Chapter 19 Performing Grief: Purcell and Early Opera

CHAPTER 19
Performing Grief: Purcell and
Early Opera
Copyright © 2020 W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.

Copyright © 2020, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
All the Great Operas in 10 Minutes
All the Great Operas

The Components of Opera, Part 1
A. Opera: most important new genre of the Baroque era
1. large-scale sung drama
2. vocal and instrumental music, poetry and drama, acting
and pantomime, scenery and costumes
3. strong emotions through music, “hyper-reality”
B. Principal components
1. recitative: declamatory vocal style
a. imitates, emphasizes natural inflections of speech
b. moves plot and action of opera forward

2. aria: lyrical song
a. highly emotional
b. action is frozen, character dwells on an intense emotion
c. often sung out of opera context
3. ensemble numbers: duets, trios, quartets
4. chorus: backs up solo voice, comments on action
5. orchestra: sets mood
a. overture: orchestral introduction
b. sinfonias: interludes between scenes
6. libretto: text or script of the opera
a. earliest librettos: mythology, epic poetry, ancient history
b. librettist and composer: reflections on human character, interactions

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.

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.

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”).

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
Rise of Virtuoso singers
Done with consent of parents
who hoped sons would become
highly paid opera singers
Faranelli-most famous
Baroque Opera

Farinelli
Farinelli - "Lascia Ch'io Piaga" From Rinaldo

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

Early Opera in Italy
A. Outgrowth of Renaissance theatrical traditions
1. royal weddings, ceremonial occasions
2. lavish spectacles, scenic displays
B. Spread of opera
1. Claudio Monteverdi: early Italian opera composer
a. Orfeo (1607), The Coronation of Poppea (1642)
2. from palace to public, widespread entertainment
3. first public opera house, Venice
4. accompanying orchestra ensemble became standard in
Italian opera
5. popular in Western Europe (except France; ballet
traditions, classical tragedy)

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

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.

Orfeo, “Tu se morta”
Tu se morta

Opera in England, Part 1
A. Masque: stage plays
1. vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance
2. popular among aristocracy
3. Commonwealth period (1649–1660): stage plays
forbidden by Puritans
a. plays set to music presented as “concerts”

B. Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
1. English court musician: composer, organist, and
singer
2. style: assimilated Italian, French, and English styles
3. output: masques and operas, sacred and secular
vocal music, instrumental music

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

C. Dido and Aeneas
1. presented in girls’ boarding school in London
2. based on episode in Virgil’s Aeneid, ancient Roman epic
a. compressed plot, audience familiar with story
3. Dido’s Lament: powerful model for female grief
4. main characters:
a. Aeneas: adventuring hero
b. Dido: queen of Carthage
c. Belinda: Dido’s serving maid

5. plot summary:
a. Aeneas is shipwrecked at Carthage
b. Aeneas and Dido fall in love
c. gods command Aeneas to become founder of Rome
d. grief-stricken, Dido takes her own life
e. flames from funeral pyre light way for Aeneas
D. Listening Guide 8: Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Act III, Dido’s Lament
(1680s)
1. recitative: “Thy hand, Belinda,” sung by Dido
a. Dido decides her fate
b. accompanied by basso continuo only

2. aria: “When I am laid in earth”
a. lyrical aria in two sections (A-A-B-B)
b. slow triple meter
c. sung over eleven statements of ground bass
i. descending bass line: symbolic of grief in Baroque
music

Dido’s Lament
Dido's Lament

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

Britain’s Got Talent
Nessun Dorma - Paul Potts

Credits
This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for “The Enjoyment of Music, 4th Edition, Chapter 19: Performing Grief:
Purcell and Early Opera”
For more resources, please visit https://digital.wwnorton.com/enjmusic4ess

Chapter 19 Performing Grief: Purcell and Early Opera

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Chapter 19 Performing Grief: Purcell and Early Opera

Similar to Chapter 19 Performing Grief: Purcell and Early Opera (18)

More from Laura Riddle

More from Laura Riddle (8)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Chapter 19 Performing Grief: Purcell and Early Opera