Classical Era Opera and Vocal Music in the

Classical Era Opera and Vocal Music in the Early Classic Period

Style in Classical Music Melody – singable symmetrical, lyrical. Harmony- diatonic, tonic to dominant relationships Rhythm – regular and symmetrical Texture- Homophonic with some polyphony at times. Folk elements: national themes, folk themes, dances etc. used in instrumental works.

Choral Music Principal Forms Mass: Tridentine Missa Romanum (Roman after the Council of Trent) Missa Solemnis (solemn or High Mass) Missa Brevis (short Mass or Kyrie & Gloria only) Requiem: Mass for the Dead Oratorio: The style of Handel updated to classical style by Mozart and Haydn.

Principal Forms Mozart wrote several Missa Brevis, Missa Solemnis and began a Requiem. Haydn wrote several Missa Solemnis, and two Oratorios. From Church to Concert Hall.

Classical Choral Music and Opera Desire for simplicity in Opera New forms of popular opera arose in the Classical period. 18 th century Opera was a potent social force

Opera evolution Baroque recitative aria (solo) recitative aria recitative. . . action emote action. . . Classical/Mozart recitative aria (solo) recitative ensemble. . . action emote emotion & action. . . action contrasting emotions

Classical Vocal Style Recitative And God Said Let there be lights… Secco recitative: dry or without full orchestral accompaniment. Recitative: In splendor bright… Accompagnato: full orchestra Chorus: Homophonic with polyphonic soloists.

Classical Opera Shift from Opera Seria to Comic Opera Buffa-Italy Opera Comique-France Singspiel-Germany Ballad or Dialogue Opera-England

Opera Seria Grand Opera Sung in Italian Serious Subjects: Mythology History National Folk Heroes Art for the Aristocracy

Opera seria Opera buffa influenced music of opera seria Pietro Metastasio (libretti set as operas hundreds of times by Handel, Gluck, Mozart et al) success in Venice led to becoming court poet in Vienna (1729); remained there for life

Pietro Metastasio (1698 -1782) heroic operas present conflicts in human passions; promoted morality; models of merciful/enlightened rulers recitatives (action) & arias (soliloquies)

Opera seria Role of orchestra: simply to accompany singers Da capo aria: RA RB R’A’ (R=ritornello) fermatas indicate cadenzas Great master: Johann Adolph Hasse (husband of Bordoni)

Johann Adolph Hasse (1699 -1783) The leading composer of opera seria around the middle of the 18 th century.

Faustina Bordoni (1700 -1781) Hasse’s wife, one of the century's leading sopranos.

Hasse Very popular in Europe mid-century and influenced Mozart and other composers Example of typical embellishment Excerpts from Cleofide: Act II, Scene 9, Digli ch’io son fedele

Hasse: Cleofide, Digli ch’io son fedele Embellishment by Porporino (castrato)

Comic Opera Sung in the vernacular Farcical plots Satire on the Aristocracy Mild to raunchy sexual content. Love affair farces.

The Conflict… What is THE style of the STATE. People looked to the aristocracy to define the “Music of the People. ” Free theaters. Rules handed down from the state regarding content in theaters. By the end of the Classical Period, audiences defined national styles, not the aristocracy.

Reasons for the conflict Need for simplicity. Need for “reality” in entertainment. Need for musical entertainment that has mass appeal and not just entertainment for the “royals. ” Opera begins to be a social force by exposing reality on the stage.

Reasons for the conflict Opera exposes the true life of the royals. Exposes the secrets and ideas of Free masonry and other “secret societies. ”

Opera Buffa Dramma giocoso (jocular drama), dramma comico, commedia in musica In Italy, dialog SUNG Caricatured aristocrats, commoners, vanity, miserly old men, servants, deceitful spouses, lawyers/notaries, physicians, military Commedia dell’arte & use of dialects

Opera Buffa Comic cast + serious characters Rapid recitative called patter Dry/secco recitative Arias: short tuneful phrases, simple harmonies Importance of Leonardo Vinci (Le zite ‘ngalera, Spinsters in the Gallery) 1722

The Intermezzo Type of Italian comic opera, descended from short comic musical interludes between acts of tragedies

Comic Opera The best-known intermezzo is La serva padrona (The Maid as Mistress, 1733), by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. In opera buffa, as well as in the intermezzi, dialogue was set in rapid recitatives keyboard accompaniment, and the arias used short tuneful phrases and periods over simple harmonies.

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 -1736)

La serva padrona excerpt (Vol II, 7) Recitative: Ah, quanto mi sta male Aria: Son imbrogliato io

Comic Opera Differs by country but in vernacular, light in content, everyday people as characters 2 significant aspects demand for naturalness beginnings of musical nationalism

Italy Opera buffa yields to opera giocoso (nontragic, pleasant, but not farcical) Bass voice, especially basso buffo roles Ensemble finale, unlike opera seria

France Opéra comique, 1710, lowly form of entertainment at parish fairs, pop tunes (vaudevilles) 1752, including Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, started new genres with original ariettes introduced Querelle des bouffons (Quarrel of the comic actors) 1774 (Italian vs French opera) Alternating spoken dialogue + musical numbers was popular

England Ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera in 1728

The Beggar’s Opera The Beggar's Opera is a comic farce, poking accurate fun at the prevailing fashion in Italian opera as well as the social and political climate of the age

John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera Ballad Opera: Dialogue opera Spoken dialogue Familiar tunes Bawdy texts Very funny for the time

Through all the employments of life Each neighbor abuses his brother; Whore and rogue they call husband wife; All professions be-rogue one another. The priest calls the lawyer a cheat; The lawyer be-knaves the divine; And the statesman, because he's so great, Thinks his trade as honest as mine.

The Beggar’s Opera Direct satire on High Italian Opera “Why how now, Madam Flirt Part of the jealousy scene. Lucy and Polly in a snit over one man. Familiar English Melody No Pow’r on Earth Love song using cockney accent I like the Fox shall grieve Tune: The Lass of Patie’s Mill… very familiar

The Beggar’s Opera Excerpt from Scene 13 Air XVI

Germany Singspiel was revived; translating ballad operas and opera comique works Johann Adam Hiller (Leipzig) Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and his Doctor und Apotheker (1786) later Haydn

Opera Reform Jommelli and Traetta Christoph Willibald Gluck Synthesized French & Italian Raniero de Calzabigi (librettist & collaborator with Gluck) Preface to Alceste (1767) remove abuses, serve poetry, advance plot, no da capo arias, singer excesses, overture integral to opera Lessen contrast in recitative & aria

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 -1787) Beautiful simplicity, e. g. , Che farò senza Euridice? His works became the models for others: Piccinni, Cherubini, Spontini, Berlioz Change CD to NAWM 2, 88

Gluck’s influence The following are reasons Gluck's work is historically significant: He established an equilibrium between music and drama. He made some reforms in opera seria and revitalized opéra comique. He blended elements of French, German, and Italian opera.

Major Style Changes: Opera Baroque serious Italian Opera wanes in England throughout Europe. John Gay’s Beggar Opera provides a new style that was more appealing to the masses. Opera Seria: Serious Italian Opera, Italian language, serious texts, mythology, history, elaborate, all sung. Opera Buffa: Comedic opera, spoken texts, satire of the aristocracy. Recognizable tunes.

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