Journal on Operas
Walden Young
646664
Music History & Culture
Journal 3
Dr. Rose Grace
In this journal we will be observing some Romantic Opera and Musical Theater in Midcentury, and Opera and Musical Theater in the Later 19th Century. We will look at some famous composers and their works that may have gave them their superstardom. We will see the development of new operatic structures created by composers like Rossini that were used to make definite differences in your comic opera and your “serious” operas, along with new terms that helped along with this development like the Tristan Chord or leitmotive just to name a few.
Il barbiere di Siviglia: Act I, No. 7, Una voce poco fa is a comic opera composed by Gioachino Rossini in 1816. Rossini along with his liberttists developed a standard pattern for solo scenes in operas, where there are orchestral introductions followed by an aria that expresses two or more contrasting moods in at least two sections (a slow cantabile & faster cabaletta). Rossini used those new patterns in this piece as we can hear. In serious operas the recitative comes after the cantabile along with a middle movement that appears between the cantabile and cabaletta where things change the mood of the character. The orchestral introduction announces rhythmic figures and motives that later appear during the cantabile. The cabaletta begins with an orchestral statement followed by Rosina singing the same melody. We also observe the way the text is laid out in rhymed poetry, using seven-syllable lines that end on an accented syllable for the cantabile and mostly eleven- syllable lines for the cabaletta. The many contrasting musical ideas in both sections of the aria provide a well-rounded portrait of Rosina’s character, combining attractive melodies, comic description and vocal display.
Norma: Casta Diva, Excerpt from Act I, Scene 4, was composed by Vincenzo Bellini in 1831. Bellini’s inspiration for this piece came from Soumet’s play which had premiered just a few months prior. This opera is not quite like others because it didn’t give you a definite ending between acts and sort of confused the audience’s que on when to applaud, but ended up being a great success. Casta Diva is the cantabile from Norma’s cavatina (entrance aria), which has the usual shape founded by Rossini, with a scena, cantabile, tempo di mezzo and cabaletta. We see how this is more of a “serious” opera rather than comic due to the addition of the scena and tempo di mezzo. The cantabile is in ABA’ form with an introduction, and a long instrumental prelude that builds anticipation and allows for the stage action. Bellini was known as the master of the long, supple melodic line, with Casta Diva being the most famous. The anthology also tells us of his influence on Chopin, who adopted Bellini’s style of endless cantabile melodies, arching through turns, appoggiaturas, grace notes and other embellishments over a broken- chord accompaniment.
Les Huguenots: Conclusion of Act II is an opera composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer. Les Huguenots is based on the St. Bartholemew’s Day Massacre, when Catholics in Paris slaughtered over 3,000 French Protestants, known as Huguenots. Les Huguenots represents a new kind of historical drama that reflects a new view on history. This opera carries the same characteristics as the Norma with your orchestral introduction, scena, cantabile and cabaletta and tempo di mezzo. Meyerbeer also uses a format borrowed from Italian opera finales to give the scenes musical structure. This opera is basically a tale of love between a protestant and Catholic, where the protestant sees this fair lady as a virtuous woman but later on feels deceived and now thinks that she is unsuited to be married. Meyerbeer’s score is flexible enough to be altered for dramatic effect or to suit the singers by the cuts he made and this is typical of most operas from that time period.
Der Freischutz, Act II, Finale, Wolf’s Glen Scene, is an opera composed by Carl Maria von Weber between 1817 and 1821. This opera was considered to be a pioneering work of German Romantic opera. The storyline of this opera tells the tale of a battle for a one true love and the will to obtain that love by any means necessary. Weber uses a lot of different chromaticism, diminished chords, and things of that sort to give expression of each scene or entry of a different character. For example, whenever the character Samiel (plays the role of the devil) appears in the play, Weber uses dark, fully diminished chords (Samiel-Chord), featured with soft dynamics, dark timbres, and an ominous rhythm. This type of orchestral coloring is known as reminiscence motive, and happens or reoccurs every time a particular character or event appeared in the opera’s overture. In this scene, Weber uses an unconventional structure to shape it, but you can see the three main segments: (a) the introduction and dialogue between Caspar and Samiel (measures 1-109); (b) Max’s entry into the Wolf’s Glen to meet with Caspar (measures 110- 263); and (c) the casting of the magic bullets (measures 264- 430). Throughout the scene we can hear a mixture of elements, from spoken dialogue to declamatory singing to orchestral passages to stage effects that are dramatically effective and offers continual surprises.