05 Mid 18th Century Opera-2.ppt

8/10/2019 05 Mid 18th Century Opera-2.ppt

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The Early Classical Period


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Key Terms & Concepts

The EnlightenmentLearned style -(a historical counterpoint style)

Galant style -(a pre-Classical style)Period -(a musical phrase type)

Alberti bassOpera BuffaIntermezzo

Opra ComiqueBallad OperaContrafactSingspielOpera Seria

CadenzaDa capo ariaCastrato


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The Enlightenment International culture

spread throughoutEurope

Composers travelled and

worked in cosmopolitancenters Flutist Johann Joachim

Quantz (right) suggestedthat the ideal musicalstyle would blend manynational features


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The Universal Appeal of theClassical Style

The style depended on a logical flow of ideas

Music should communicate expression withoutartifice

Commentators distinguished between theLearned style (counterpoint) and the freerGalant style, which became the basis of theClassical style


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Features of the Classical Style

Melodies comprised of a succession of 2- to 4-barphrases A period (two parallel musical phrases) formed a

complete musical thought Frequent cadences in the melody were a direct

contrast to Baroque tendencies Harmonic movement was slower, usually one

harmony per bar Alberti bass: broken chord accompaniment has

rhythmic interest but supports the melody Contrasting moods were portrayed


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Comic Opera: Intermezzo Originated as a short

comic musical interludebetween the acts of aserious opera / play

Plots were aboutcommon people, andoften parodied the

excesses of seriousopera Example: La serva

padrona by Pergolesi

(right)


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La serva padrona (1733)(anthology, p. 1-16; CD 7:1-6)

Composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) as an intermezzo to one of his ownserious operas; performed in Naples

3 characters (one is mute) Plot questions social hierarchy: a rich man and

his maid fall in love but debate within themselvesif this is appropriate

Recitative and da capo arias (chart, p. 323)dominate the forms; the music projectscontrasting and varied moods, unlike the

Baroque era


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Comic Opera: Opra Comique

French comic opera began c. 1710, usingsimple popular tunes (vaudevilles)

Airs (ariettes) were incorporated c. 1750,under Italian influence

No recitative; instead, dialogue wasspoken

By c. 1800, serious plots were introduced Richard Coeur-de-Lion (1784) by Grtry is

a masterpiece of opra comique


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Comic Opera: Ballad Opera

English genre which satirizes the morefashionable Italian opera

Music is usually popular tunes with newlyrics (contrafacted)

Its popularity signaled the English discontentwith foreign opera, leading Handel to writeoratorios instead of opera

The Beggars Opera (1728) established thepopularity of the genre


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The Beggars Opera (1728)


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Comic Opera: Singspiel

German genre dating from the 16 th century; thesuccess of ballad opera revived it

Like opra comique, it mixed spoken dialoguewith arias

In Northern Germany, it merged with seriousopera; in Vienna, it remained comic and had thelightness and clarity of Italian comic opera


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Opera Seria

Genre established by poet Pietro Metastasio(1698-1782)

Composers throughout the century used libretti

by Metastasio He sought to promote morality by portraying

heroes from Greek and Roman myths

Typical casts include two pairs of lovers The operas are consistently in 3 acts


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Opera Seria The music alternates recitatives and arias

dramatic moments in the dialogue useaccompanied recitative

arias are soliloquies for actors to respondemotionally to events

Duets, ensembles and choruses are less frequent

The orchestra became more important as thecentury wore on

Since the aria was the most important musicalingredient, singers became imperious makingdemands of composers, adding embellishmentsand cadenzas to show off their talent


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Changes in the Da Capo Aria :

Arias began to express a variety of moods,instead of the one mood in a Baroque aria

The opening ritornello began to include all

of the musical ideas for the aria The simple melodic style of Opera Buffa

was incorporated


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Opera Reform

Some composers wanted opera to be morenatural Forms became more flexible and true to the drama

instead of to musical tradition Ensemble pieces added more natural interactions

to the genre The chorus and orchestra became more prominent,

and virtuosic singing less important Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) was one

of the major opera reformers


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Christoph Willibald Gluck(1714-1787)

Born to Bohemianparents; he travelledwidely in Europe

Became a court composerin Vienna and flourishedin Paris under Marie

Antoinette

He wrote 2 major operasfor Vienna with librettistRaniero de Calzabigi:Orfeo ed Euridice (1762)

and Alceste (1767)


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Gluck He did not want the singers demands or da

capo form to restrict composers He wanted the overture to be integral to the

opera

He blurred recitatives and arias He wanted music of a tuneful simplicity

(ex/ che far senza Euridice? of Orfeo edEuridice )


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Gluck

Later operas ( Iphignie en Aulide , 1774; Armide , 1777; etc.) built on his style by mixinggraceful Italianate melodies, Germanicseriousness, and the magnificence of theFrench tragdie lyrique

He influenced the operas of Niccol Piccini(1728-1800), Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842), and

Hector Berlioz (1803-69)


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Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice, Act II, i(anthology, p. 30-52; CD 7:16-21)

Orpheus originally was cast as a castrato for Vienna, butwas recast as a tenor for the Parisian stage The story: On their wedding day, Orpheus has lost his

bride Euridice to a snakebite. He travels to the underworld,

using the persuasive power of his music to convince theinfernal powers to release her. He is granted his wish onthe condition that he not look at her until they havedeparted Hades. While leaving, she faints and Orpheus

instinctively looks back to help her; he laments losing hiswife a second time and is about to commit suicide whenCupid appears and informs him that he has proven hisfidelity so completely that she will be brought back to life

after all.


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Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice, Act II, i(anthology, p. 30-52; CD 7:16-21)

Much more emphasis on interesting harmoniesthan in Baroque opera

Dramatic chorus = part of French tradition

Harp, pizzicato strings and harpsichord used todepict Orpheus, who played the lyre (a portableharp-like instrument)

Second orchestra with strings, harpsichord, 2oboes and 2 flutes (later with cornetto and 2trombones)

Dramatic orchestral effects include the rumblingmultiple grace notes in the string bass

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05 Mid 18th Century Opera-2.ppt

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