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Opera

Drama presented in music with all or most of the text being sung

Instrumental music appropriate as required by the plot

Six Common Features of Early Opera

1. Prologue

2. Classic mythology

3. Pastoral Scene

4. Deux ex machine

5. Monody

6. Concluding chorus

Early Opera

Libretto – Story (usually taken from Greek mythology) and created dialogue of an opera

Recitative (recited style) – Solo melody approximating speech inflections

Pastorale – Depicts characters or scenes from rural life

Ritornelli – Short passage recurring as a refrain

Dafne

Considered first opera

Jacopo Peri and possibly, Corsi

Composed for Florentine Camerata Apollo falls in love with nymph, Dafne

Prologe and six mvts

L’Euridice

Composed by Peri and Caccini

Performed as a part of Marie de Medici and Henry IV’s wedding celebrations in 1600

Caccini applied concepts of monody

L’Orfeo – Monteverdi

Produced in 1607 for the Carnival of Mantua

Libretto by Striggio based on earlier L’Euridice

Expanded into 5 acts

Employed large orchestra

o Two last Operas

Il Ritorno d’Ulisse

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L’incoronazione de Poppea

Operatic masterpiece

Wide public appeal

Real character portrayal

Comedy and serious drama

Singer virtuosity

Later Opera (Neapolitan)

Recatative and Aria pairing

Two types of recitative

o Recitativo semplice or secco

o Recitativo accompagnato

Ternary aria forms

o Da capo - DC

o Dal segno - DS Italian Overture – fast/slow/fast

Alessandro Scarlatti

Considered the founder of Neaolitan opera

La Griselda, operatic masterpiece

o Begins with Italian overture

o Recitative/aria pairings

o Strings, woodwinds, and horn

Castrati

Young boy with beautiful singing voice castrated prior to puberty, then trained intensely

Singing range equivalent to soprano, alto or contralto

Played male and female roles; great financial rewarded for a successful career

Endocrinology often resulted in enlongated, thin bones, and barrel chest.

Opera Seria

French or Italian overture

‘aria opera’ with focus on a series of recitatives and arias

Limited role of chorus ensembles, and dramatic action

Orchestra limited to the support of the singers

Pietro Metastasio

Principal Composers

Venice

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o Antonio Lotti

o Antonio Vivaldi

Naples

o Alessandro Scarlatti

o Nico Porpora

o Giovanni Pergolessi

Frence Opera

1670’s Louis XIV established Frence opera

King was a guitarist and dancer; often appeared in ballet divertissements

Established Royal Academy of Dance and Royal Academy of Music

Tragedie Lyrique

Combined cultural traditions, ballet and classical Frence tragedy

Long interludes of dancing, choral singing

Heros were allegorical refrences to King

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Italian born and trained musician

Court composer to Louis XIV (musical dictator)

Died when he impaled his foot with a mace tapping the beat for the orchestra

English Opera

Commonwealth – stage plays prohibited; however, stage plays with music considered concerts Restoration – Masques, plays with spoken dialogue

Henry Purcell

Organist at Westminster Abbey

Odes for chorus and orchestra, cantatas, songs, catches, anthems, Services, fancies, and

instrumental works

o Wrote music for 49 plays (Masques)

Dido and Aenaeus

Composed for a girl’s boarding school at Chelsey

4 principal roles

Strings and continuo

Plot from Virgil’s Aeneid: Dido is the Queen of Carthage, Aeneas is a

Trojan refugee

o Music Ecample

Recitative

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3 acts including choruses and dances

“When I am laid to rest” characterized by

‘Ground bass’ ostinato lament

Cantatas

Chorale – Lutheran hymn tunes; de tempore in the Lutheran liturgy

Kappellmeister – Music director in Lutheran church

Cantata or Sacred Concerto

o Sacred music for voices with independent instrumental or organ accompaniment

o Combined Chorale (Lutheran humn) text, Biblical scripture, and poetry provided by a

librettist

o Combined preludes, recatatives and arias, ensembles (i. e. duets and choruses)

Great Lutheran Cantata Composers

Telemann Buxtehude

K.H. Graun Bach

Granpeur

J.S. Bach’s Cantatas

De Tempore

o Performed on specific Sundays and important days in the church calendar

o 58 required in a year’s cycle

o Performed before and after the sermon

o Often employs the Chorale melody or text designated for that Sunday or liturgical event

Bach assembled 5 cycles

Now standard lit in modern choral repertoire

Typical Chorale Cantata

Opening chorus employs chorale text and/or melody

Arias, duets, choruses on poetic text

Closing chorus employs hymn-setting of chorale

Notable compositions

o No. 60, Non komm der Heiden Heiland

o No. 140, Wachet auf

Oratorio

Stories combining elements of narrative, dealog, and meditation; often described as opera

without acting

Performed in church oratory, room set aside for lay societies

Giacomo Carissimi composed first oratorio, Jeptha

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Passion

Story of the betrayal and crucifixion as recorded in the Gospels

Originally read during the Holy week; then chanted at different pitch levels to portray

characters: C

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Documents