Bryce Baker
Dr. Rosen
April 19, 2014
Music Literature 221
Claudio Monteverdi and L’Orfeo
In the early 17th century, opera was just beginning to become very popular after Giacopo Peri’s famous opera Dafne. Opera was a new musical form that exploded into an extremely popular event by Italian baroque composers Giulio Caccini, Giacopo Peri, Giovanni De Bardi and Claudio Monteverdi. The word opera itself originated from the Italian word for work. Dafne caused a large growth of interest for the operatic arts throughout Europe spiraling from Italian composers like Monteverdi and Peri, to Purcell in England, all composing different types of operas. Claudio Monteverdi, one of the most influential early baroque composers of his time, marked the transitions between the renaissance period and the baroque. Monteverdi wrote the innovative opera, L’orfeo. This libretto is based of the classic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Orpheus’ venture into the underworld to save the one he loves. L’orfeo’s libretto was written by Alexandro Striggio in Mantua, Italy on February 24, 1607. (whenham) Monteverdi’s L’orfeo had a profound impact on opera today due to his personal accomplishments as an early baroque composer, and the classic Greek story’s success with using deep symbolism throughout the libretto.
According to John Whenham’s book Orfeo he mentions that this opera is, “a rich blend of Greek myth with 16th-century dramatic conventions, and of the varied instrumental and vocal groupings of the intermedio and madrigal traditions with the newer expressive recitative style of the Florentines.” This is represented quite well since it was one of the first operas to come into existence using the basso continuo, a new idea that was able to thicken ...
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...use syncopation, dissonance, and free ornamentation to stress more emotive words so that there would be times in the music that felt like a “dislocation of the voice”. (Warren 49)
Claudio Monteverdi was able to invent a whole new style of music, a new type of composition, and even defined the whole transition of musical era. He was also able to construct one of the most well known baroque operas, so without him, modern music would be enormously different. Due to his well-established text painting, Monteverdi was able to bring his beautiful creations to life even to this day where they are performed regularly. It is only through our ability as humans to “See further by standing on the back of giants” to advance in our own personal music journey, and without composers like Monteverdi to revolutionize the use of basso continuo and secondo prattica we can “see further”.
The first composition, "Miserere Mei, Deus", was produced by Gregorio Allegri in 1638. I learned this, as I read along with the well-thought-out program that was given. As we, the audience, looked up to the vocalists, we were entranced by the consuming sound. The room filled with a vibrant melody, in which the harmonization and tone color was spectacular. The emotion conveyed throughout the room was one of absorption and delight. During this piece, the sopranos hit such high notes, that I was astounded. Being a person who participates in concert choir, I understand the level of commitment and talent it takes to reach those notes and stay in tune. This ...
Classical music can be best summed by Mr. Dan Romano who said, “Music is the hardest kind of art. It doesn't hang up on a wall and wait to be stared at and enjoyed by passersby. It's communication. Its hours and hours being put into a work of art that may only last, in reality, for a few moments...but if done well and truly appreciated, it lasts in our hearts forever. That's art, speaking with your heart to the hearts of others.” Starting at a young age Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven have done just that with their musical compositions. Both musical composers changed the world of music and captivated the hearts of many. Their love of composing shared many similar traits, though their musical styles were much different.
He developed a musical language that was ideally suited to easily fitting to varying lengths of scene. On the other hand, made strong use of short repeated rhythmic phrases and ostinati. These could be readily repeated to fit the length of a scene and provided a feeli... ... middle of paper ... ... avid
This semester, in comparing works of visual art and opera and particularly between works of the same time period, many parallels emerge. But beyond the scope of individual time periods (e.g., Renaissance, Romanticism, Modern), there are parallels that transcend the scope of time entirely. Individuals of varied cultures and periods in history seem to be invariably fascinated by the idea of an archetypal character whom they can adapt and reinterpret according to the terms of their own zeitgeist and with whom they can identify. A salient example is the Orpheus figure, who hails from the myths of antiquity and has been remade and adapted in operas by composers including Monteverdi, Schütz, Lully, Fux, Telemann, Rameau, Gluck, Haydn, Offenbach, Debussy (in an unfinished project), Milhaud, Birtwistle, and Philip Glass—and that is really only the tip of the iceberg! We see Oprheus depicted as well in paintings by Gennari in the 17th century and by Redon in the 19th century, Corot (1861), dell’Abbate, and Rubens. I could similarly enumerate artists, writers, or composers who have famously depicted any of the figures we have studied this far: the Norse figures held so dear by Wagner, Saint Sebastian...
The same opera has been playing for several months, but no one seems to care. The first act goes down as usual, in the second act, however, Orpheus gets a little creative while begging Hades to let his wife come back to life, with jerky movements and odd noises. Finally, in the third act Orpheus staggers about and finally collapses, a victim of the plague.
In order to fully encapsulate Leonardo’s conquest of the almighty heavens it would only be fitting to have the text set to a full orchestra accompanied by a SATB choir. This is the only combination of instrumentation and vocals that will fully capture the piece’s dramatic story (save a Wagnarian music drama). A full orchestra is a glorious medium that can be used to accommodate the full range of emotions embodied in the poem because of the breadth of orchestral timbre. In parallel with the orchestra, a four-person choir is ideal for the lyrical expression of the poem due to the wide range of notes that can be sung by the soprano, the bass and everyone in between. The parts of the poem sung by the full choir would be done in an imitative polyphony texture utilizing malismas on the repeated line “Leonardo, Leonardo, viene á volare” to accentuate the fact that this line is a “siren-song” sung by “the very air itself.” However, the majority of the text would be sung by the tenor to give the piece a story telling quality, with the rest of the choir chiming in for the Italian parts. This will serve to emphasize the contrast between English and Italian that Sylvestri creates in his poem. It seems appropriate to have the orchestra and choir perform a through-composed setting with a change in music for each st...
It was an early age when Monteverdi’s career began, he then published his first pieces, and this was based on as a collection of three-voice motets, at the age of fifteen. It was by 1591, when he went to Mantua as a musician for the Gonzaga court, by then he had already published books of “spiritual madrigals” in 1583, then another canzonettas in 1584, by 1587 and 1590 he published his first two books of “madrigals.” It was in Mantua he continued writing madrigals, and then in 1607 he produced his first work in the new genre of opera, the setting was of Orfeo. 1613, he was then appointed maestro di cappella at ST. Mark’s Cathedral which was held in Venice. Monteverdi had remained in Venice for the rest of his life, writing music in all different kinds of genres, including his final opera, “incoronaszione di Poppea in 1642.
Before I begin discussing Esther at length, I will provide information on the definition of oratorio, the origins of Handel, and a basic description of Handel’s most familiar work, Messiah. Oratorio was derived from the form of opera as a way to continue a narrative form of music throughout the Lenten season when the performance of opera is usually forbidden. An oratorio is a biblical drama with no costumes or staging. It employs the use of the same themes of opera such as recitative and aria, sometimes exploring a larger use of chorus.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are very famous past composers that have created many pieces that have influenced not just people of their time, but people in modern times as well.
...ike today. The period between the baroque and renaissance paved a new way for not only music, but for art. The change that took place was gorgeous causing art to become so vivid and images are portrayed to be so real. I never was a fan of art nor music, but if one actually pays attention to the evolvement of it throughout time one would have great appreciation.
It is a story about the lives of Ancient Greek Orpheus and Euridice, and is based on books from “Metamorphoses,” by Roman poet Ovid, although there were alterations to the ending. Italian opera styles are evidently present throughout. Peri matches the text of the libretto by introducing a new singing style, recitative. Recitative imitates speech in a way that it is halfway between speech and song. This style helps to better communicate the emotions and the intellect to audience members, and it is modeled after Ancient Greek drama.
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performed Overture to La Scala di Seta by Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), which represents the Classical Period. Rossini
Even today, many directors think about how to give up the concept of the original staging. There is an enormous number of researches about this opera, but few of literature about modern productions. … This paper analyzes three
Vivaldi's music is particularly innovative as he gave brightness to the formal and the rhythmic structure of concertos. He repeatedly looked for harmonic contrasts, creating innovative melodies and themes. Vivaldi’ main goal was to create a musical piece meant to be appreciated by the wide public, and not only by an intellectual minority. The joyful appearance of his music reveals a transmittable joy of composing. These are among the causes of the vast popularity of his music. This popularity soon made him famous also in countries like France, at the time very closed into its national schemes. He is considered one of the authors that brought Baroque music to evolve into an impressionist style.
Opera is a unique genre of spoken word and song accompanied by music. The music takes one through ascending and descending ranges of emotions. Mozart's Don Giovanni is a perfect example of how this genre emits a wide variety of feelings and attitudes. This "dark comedy seems to convey Mozart's feeling that events have both comical and serious dimensions…" (Kerman, 205). The opera, as a whole, is neither exclusively comedic nor entirely tragic.