Chapter 27 Opera and Musical theatre in the late 19th century Flashcards
Nationalism
attempt to unify a particular group of people by creating a national identity through characteristics such as common language, share culture, historical trading and national institutions and rituals. Arts- nationalism and realism
Opera- nationalism. Less new works- didn’t want to gamble and used already successful arias. Composers took their time writing operas. Orchestra bigger= singes needed to be louder. Voca line was less ornamented more syllabic. Opera bouffe and operetta and zarzuela light opera . Could have the lights off in the audience= less taking audience silent.
Giuseppe Verdi
1813-1901 italian 23 operas first 1839 and last 1893 AABA usually wrote operas based on successful sopek dramas. Influenced by ROssinik bellini. First succes was Nabucco 1842 Famous chorus Va Pensiero emblem of italian opposition to foreign oppression. La traviata 1853 no overture but prelude Rigoletto 1851 reminiscence motives. Not recit. Used complete musical texture in the orchestra Later work: took more time only 6 operas. Action is more continuous, solos, ensembles and choruses are more freely combined. Comic Un ballo in maschera opera comique elements Aida 1871 LAst two operas used librettist Arrigo Boito Otello 1887. Unbroken flow of music within each act. Falstaff 1893 based on character from shakespeare plays.
Later italian composers very few could compare to verdi Cavalleria rusticana 1890 by Piertro Mascagni and I pagliacci 1892 by Ruggero Leoncavallo Verismo realism, everyday people especially lower classes in familiar situations often depicting events that are brutal or sordid.
Giacomo Puccini
1858-1924 conservatory in milan first opera 1884 3rd opera Manon Lescaut 1893 made if famous. Blended verdi’s focus on vocal melody with elements of wagner notably the use of recurring melodies or leitmotifs. La Boheme moment rodolfo touches her hand the melody begins on a single note. 1896 Tosca 1900 Madama Butterfly 1905 Turandot 1926 flow of opera arias choruses and ensembles
Richard Wagner
1813-1883 german, belief in interrelationships between the arts and his view of art. Music drama late works developed a rich chromatin idiom and even abandon tonality. Function of music was to serve dramatic expression in a series of essays The artwork of the future 1850 and opera and rama 1851. Absolute oneness of drama and music.
Gesamtkunstwerk
poetry, scenic design, staging, action and music work together. Orchestra conveys the inner aspect of drama the the singing express the the outer events. First triumph Rienzi 5 acts . then made Der fliegende Hollander 1843 wrote his own librettos based on a hero being redeemed through the unself love of a heroine
Der Ring des Nibelungen
(The Ring of the Nibelung), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramascomposed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied. The composer termed the cycle a “Bühnenfestspiel” (stage festival play), structured in three days preceded by a Vorabend (“preliminary evening”). It is often referred to as the Ring cycle, Wagner’s Ring, or simply The Ring.
Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The four parts that constitute the Ring cycle are, in sequence:
Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold)
Die Walküre (The Valkyrie)
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)
Built his own theatre for his style in bayreuth .
Leitmotiv
a motive, theme or musical idea associated with a person thing mood or idea which returns in original or altered form throughout- same motivs in all 4 opera of the ring cycle used alot in tristan und isolde - wagners are short and used often
Complex chromatic alterations of hordes, constant shifting of key, blurring of progressions using suspensions and other nonchord tones. Ambiguous tonality. “Tristain chord” F B D# C#
France ballets Leo Delibes 1836-1891 Coppelia 1870 and sylvia 1876
Lyric opera
between light and grand, romantic or fantasy . Faust by Charles Gounod 1818-1893 1859 Romeo and Juliette 1867
Jules Massenet 1842-1912 manon 1884 Wether 1892 and thais 1894 sentimental melodies rich orchestra pallate.
Exoticism
popular for french operas ex Carme 1875 by Bizart, Samson et Dalila 1877 by Camille Saint Saens and Lakme by Delibe 1883
Opera bouffe
1850s could satirize french society more freely. Jacques offenbach 1819-1880 Orphee aus enfers orpheus in the underworld 1858- can can
Cabarets
chat noir night clubs that offered serious or coming performance. Foster innovation. Cafe concert food service of a cafe with a musical entertainment. Moulin Rouge revues performances often with a common theme.
Russian Opera
first opera in russian 1755 Nationalism in opera use as a tool of propaganda for the absolutist gov. Under the czar.
Mikhail Glinka
1804-1857 russian composer historical drama A life for the tsar 1836 pro gov. Folklike idiom 2nd opera Ruslan and Lyudmila 1842 based on a poem by a russian Pushkin, use of whole tone scale.
Anton Rubinstein and Nikolay
pianists and composers founded st petersburg and moscow conservatory. -trainied other using the western model.
Piotr il’yich tchaikovsky
1840-1893 leading russian composer. Studied with Anton. Influenced by Beethoven schubert and russlian folk and popular music. Two most important operas are both based on Pushkin Eugene Onegin 1879 numerous themes generated form a germ motive from the orch. Prelude. Main characters are landed gentry sing in the style modeled on the dmoetic music making of that society. The queen of spades 1890 Ballets Sawn lake 1876 , the sleeping beauty 1889 and the nutcracker 1892 hummable melodies with color orch. Fairy tale atmosphere.
