
"affection" of
the
text
Yet
each
work of
Baroque
art
in
general
co
fines
itself
to one
speci
fic
emotion,
keeping
each
unit of
space
a
expression
separate
and
distinct
from
the next.
There
is
a unity
mood
in
each
work
of
art So,
too,
writers
about
music
spoke
ol
t
need
to dramatize
the text
yet
maintain
a
single
affection-be
it
rag
revenge,
sorrow
Joy,
o(
lsvs-f1em
beginning
to
end
of
a
piece
N
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surprisingly,
the
single most important
new
genre
to
emerge
in the
Baroque
periodwas
opera
Here
the
drama
of the stage
joinedwith
music to form a
powerful
new
affective
medium
CHARACTERISTICS
OF BAROQUE MUSIC
Perhaps
more than any
period
in
the
history of
music, the
Baroque
(
I
600-
I
750)
gave
rise
to a
variely of musical
styles,
beginning with
the
expressive monody
of Claudio
Monteverdi
(1567-1643)
and
ending
with
the complex
polyphony
ofJ
S Bach
(1685-1750).
It
also
saw the introduction of many new musical
genres-opera,
cantata,
orator'io, sonata,
concerto,
znd
5u;1q-gach of
which
is
discussed in the
following
chapters.
Yet
despite the
quick
stylistic changes
and
all the new
rypes
of
music created,
two
elements remain
constant
through-
out
the Baroque
period,
an expressive melody and
a
strong supporting
bass
Expressive Melody
Renaissance
music, as
we saw in
Chapter
9,
was
dominated
by
polyphonic
texture
in which
the voices spin
out
a
web of imitative
counterpoint
The
na-
ture
and
importance of
each of the lines is about equal, as
the following
graphic
suggests:
S
A
-,/--\//-\_,/-\_,/--\
T
B
-/-\-,/--\-./-\
In early Baroque music,
however, the
voices
are
no longer equal Rathel
a
po-
larity develops
in which the musical
emphasis
gravitates
toward the top
and
bottom
lines'
Introduction
to
BaroQue Art
and
Music
r
c
H
A
p
T E
R 10
1O5
Renaissance had equal uoice
rmttalion
S
A
T
R
Baroque
empbasizes top
and
bottom
Renaissance
vocal music
was mostly ensemble
music-motels, Masses, and
madrigals for
groups
of vocalists,
even
if
there was
only
one
singer on
a
part.
In
the
early Baroque, however,
the musical focus shifts from
vocal ensemble to
accompanied
solo
song A choir might
be
a usefr-Ll
medium
to convey the ab-
stract religious
thoughts of the
multitudes, but
to
communicate raw human
emotions,
direct
appeal
by
an
individual
soloist now seemed more appropri-
ate
The new
kind
of solo singing
was
at first called monody
(from
Greek
terms
meaning
"to
sing alone").
A
single singer stepped
forward,
accompa-
nied
by
a
very
few
supporting
instruments,
to
project
a
highly
charged
text.
Vithin
the medium of monody, the
vocal virtuoso would soon
emerge,
the
star
of the court theater and the
operatic
stage.
The
Basso
Contiuuo
Monody
emphasizes
a solo melody, but one supported
by
chords springing
up
vertically
from
the bass. ]n
simple terms, the soprano carries the melody while
the
bass
provides
a strong harmonic
support
Jn
between, the middle voices
do
llttle
more than fi11
out
the
texture
lf Renaissance music was conceived
importance of
accompanied
solo sotrg
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BaroQue
Period,
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FIGURE
1O-7
A
Lady
with Theorbo
(c'1670) by John
Michael
Wright. The
bass strings
are
at
the top of
the instrument
and
off the flnger-
board. The
theorbo
was often
used to
play
the basso
continuo
in
the
seventeenth
century,
FIGURE
1O_8
Basso continuo
and
violin, This
continuo
consists
of
a harpsrchord
and
a large
string instrument,
the vioia da
gamba,
or
bass viol. The
viol
has slx
strings and
frets
(as
on
a
guitar),
and
produces
a slightly
darker, less brilliant
sound
than
members
of the violin family
The
gambist
playing
here is Eva Linfleld
E
E
E
to-
polyphonically
and
horizontally,
line
by line,
that
of
the
early
Baroque
period
is organized
homophonically
and
vertically,
chord
by
chord
The bass-driven,
chordal
support
in Baroque
music
is
called
the
basso
continuo,
and it is
played
by
one
or
more
instruments.
Figure
10-7
shows
a
\Moman
singing
to
the
accompaniment
of
a
large plucked
string
instrument
called
the theorbo.
This
instrument
has
more
low
strings
than
its close
cousin
the lute,
which
allows
it
to
not
only strum
chords
but
also
play
low
bass
notes.
In
the early
seventeenth
century,
a
theorbo
or
some
other
kind of
bass
lute often
played
the
basso
contrnuo.
Figure
10-8
shows
a solo
violinist
accompanied
by
two
instruments,
a
cello-like
instrument
called
the
oiola
da
gamba,which
plays
the
bass
line,
and
a
harpsichord,
which
improvises
chords
built
above
that
bass
line
The
violin
performs an expressive
melody
while
the other
two
instruments
provide
thebasso
continuo
Harpsichord
and
low
string
instrument
formed the
most
common
basso
contlnuo
tn
the
Baroque
period Indeed, it
is the
continual
tinkling of
the
harpsi-
chord,
in
step with
low
sounds
of
a cello
or uiola
da
gamba,
that
signals
the
listener
that
the music
being
played
comes
from
the
Baroque
Coincidentally,
the
top-bottom
structure
of
monodic singing
in
Baroque
music
is
not
concep-
tually
different
from
the straight-ahead
rock'n'
roll music
of
today
with
electric
bass;
in
both
styles,
an expressive
soloist
sings
above
a
rock-solid
bass,
while
a keyboardist,
buildlng
upon
the
bass
1ine,
improvises
chords
in
the
middle
of
the texture.
Vhat
chords
did
the
Baroque
harpsichordist
play?
These
were
suggested
to
the
performer
by
means
of
figured
Sass-3
numerical
shorthand
placed
below the
bass
line
A
player familiar
with
chord
formations
would look
at
the bass
line
such
as that
given
in Example
I 0- 1a and
improvise
chords
along
the lines
of
those
given
in
Example
10-1b.
These
improvised
chords,
gener-
ated
from
the bass
according
to
the numerical
code,
support
a
melody
above
Here,
too, there
is a
modern
paraliel.
Figured
bass
is similar
in intent
to
the
numerical
code
found
in
"fake
books"
used by
jazz
pianists today
that
suggest
which
chords
to
play
beneath
the written
melody
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Exnupu
to-t
Introductrou to
BaroQue
Art
and
Music
c l-l
A
p
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E
R 10
lO7
exuberant
qualiy
oJ early
BaroQue musrc
lon4,
luxuriant
oocal
lines
so ha
se
in short, symmetrical units,
but
over
long
musical
phrases.
lb 6 166
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(b)55
1)
6 i bod
(a)
)
)
Cenerally,
Baroque
expands
luxuriantly,
melody
does
not
unfold
and
often unpredictably,
ELEMENTS
OF
BAROQUE
MUSIC
Baroque
music, as we
have
seen,
is marked by
grandeur,
by
passionate
expres-
sion,
and
by drama. It
is
held together
by
a
chordal
framework and a strong
bass
line
,
both supplied
by
the
basso
continuo
These
qualities
can be
heard
in
all
three
chronological
subdivisions
of Baroque music: early Baroque
(1600-1660),
middle
Baroque
(1660-1710),
and late Baroque
(1710-1750).
In
the music
of
the early Baroque in
particular,
the
artistic
expression of the voice and
the
richness of the harmony were
especially intense. ]n the late
Baroque,
some
o{
the
excessively
exuberant qualities
ol
early
Baroque music
would
be
smoothed
out
and regularized
by Bach and
Handel
(see
Chapters
13
and 1
)
The
fol-
lowing elements, however, are
common to all
periods
of Baroque music
Melody
In the
Renaissance, melody
was
more
or
less
all
of
one
type
It
was a
direct,
uncomplicated line that
could
be
performed
by either a voice or an instru-
ment But in
early Baroque
music, beginning about 1600,
two
different
melodic
styles begin
to
develop,
a dramatic, virtuosic
style
in
singing and a
more mechanical
style, fulI
of figural repetitions,
in
instrumental
music
Vocal
melody
in
the Baroque
is
marked
by
quick
shifts from long notes to very
short
ones,
which
creates
an
excited, exuberant
sound
From time
to time,
the voice
will
luxuriate
in
a
long
flourish as it
projects
a
single syllable in long melisma*
(Ex
10-2) Below
are
two melodies,
one from Monteverdi's
opera
OrJeo atthe
beginning
oI the Baroque, and
the other from Handel's
oratorio
Messiab
from
the end
of the
period.
ExavpLr i o-2
Tan
-
ta 6el
- lezza il pa-radi
(Wherever
so
much beauty resides contains paradise.)
Exlvple
t
o-3
fEvery
valleyl
shall be
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cbord
progressrons
unform
rhytbns
pre
dominan
tly
homo
ph
o
nic Iex
ture
Harmony
Baroque
harmonies
are
chordally
conceived
and
tightly
bound
to
the
basso
continuo
Composers
in
the early
seventeenth
century sometimes
placed their
chords
in
an
order
that sounds
arbitrary
to our
modern
ears
But
as
the
cen-
tury
progressed,
harmonies
unfold
more
and
more
in
familiar
patterns,
and
standard
harmonic
progressions emergei
in other
words,
chord
progressions*
as
we
know
them come
into
being.
The
shortest
and
most frequent of
these
is
the
V-l
(dominant-tonic) cadence
(see
page
34)
The
advent
ol standard
har-
monic
progressions like
the V-l
cadence
gives
added
direction
and
cohesion
to
the
music
Attending
this
development
is
the
growing importance-and
eventual
tota
domination-of
the
major
and
minor
keys
These
two
scale
patterns,
majo
and
minor,
replaced
the
dozen
or so
scales
(or
"modes,"
as
they were
called
employed
during
the
Renaissance
and
before.
Moreover,
as
music
was
re
duced
to
just
two
qualities
of
sound,
the composer
could
play
the
dark
mino
off
against
the
bright
major,
just
as
a
painter might
contrast
light
and
dark
(see
Fig
10-6),
for
particular
effect.
Rhythm
Rhythm
in
Baroque
music
is
characterize
d by
uniformity
Just
as
a
single
mood
or
affect,
is carried
from
the beginning
to
the
end
of
a
piece
of
Baroque
music
so
the
rhythmic
patterns heard
at the
beginning
will
surface
again
and
again
right
to
the end.
Moreover,
in
Baroque
music-esPecially
instrumsnl3l
mu5iq
u ,,.ong
recurring
beat
is
usually
clearly
audible,
which
pushes the
music
for
ward
This tendency
toward
rhythmic
uniformify,
clarity,
and
drive
become
more
and
more
pronounced
as lhe
Baroque
period
proceeds It
culminates
i
the
rhythmically
propulsive music
of
Vivaldi
and
Bach
Texture
ished,
however.
In
the
late
Baroque,
composers
such
as
Bach
and
Handel
re
turned
to
contrapuntal
writing,
in
part
to
add
richness
to
the
middle
range
the standard
top-bottom
(soprano-bass)
dominated
texture
Dynamics
the
one
thing
prized
above
all
others
in Baroque
art,
drama'
sudden
contrasts
oJ dynamics
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5 The Elements of Opera
141
The
Elements of
Opera
The baroqr-ie era
witnessed the development
of
a major
innovation
in
mustc-
opera,
or drama that is sung
to
orchestral
accompaniment. This unique
fusion
of
music,
acting,
poetry,
dance, scenery,
and costumes
is
a
theatrical
experience
offering
overwhelming
excitement and emotion.
Since
its
beginnings in
italy
around
1600,
opera
has
spread
to
many countries, and even
today
it
remains
a
powerful
form of
musical
theater.
In
Section 6,
we'll look
closely
at
opera in
the
baroque period; but
first, a
general
discussion
of
opera is in order.
In
an
opera,
characters and
plot
are revealed
through
song,
rather
than
the
speech
used
in
ordinary
drama. Once we accept
this
convention,
opera
pro-
vides great pleasure;
its music
both
delights
the
ear and herghtens
the emo-
tionai
effect of
the
words
and
story.
Music makes even an
unlikely
plot
believable
by depicting mood, character,
and dramatic action. The
flow of
the
music
carries the
plot forward.
In
opera,
the
music
ls the drama.
Opera
demands
performers
who can sing
and act
simuitaneously.
On
stage
are star solo singers, secondary
soioists, a chorus,
and
sometimes
dancers-ail
in
costume.
Besides
the chorus of professional
singers, there
may be "supers"
(supernumeraries, or
"extras"),
who don't
sing
but
who
carry spears,
fill
out
chord
scene
from
a
productron
of Aida
(l8lI),
by Giuseppe Verdi,
at the Th6itre Antique
in Orange,
France
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142 lV
The
Baroque
Period
crowds, drink
wine,
or
do
other things that
add to the
effect. Scenery,
lighting,
and
stage machinery are intricate
and
are used to
create the illusion of fires,
floods,
storms, and
supernatural effects. In the
orchestra
pit
are
the
instrumen-
talists
and
the
conductor,
whose awesome
responsibility
it is to hold everything
together. The
persorrrel for a large
opera-from
conductor to
stage
director
and
assorted
vocal
coaches, rehearsal accompanists,
technicians, and
stagehands-
may
reach
a
startling total
of several
hundred
people.
The capacity
of
this
combined force to
create
spectacle
and
pageantry
ac-
counts for
much of
opera's appeal.
Historically,
opera has
been
associated
with
high
social status. It
originated in the
courts
of
kings
and
princes
(who
could
af-
ford it) and
long continued
as
a
form
of
aristocratic
entertainment. But
as
opera
became
more
concerned
with "teal"
people and
less
with
royal figures,
it
at-
tracted
popular
audiences. Today, radio
and television
broadcasts, videos,
and
recordings
have changed
opera's
image
as
an
exotic and expensive diversion
for
the
very rich. Millions
of people from
every economic
background
know
opera
for what
it is: a
powerful
and
pieasurable emotional
experience.
The
creation of an
opera
involves
the
joint
efforts
of
a
composer
and a drama-
tist.
The
libretto,
or
text,
of
the
opera is usually
written
by the librcttist,
or
dramatist, and
set to music by the
composer. But
composers
often collaborate
with
dramatists
to
ensure
that
the texts meet
their
musical
needs.
W
H.
Auden
once
said
that
a
good
libretto
"offers
as
many
opportunities
as
possible
for
the
characters
to be swept
off
their
feet by
placing them in
situations which
are
too
tragic
or
too
fantastic
for words. No
good opera
plot
can be sensible, for people
do
not sing
when they are feeling
sensible." And that
is
true-opera
characters
are
people
overwhelmed by
love,
Iust, hatred, and
revenge. They wear fantastic
disguises
and
commit extraordinary
acts of violence.
Yet the music makes them
human
and real. It
evokes the haughtiness
of
a
countess
or
the simplicity
of a
peasant
girl.
It
creates
a dramatic
entrance
for
an outraged father,
depicts
the
tension behind
sword thrusts
in a duel, and
portrays
the
bleakness
of
a
winter
dawn. A
great opera
composer is a master
of musical timing and
characteriza-
tion and has
a keen
sense
of
theater,
knowing
just
when
to
have
a
character sing
a
simple phrase
or
a soaring melody,
when to
provide a stirring
chorus
or a
graceful dance.
Through the music,
the composer
paces the drama,
controlling
the
speed of gestures,
entrances, exits, and
stage movements.
Some
operas
are
serious, some comic,
some both.
Operas may contain spo-
ken dialogue,
but most
are entirely
sung.
(Spoken
dialogue is
used
mainly
in
comic
opera, where
stage action must
be
performed quickly for the most hu-
morous
effect.)
Since singing normally
takes longer
than
speaking
words, the
text
of
a
3-hour
opera is
shorter
than
that
of
a
3-hour
play.
The librettist allows
time
for the
composer's musical
elaboration.
The range
of characters found
in
opera
is
broad and varied;
gods, empresses,
dukes, servants,
priests,
prostitutes,
peasants, clowns, and
cowboys all
make
appearances.
Opera soloists
must create all
these characters
and so need
acting
skill
as
well
as
vocal artistry. During
rehearsals,
the
stage director coaches
the
singers
to
move
well,
gesture
meaningfully,
and
identify
with
their
characters.
The basic
voice ranges
(soprano,
alto, tenor,
bass) are divided more finely
in
opera. Some of the aoice categoiles
of opera
are
as
follows:
ColoraturcL soprano
Very
high
range; can execute
rapid scales and trills
Lyric soprano
Rather light
voice; sings roles
calling for
grace
and
charm
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af-
at-
ol
in
it
Dramatic soprano
Lyric tenor
Dramntic tenor
Basso
buffo
Basso
profundo
5 The
Elements
of Opera 143
Full,
powerful voice; is capable
of passionate
intensity
Relatively
light, bright voice
Powerful
voice; is capable
of heroic expresslon
Takes
comic roles;
can smg very
rapidly
Very low range,
powerful voice; takes roles calling
for
great
dignity
Like a
play,
an
opera has from one to five
acts subdivided into scenes.
A
sin-
gle
act
presents a variety of vocal and
orchestral contrasts. For example,
a
tenor
solo
might be
foliowed by a duet for
soprano and bass, and then by a chorus or
an
orchestral interlude. A section may end definitely-and
provide
an
opportu-
nity for
applause-or it
may be linked
with the next
section to
form
a
continu-
ous
flow of music
within
the
act.
The
main attraction for many opera fans
is
tl:.e aria,
a
song
for
solo
voice
with
orchestral accompaniment. It's an
outpouring of melody that expresses an emo-
tional
state. In an aria, I looe you might
be sung ten times to accommodate the ex-
pansion
of
the idea.
Often
the
action stops while the
character's
feelings are
revealed through
music.
An aria usually
lasts
several minutes.
It
is a
complete
piece with
a
definite beginning, high
point, and end.
If
the performance of
an
aria
is
brilliant,
the
audience responds
with
an ovation
at
its
conclusion.
This
breaks the dramatic
flow but
allows
the audience
to release
its feelings through
appiause and
shouts ofbraao or braaa
Opera
composers
often
lead into
an
aria with a recitatioe, a vocal
line
that
imitates the rhythms and
pitch fluctuations of speech. In a recitative
(from
the
Italian
word
for
recite), words are sung
quickly
and
clearly, often on
repeated
tones. There is usually
only
one
note
to
each
syllable-as
opposed
to
an aria,
where
one syllable may be stretched
over
many notes. Recitative is used
for
monologues
and dialogues
that
connect the more
melodic
sections of
the opera.
It carries the action forward and
presents routine inJormation quickly.
Besides arias, the
soloists
in
an
opera will sing compositions for two or
more
singers: duets
(for
two
singers),
trios
(for
three), quartets
(for
four), quintets
(for
five),
and sextets
(for
six). When three
or
more
singers
are involved, the compo-
sition
is
called
an ensemble.
In
a
duet
or
ensemble,
the
performers
either
face
the
audience or move
through
action
that develops the
plot.
Each character
ex-
presses
his
or her own feelings. ConJlicting emotions like
grief,
happiness,
and
anger
can
be
projected simultaneously when different
melodies
are
combined.
This special blend
of
feelings is the
glory of opera
and
is possible only
through
music; it cannot
be
duplicated in
spoken drama.
An
opera
chorus
generates
atmosphere
and makes comments on
the action.
Its members
might
be courtiers, sailors,
peasants, prisoners,
ballroom
guests,
and
so
on. Their
sound
creates
a
kind
of
tonal backgrould for the soloists.
Rising
just
over
the
edge of
center
stage,
near the footlights, is the prompter's
box. In this
cramped space,
invisible to the audience, is llne ptompter, who gives
cues and
reminds the
singers of words or pitches
if they momentarily forget.
Occasional
memory
lapses are
inevitable
with
so
much actilrity
on stage.
Dance
in
opera
is
generally
incidental. It
provides
an
ornamental
interlude
that contrasts
with
and relaxes
the
thrust of the plot. By and
large, dance is
used
as
part
of the
setting-in
a ballroom, at
a
country fair, in
a
pagan
court-while
the soloists,
downstage, advance the action of the
plot
and work out
their
destinies.
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/
144 lV The
Baroque Period
The nerve
center of
an
opera in performance
is the
orchestra pit-a sunken
area directly in front
of the
stage.
An opera
orchestra has the
same
instruments
as a full symphony
orchestra,
but
usually it has
a smaller
string section.
Cov-
ered lights attached to the
players' music
stands leave the
orchestra
in
a deep
shadow
that doesn't
interfere wiih the audience's
view
of
the
stage.
The
or-
chestra
not
only supports the
singers
but
depicts mood
and
atmosphere and
comments on the stage action. During
the
performance, the conductor
shapes
the entire
work. He
or
she sets tempos,
cues
in
singers, and indicates subtle
dynamic gradations.
Most operas
open
with a
purely orchestral composition
called art or:erture or
a prelude. Since the
eighteenth century, the music
for
an
overture has
been
drawn from
material heard later in the
opera. The overture is thus a short
musical
statement that involves the audience
in
the overall
dramatic mood.
Orchestral introductions to acts in
the opera other than the first are always
called
preludes.
We've
already discussed
one
of
these,
the Prelude
to
Act
III
of Lohengrin where
Wagner
anticipates
the wedding
of the hero
and heroine.
Because overtures and
preludes, like arias, are complete
compositions,
they fre-
quently
appear
on symphony orchestra
programs.
Should opera
be translated?
This
question has long aroused controversy, and
the
battle
contjnues.
Most of
the best-loved
operas are
in
Italian,
German,
or
French. Champions of translations into
English argue that
an
audience
should
be able to
understand
the
plot
as
it
develops. Why tell
jokes
in a comic opera
if
they can't be understood?
On
the
other hand, a
composer takes pains to make
a
special
fusion
of pitch and
the
original words. This
results in tonal color
that
seems
absolutely
right. But
no
matter how
well
a
singer articulates,
some
words
are bound to be lost,
whatever the language. For
example,
a
sung melody
can
stretch one
vowel
over many notesi
it
takes
a while
to
get
to the end of a word.
If the melody is
placed in
a
soprano's
highest
range, the listener is
really
aware
only of
the
silvery vowel and not
of
the
word as a whole.
Some operas seem
to
work well in
translation;
others
don't.
Much
depends
on
the
style of
the opera
and
on
the
sensitivity
of
the translator,
In many recent
opera
productions,
a
translation
of the libretto is projected
above the
stage.
This
device-called
supertitles-has
also
been
a
source
of
con-
troversy. Its advocates
say that it
provides the best
of
both worlds,
since
it al-
lows an
opera to be sr.mg in the
original language while the
audience is enabled
to
understand the words. But its
opponents feel that it detracts
from the
music
and the
action
on
stage.
Before
you
attend a
live
opera performance, in any language
and
with or
without supertitles,
it's a
good idea to read the
libretto
or
a
slmopsis of the plot.
Even better,
watih
a video or listen to a
recording while following the libretto.
This way, you
will be freer at the
performance
to appreciate
the quality of pro-
duction and interpretation.
Basic Terrns
opera
(page
141)
libretto
(142)
librettist
(142)
voice categories
of
opera(142)
aria
(143)
recitative
(143)
ensemble
(143)
chorus
(143)
prompter
(143)
overture
(prelude) (144)
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110
pARr
III
'TbeBaroQuePeriod,
1'600-47so
FIGURE
11-2
Portrait
of Claudio
Monteverdi
by Bernardo
Strozzi (1581-1644).
Strozzi
also
painted
the
singer and composer
Barbara Strozzi
(see
page
11
5).
FIGURE
11-3
Piazza
San Marco
painted
by Gentile
Bellini, c1500.
Saint Mark's
was the focal
point
of all
religious
and
civic
activities
in
Venice,
ln the 1630s,
Venice became
home
to the flrst
public
opera
houses
$cc;i,-9J4yrb
f-1,'-
^'lv
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Monteverdi's
first opera-and
the first
important
opera in the
history
of
Vestern
music-ris
his
orJeo Because
the aim
of early
opera
was
to
reproduce
elements
of ancient
Greek
drama,
it
was
only natural
that the
libretto for
OrJeo
drew
from a tale
found
in classical
Greek mythology
The
leadlng
character
is
Orfeo
(Orpheus),
the
son
of Apollo,
the
Greek
god
of the
sun and
of
music.
(lndeed,
the very
wordmusic
comes
from the
artistic
muses
who attended
Apollo
)
Orfeo, himself
a
demigod,
finds
love in the
form
of
the
beautiful
Eu-
ridice,
a
mortal No
sooner
are they
married
than
she is
killed
by a
poisonous
snake and
carried
off to
Hades
(the
ancient
world's
version
of
Hell)
orfeo
vows to
descend
into
the
Underworld
to
rescue
his
beloved
This
he nearly
accomplishes
by means
of his
divine
musical
powers,
for
Orfeo
can make
trees
sway,
calm savage
beasts, and
overcome
demonic
forces
with the
beauty
of his
song alone The
theme
of Odeo then,
is the
divine
power
of
music
Monteverdi
advances
the drama
in
OrJeo mainly
through monody
(expres-
sive solo singing
to
simple accompaniment),
a
medium
thought
to
have
ap-
proximated
the singing
of
the
ancient
Creek theater
The
simplest type
of
monody
was
recitative
Recitative,
from
the [tal ian
wordrecitatiuo
("some-
thing recited"),
is
musically
heightened
speech,
through
which the
plot
of
the
opera is
communicated
to
the
audience
Because
recitative
attempts to
mirror
the
natural
stresses
of everyday
speech,
it
is
often made
up of rapidly
repeating
notes
followed
by
one or two
long notes
at the
ends
of
phrases,
as
in the following
recitative
lrom
ActII
of
Orfeo
Exlvple
t
1-t
(At
the
bitter
news
the
unhappy
one resembled a
mute stone)
Recitative
in Baroque
opera is
accompanied
only by the
basso coutinuo,
whlch
consists,
as we
have
seen,
of
a bass
line and accompanying
chords
(Fig
1 1-a)
Such sparsely
accompanied recitative
is
called
simple
recitative
(recitatioo
sem,
plice
in Italian).
(ln
the
nineteenth
century, recitative
accompanied
by the
full
orchestra,
called
recitatioo
accompaluato,
would
become
the norm
)
A
good
ex-
ample
of simple
recitative
can be
heard at the
beginning
of
the
vocal
excerpt
from
Act
Il
of
Ort'eo discussed
later
in
the
Listen-
ing
Cuide
EarlyBaroque
Vocal
Music
r
c H
A
p
r E
R 11 1il
aimed to reoioe
Greek
drama
empb
as
ize d exp
res sio
e
s olo
sin in
FIGURE
11-4
The
beginning
of the
third act of Monte-
verdl's
Orfeo
(1607)
from
the original
print
oftheopera
Thevocal
part
of
Orfeoison
the staff
above;
the slower-moving
bass
line of
the basso
continuo is below
48
n addition
to recitative,
Monteverdi
made
use
of a
more lyrical
type
of
monody
called aria
An
aria,
Italian
for
"song"
or"ayre,"
is more
passion-
ate,
more
expansive,
and
more
tuneful than
a
re-
citative.
It also
tends to
have
a clear
meter and
more
regular
rhythms
If
a recitative
tells
what
is
happening
on
stage, an aria
conveys
what
the
character
Jeels
about those
events
Similarly,
whereas
a
recitative
advances
the
plot,
an aria
usually
brings
the
action
to a
halt
so
as
to
focus
a
spotlight
on the
emotional
state
of
the
singer
Finally,
whereas
a recitative
olten involves
a
rapid-
fire
delivery
of text,
an
aria
will
work
through text
at
a
more
leisurely
pace;
words are
repeated to
heighten
their
dramatic
effect,
and
importanl
ATTO T"ERZO
ORFEO.
rd3 +*
I
-
n
Corto
da tc
nio
Numc
SpcraEea Spcrr6zr
vniqo
bcnc
De g
bbbb
-,-.r-
-
i
l-4
-
7/24/2019 Early Baroque Opera
14/19
,---\112
PAR
w
T
III
'
The
BaroQue
Period,
4600-47
so
vowels
are
extended
by
means
of
vocal
in
Orfeo's
aria
"Powerlul sPirit'"
Ex.qvplg
t
t-z
melismas*,
as
can
be
seen,
for
example,
FIGURE
11-5
Orfeo
charms
the
guardlans
of
Hades
with
his
voice
and
lyre.
A
detail
from
a
painting
by
Nicolas
Poussin
(1594-1665).
au instrumental
curlain
raiser
S
An
aria
is an
important,
self-contained
unit'
both
textually
and
musically
E
Vhereas
recitative
is
normally
written
in
blank
verse,
an
aria
is
usually
com-
?
;:;;d
;;.iu*r*
r,.es
organized
in
stanzas
(strophes).
The
text
of
orfeo's
'{
aria
"Powerful
spirit"
.on'i"'
of
three
three-line
stanzas'
each
with
a
rhyme
*
;.h.-.
"a-b-a."
Moreover,
the
music
for
each
stanza
begins
and
ends
in
the
$
,.-.
key
(G
minor).
Finally,
operatic
arias
are
nea
fi
not
merely
by
the
basso
contrnuo
but
also
by
all
or
part
verdi
gives special
prominence
to
the
violins'
cornet
ful
spirit"
to
give
added
weight
to
the
aria,
as
well
a
charm
even
the
guards of
Heli
(Fig'
t
t-s)'
Recitative
and
aria
are
the
two
main
styles
of
singing
in
Baroque
opera,
andinoperaingenerallnaddition,thereisathirdstylecalledariosoArioso
is
a
manner
of
singing
halFway
between
aria
and
recitative
It
is
more
declam-
utory
thun
an
aria
L.r,i.,
a
less-rapid-fire
delivery
than
a
recitative'
The
lament
that
orfeo
sings
on
learning
of
ih.
death
of
Euridice,
"Thou
art
dead"
(see
Listening
Guide
below),
is
a
classic
example
of
arioso
style
Likealloperas/orfeobeginswithapurelyinstrumentalworkthatservesaS
a
curtain
raiser.
Suciinstrumental
introductions
are
usually
called
overtures'
preludes,orsinfonias,butMonteverdicalledhismusicalpreambleatoccata.
The
term
toccata
(literally,
,,a
touched
thing,,)
refers
to an
instrumental
piece,
for
keyboard
or
other
instruments,
requiring
great
technical
dexterity
of
the
performers.Itis,inotherwords,aninstrumentalshowpiece.Herethetrumpet
races
up
and
down
the
scale
while
many
of
the
lower
parts
rapidly
articulate
repeating
pitches.
Monteverdi
instructs
that
the
toccata
be
sounded
three
times.
Brief
though
it
may
be,
this
toccata
is
suffrciently
long
to
suggest
the
richness
and
varief
of
inrt*,,'.ntal
sounds
available
to
a
composer
in
the
early
Baroque
period.
lts
theatrical
function,
of
course,
is
to
call
the
audience
to
at-
tention,
to
signal
that
the
action
is
about
to
begin'
audio
Monteverdi
(
1 607)
1111
0,00
ffi
Tilmpet
highlights
highest
part
e*{
O:
31
RePeat
of
toccata
W
I
;o2-Repeat
o[
toccata
Use
a
downloadable,
cross-platform
animated
Active
Listenlng
Guide'
available
at www.thomsonedu.com/music/
wright'
(Powe{ul
spirit
and
tormidable
god)
-
7/24/2019 Early Baroque Opera
15/19
Eaily BaroqueVocal
Music
r
C H A
p
r
E
R
1
1
Although Monteverdi
divlded
his
Odeo
into
five
short
acts,
this ninety-
minute
opera
was originally
performed
at
Mantua
without
intermission. The
first
dramatic
high
point
occurs midway through
Act Il,
when the hero learns
that
his new
bride, Euridice,
has
been
claimed
by the Underworld
In
a
heart-
lelt
arioso,
"Thou
art dead,"
Orfeo laments his
loss andvows
to enter Hades
to
reclaim his beloved.
Listen especially
to the
poignant
conclusion
in which
Orfeo,
by means of an ascending
chromatic vocal
line,
bids farewell to
earth,
sky, and sun, and thus
begins his
lourney
to
the land of
the
dead
i,,.
Claudio
Monteverdi
'illr,t'orJeo
(1607)
"
Ta
un
Fiorilo
pr4
t.'oD
D4
l;
lr
*
r:
qo
Mention
oi
descent
into
helI
accompanied
by
fall
in
vocal
line
Vsion ol
Eurjdice climbing to
heaven causes
flourish
in
high
Crowi ng conviction
portrayed
by
chromatic
ascent
in vocal
line
Use a downloadable,
cross-platform
animated Active Listening Guide, available
al www.thomsonedu.com/music/wright.
Having
descended to the
shores of Hades, Orfeo now invokes all
his
musi-
cal
powers
to
gain
entry In
the
aria
"Powerful
spirit," he addresses Charon,
the
spirit that
controls access to
the kingdom of the dead,
Orfeo's elaborate,
florid
vocal
style, aided
by
an
exotic instrumental accompaniment,
soon dis-
arms
the
frightful
guard.
-
7/24/2019 Early Baroque Opera
16/19
ll4
pARr
III
.
TheBaroQuePeriod,t6oo-4750
Claudio
Monteverdi
OrJeo
(.1607)
Act Ill, Aria,
"Powerful
spirit"
(strophes
I and 2
only)
Characters,
Orfeo
and
Cbarc,n
Situation: Orfeo
pleads
through
his music
that Charon
grant
passage
into
Hades
ARIA
(Strophe
1)
Orfeo
b< ffi
Florid singing,
joined
by
Possente spirto
e
formidabil
nume,
Powerful spirit
and
formidable
god,
"
violin
flourishes,
above
Senza
cui
far
passaggio
a
l'altra
riva without whom
no soul,
deprived
of body,
basso
coutinuo
Alma
da corpo
sciolta
in van
presume
may
presume
to
pass
to Hades'shore
1t13
ftrct
",r"."iTh...
T:*J-:.
r,^
1)l{
lnstrumental
postlude
played
by basso
coutinuo
and two
solo
violins
e'?(iffii".;)
AR'A
(srrophe
zr
r,r:l
#c
.t"
ff;:1::lt'"'.T:H::
il,?:Jj;':il:
:i:J.?i ;
;lJ;:J:
a6ove bnsso
continuo
E senza
cor
com'esser
pud
ch'io viva2
'TrucV
t2-iwr"rzlto
(6r,,o1t')
Orfeo
I live
no
longer,
since
now my
dear
spouse
is deprived of li[e, I have
no
heart
within
me, and
without
a
heart
how
can
I
still
be
alive:
TnstrrLmental
postlude
played
by basso
cautinuo
and
two
solo
cornettos
Use a
downloadable, cross-platform animated Actlve Listening Guide, available
at www.thomsonedu.com/music/wright.
Ventce, a
worldly
city
In the original
Creek
myth,
Pluto, the lord of Hades, releases
Euridice
to
Orfeo with
one
condition:
He is to
have
faith that
she
is following
behlnd
him, and he must not look
back
before
reaching earth's surface
Vhen
Orfeo
yields
to
the temptation to look back and embrace
Euridice,
she
is reclaimed
by
Pluto forevermore
ln his
opera OrJeo,
Monteverdi altered
this
tragic con-
clusion,
Apollo
intervenes, transforming his son
Orfeo
into
a
constellation
that
radiates eternal spiritual
harmony with the beloved
Euridice. In so
doing,
Monteverdi established
what was
to
become
a
convention
for seventeenth-
and eighte
enth-century operd:
the lieto
fne,
or
"happy
ending."
CHAMBER CANTAIA
In
16\Claudio
MonteverdileFt his unrewarding
job
in M
to
become
di-
rector oflnusic
at the
basilica
oI
Saint
Mark in
Yenicerl6ly Not only
was
his
new
position-pqrhaps
the
most
presLigious
post
atn6sician could
then obtain,
but Venice,
a
cehr{al
port for
trade
with
rhep6st,
was
a
remarkably
cosmo-
politan
city
Said En
traveler Thomas
at(c1577-161 7) in
1605,
''Here
you
see
Poles,
Slavs,
PeXrns, Greeks,
Wks,Jews,
Christians
of al1 the
famous
religions of
Christendom,\d
eac\Aation distinguished
from another
by
its
proper
and
peculiar
habits."
A
h
Monteverdi
composed
religious
music
in
Venice,
in
this
very
worl
en
ent
he also wrote opera,
as well
as
a
arly seventeenth-century Venice,
the
ew
musical genre
that
emerged
i
chamber cantata
Vhereas
operaw/ the
dominant torm of
t
I music during
the
Baroque
period, the
cantay'became
the
primary
genre
of
chamber
music
imusic
for soloists
p d
in
ihe home or a small
auditorilm)
The word
cantata
literally
meTts
"something
sung,"
as opposed
to
sonata,
thing sounded"
(played
96
amusical instrument)
Because
it
was usually
ed
before
a
select/roup
of
listeners
in a
private
residence,
this
genre
is called
t\chamber
.unfrtu
Like opera,
the
seventeenth-century
chamber
cantata emp\ized
musrc
Jor
a
priuate
audtence
ompanied
solo singing,
and the subject matter
usually concerned
unreq
-
7/24/2019 Early Baroque Opera
17/19
the
in
com-
com-
was
grand
popu-
of
')
Int
of
the Commonwealth
at midcentury
(16a9-60)'
stage
plays
were
forbidden
the
Puritans
regarded
the theater
as
an invention
of
the
as"
that
plaY
set
to
musrc'
,
could
be
passed
off
as
a
"concert."
The
"
fl
ourlshed
were
essentiallY
ith a liberal
mixture
of
fs,
ensembles,
and
choral
numbers
interspersed
with
i
ntal
ni
Ithough
the dramatic
tra-
dition
in
England
was
much stronger
th
tic,
John
BIow
(1649-1708)
fohn
Blow
took
an
important
step
towarpoPe(d
with
his
Venus
a
which
was sung
throughout;
this
wo 9av6d
the way
for
the
first
great
English
Dido
and
AerLeas,
bY
Henry
Purcell:
His
Life
and
Music
'As
Poetry
is
the
harmony
of
Words,
so Musick
is
that
ol Notes;
anclasPoetry
is
a
Rise
aboveProse
andOratory,
so is
Mttsicl