Opera 8 markers Flashcards
Verdi key comparison points
Main emphasis on melody Number operas Singable melodies, catchy tunes Use of dominant sevenths/ninths Still simple harmonies e.g. Brindisi (V and I almost exclusively) Narrative based on real life events
Musical characterisation - e.g. in Rigoletto: central characters are delineated by their contrasting styles of singing and relation to musical convention - The Duke romances a new lover in a lyrical song; meanwhile Gilda sings in a dramatic style of her pain at the Duke’s betrayal; Rigoletto, bent on revenge asks her if she has heard enough, in arioso.
Used different colours of the orchestra to create contrast
Rossini key comparison points
Melody dominated homophony Italian bel canto opera Main emphasis on the melody Harmony and orchestration play a less significant role Orchestra used to punctuate the melody String dominated orchestration Focus on virtuosity of the melody line and singer Number operas Rossini scene structure Rossini crescendo
Bellini key comparison points
Italian Bel Canto opera
Main emphasis on the melody
Harmony and orchestration play a less significant role
Long, finely spun melodies which slowed an opera’s pace e.g. Casta Diva
Favoured dramas of passion + gripping action
Donizetti key comparison points
Italian Bel Canto style
Melody that captures characterization/situation/feeling
Avoiding cadences, sustaining dramatic feeling
Using the orchestra more than Rossini but not to the extent that Verdi did
Number operas
Harmony and orchestration less significant
Weber key comparison points
Early nineteenth-century opera
Typical German Romantic opera
Yearning melodies/sighing appogiaturas
Often quasi-religious text
Commonly dealt with the struggle between good and evil (typical German Romantic opera)
Harmonic style is simple but rich (e.g. dominant 9ths, diminished 7ths)
Sudden modulations in wolf scene of Freischütz
Orchestration often uses brass especially horns – typical of nineteenth-century German operas
Horns using diatonic harmony in imitation of natural horn-calls contributes to Romantic atmosphere
Harmony and orchestration used to underline the meaning of the text
Prominent use of chorus
No clear division into recitative and aria sections
Singspiel
Wagner key comparison points
The music is continuous – through composed
The singer’s lines aren’t particularly lyrical or tuneful
The singer’s lines are more declamatory
The harmony is likely to be highly chromatic (if it is a later work), with frequent enharmonic progressions.
However, there is normally a clear tonal centre (despite chromaticism)
Orchestral music is rich, in terms of thematic content as well as orchestration (especially anything later than Act Ii or Siegfried)
Use of instruments such as the Shepherd’s Pipe (start of Tristan Act III)
Leitmotifs which recur in the course of the opera/extract
Use of horns and horn calls (also in Weber) using the natural tones of the French Horn
Wagner’s theory of opera
Spontini key comparison points
Typically Rescue Operas with a characteristically romantic story
‘Number’ opera, divided into clear recitative and aria sections
There is some attempt to make the music continuous
Musical style is Italianate, despite the French text
Orchestration is an important aspect of scene-setting (a feature used by several later opera composers)
Musical devices e.g chromaticism with mainly diatonic harmony, pedal points, ostinato-like figurations – also used by several later composers
Barber of Seville key comparison points
Number opera
Simple, yet original harmonic schemes
Simple orchestration - doubling of melody
Recitative punctuated by orchestra
Una Voce Poco Fa:
quasi-recitative; pattersong; lyrical cantabile; energetic cabaletta
Personality of character through the melody line - cheeky turns, large range
'Slander' aria/ 'La Calunnia' (Don Basilio) - Act I Doubling the melody 3rds/6ths with melody Repetitive/motivic Ocassional dissonance Mostly homophonic Rossini crescendo
