Chapter 18 Performing Grief: Purcell & Early Opera
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Henry Purcell, Dido & Aeneas; Monteverdi, L'Orfeo; Da Capo Aria
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Chapter 18 Performing Grief: Purcell & Early Opera
- 1. THE ENJOYMENT OF MUSIC ESSENTIAL LISTENING EDITION by Kristine Forney Andrew Dell’Antonio Joseph Machlis THIRD EDITION Lecture Slides
- 2. Chapter 18 Performing Grief: Purcell and Early Opera
- 3. Baroque Opera and Its Components The Components of Opera Large-scale musical drama combining: • Poetry • Acting • Scenery • Costumes • Singing • Instrumental music
- 4. All the Great Operas in 10 Minutes • https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=5vNReqUGtsc&list=PLD2FA7A1A4352F58A& index=70
- 5. Baroque Opera-Forerunners • Medieval liturgical dramas, Mystery & miracle plays • Renaissance Intermedi : of pastoral or mythological character, performed between acts of plays, consist of solo & ensemble madrigals • Dramatic madrigals & madrigal cycles-content of epic & pastoral poems with two types of text setting: narrative for plot development(recitative), reflective for emotional outpouring(aria) • The Pastoral-poems about shepherds and other rural subjects; amorous, light
- 6. Baroque Opera: Characteristics • Libretto--the story or play – Usually based on Greek dramas. – Started in Italy but moved to England and France. – Italian remained the popular language for opera during this period. – Currently, Baroque operas have been translated to many languages.
- 7. Characteristics of Baroque Opera • One character = one voice – Homophonic texture with accompaniment • Easier to understand the text • Restores balance between text and music – Accompaniment consists an instrument that can play chords (such as a lute or harpsichord) and a low melodic instrument that can play long notes, such as the cello or bassoon. – Accompaniment plays continuously and is known as basso continuo. • Bel Canto Singing Style--”beautiful singing”--the lilting flow of melody – Involves elaborate embellishments. – Trained singers are taught this style of singing routinely.
- 8. Characteristics of Baroque Opera • Types of compositions: recitatives, arias, choruses, duets, trios, sextets, etc. – Recitative--moved the action along--a style of singing that lies somewhere between singing and speaking. • Not very elaborate musically • Simple accompaniment • Less embellishment – Aria--character who sings this pauses to reflect on the story or an emotion. • Musically elaborate; this is where the singers get to display their virtuosity. • Accompaniment can also be more elaborate than the accompaniment for a recitative, but it does not overshadow the singer.
- 9. Baroque Opera and Its Components The Components of Opera Recitative • Secco • Accompagnato Aria • Da capo aria Handel: Messiah, “O thou that tellest . . .” Mozart: Don Giovanni, “Ah! Del padre…” Mozart: Don Giovanni, “Chi è la?”
- 10. Characteristics of Baroque Opera • Types of compositions: recitatives, arias, choruses, duets, trios, sextets, etc. – Chorus--polyphonic texture--various members of the chorus comment on the action, reflect emotions, etc. – Duet--2 singers – Trio--3 singers – Quartet--4 singers – Quintet--5 singers – Sextet--6 singers – Septet--7 singers – Octet--8 singers – Nonet--9 singers
- 11. Baroque Opera: Characteristics • Soloists--principal characters are trained singers – Sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses all used to give variety. – Sometimes male voices used in female roles. – Some male roles required high voices; a castrated man would sing these roles (called castrati). • Boys were castrated before their voices changed; they were celebrities! • These roles are now usually sung by women (called “pants roles”).
- 12. Baroque Opera • Rise of Virtuoso singers – Done with consent of parents who hoped sons would become highly paid opera singers – Faranelli-most famous Castrato-combined lung power of man with vocal range of woman; agility, breath control, and unique sound intriguing; received highest pay of any musician; audiences more impressed with vocal virtuosity than realism
- 14. Baroque: Vocal Music • Concertato Style: Vocal music that also included instrumental ensembles – “concert” and “concerto” come from the word meaning “bring contrasting performing groups together” – Three musical genres (i.e., types of compositions): oratorio, cantata, and Mass – Composers: Monteverdi, Schütz, Telemann, Handel, and J. S. Bach
- 15. Aria Form: “Da Capo” Three parts: called A B A (letters designate sections) A section: highly melodic, minimal ornamentation B section: contrasts of mood, tonality, or change of tempo A section: repeat 1st section. Singer is free to improvise/ornament embellish melody – “da capo” means “go back and sing the beginning again” A B A
- 16. Baroque Opera: General Information • One of most important musical innovations of this period • Monteverdi’s Orfeo made opera more popular with public, outside the courts. • First opera house, in Venice, opened in 1637.
- 17. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) • A portrait of Monteverdi, circa 1613 • Made when he was appointed music director at St. Mark’s in Venice, Italy; became a priest and composed sacred music. • Orpheus, Coronation of Poppea
- 18. Monteverdi’s Orpheus • Orpheus--the story – His beloved, Euridice, has been poisoned by a snake bite and gone to the Underworld. Orpheus uses singing to persuade the guardians of the Underworld to let him bring Euridice back. They agree with the stipulation that he not look back while leaving the Underworld. He cannot resist the urge to look back, and he loses Euridice forever. • Orpheus—this selection – A recitative, a chorus--Orpheus is grieving the loss of Euridice, and the Chorus is commenting on his grief and sadness. Both sections are accompanied by basso continuo, although it is harder to hear in the chorus.
- 19. Orfeo, “Tu se morta” • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Wo- 3DtI34
- 20. Baroque Opera and Its Components Opera in England • Masque • Stage plays forbidden during the Commonwealth • Play set to music and called “concert” was allowed
- 21. Henry Purcell (ca. 1659-1695) • Dido and Aeneas--his only opera • Wrote many works that included song and spoken dialogue (semi-operas). • Was far ahead of his time in writing opera in English. Opera wasn’t popular during his time, and even when it became popular, audiences wanted it sung in Italian, adopted French • Born into a musical family. • Served as composer and organist in the English court and later at Westminster Abbey (buried near the organ there--a BIG honor). • Secular & sacred music
- 22. Henry Purcell--Dido and Aeneas • One of the first operas ever written in English • First documented production--at a girls’ school in Chelsea in 1689 • Short, for strings & continuo; no elaborate staging; dances & choruses • Libretto-Nahum Tate, inspired by The Aenid(Virgil) • Plot--foreign prince (Aeneas) promises to marry the Queen of Carthage (Dido), but abandons her and drives her to suicide • Chief characters – Dido--(soprano) – Aeneas--(baritone) – Belinda, Dido’s maidservant--(soprano)
- 23. Act III: Dido’s Lament (Listening Guide)
- 24. The Form of This Selection • Recitative--Belinda and Dido talk with each other; text is delivered quickly and clearly in a speech-like singing style • Chorus--comments on the action/emotions of the whole scene • When characters talk to each other--recitative • When feelings are expressed--aria • When observers comment on events and feelings-- chorus
- 25. The Form of This Selection • Scene and Chorus – An aria sung by Belinda. • Aria--”air” or “melody” • Lyrical movement or piece for solo voice, usually with an instrumental accompaniment – Chorus--joins in, reinforcing the same feelings with different words. • Song--another aria in which Dido laments her situation • Melody sung over a repeated pattern in the bass-- ostinato • Ostinato can also be called a ground bass--a short sequence of low notes repeated over and over.
- 28. Other Baroque Composers of Opera • Italian – George Frideric Handel • Rinaldo--includes da capo aria--an aria in ABA form. The first section is repeated (embellished) after the contrasting second section • French – Lully--Armide – Marc-Antoine Charpentier--Andromède – Jean-Philippe Rameau--Hippolyte et Aricie
- 29. Britain’s Got Talent • https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=1k08yxu57NA&list=PLD2FA7A1A4352F58A &index=61
- 30. by Kristine Forney Andrew Dell’Antonio Joseph Machlis Lecture Slides THIRD EDITION THE ENJOYMENT OF MUSIC ESSENTIAL LISTENING EDITION http://wwnorton.com/web/enjoyess2
Editor's Notes
- ■ The most important new genre of the Baroque era was opera, a large-scale music drama that combines poetry, acting, scenery, and costumes with singing and instrumental music. ■ The principal components of opera include the orchestral overture, solo arias (lyrical songs) and recitatives (speechlike declamations of the text), and ensemble numbers, including choruses. ■ The text of an opera is called a libretto. The earliest opera libretti were based on mythology, epic poetry, and ancient history. ■ Henry Purcell wrote Dido and Aeneas, based on The Aeneid, a Roman epic by Virgil. The closing Lament by Dido is a powerful expression of grief that reflects contemporary ideals about womanhood.
- Opera is a drama that is sung. This art form combines vocal and instrumental music, fusing them with poetry, drama, acting, scenery, costumes, and sometimes dance.
- In opera, the plot and action are moved forward through recitative—a device in opera that resembles the natural patterns of speech. The words in a recitative are often sung on the same pitch, and may include rapid question-and-answer dialogue between characters. There are two standard styles of recitative: secco (or “dry”), which is accompanied only by the continuo instruments and moves along freely, and accompagnato, which is accompanied by orchestra, and thus employs a more steady beat. Musical example: Mozart, Don Giovanni, “Chi è la; and “Ah, Del padre [link to excerpt] An aria (Italian for “air”) is a song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment, often of an emotional nature. A da capo aria is an aria in ternary form (A-B-A form. The arias are often the high points for the audience. Musical example; Handel, Messiah “Oh thou that tellest . . . ” [link to excerpt] An aria has a well defined melody with a definite beginning, high point, and end. For this reason an aria may be sung effectively out of context on a vocal program that is unrelated to the opera.
- In the early seventeenth century, in England, the masque was a popular type of entertainment that combined vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance. Masques were often performed privately in the homes of the nobility. Theater was regarded as the invention of the devil by the Puritans. Thus, in the period of the Commonwealth (1649–1660), stage plays were forbidden. “Concerts,” however, were allowed and could take the form of a play set to music. PIctured: Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
- Henry Purcell wrote Dido and Aeneas in 1689 for a girls’ boarding school where he taught. The librettist was Nahum Tate who based the plot on an episode from Virgil’s Aeneid. In summary: Aeneas is shipwrecked at Carthage on the northern shore of Africa. He and the young Carthaginian queen, Dido, fall in love. Aeneas receives a message that he must continue on his journey to found Rome, and so he decides that he must leave. In Dido’s grief, she decides that her fate is death. After singing a moving recitative called “Thy Hand Belinda” followed by a beautiful aria known as Dido’s Lament, Dido stabs herself with Aeneas’s sword and throws herself on a funeral pyre whose flames light the way for Aeneas’s ships as they sail out of the harbor. Artwork: The Death of Dido by Giovanni Barbieri (1591–1666)
- Listening Guide 7—Purcell: Dido and Aeneas