Don Giovanni Essay

Mozart’s Don Giovanni is an opera, written during the classical period. During the classical period the compositions are not centered on aristocrats or the church as they were in the baroque period but rather the middle class. The opera Don Giovanni is the story of the Spanish Don Juan in which an aristocrat believes he is able to have whomever or whatever he desires without consequence. The music portrays the emotions of Leporello with Act 1 beginning mezzo piano and allegro. The music alternates between wood winds and strings to full orchestra. When Donna Anna and Don Giovanni enter you have a polyphonic sound with Donna Anna singing soprano and Don Giovanni singing tenor, the music becomes fortissimo until Don Giovanni has fatally wounded the Commandant. Once the Commandant is mortally wounded the dynamic changes there is a sudden stop in the music, then a change to

In contrast to the classical period the romantic period focused on real life stories and the music was even more reflective of emotions then in the classical period. The addition of a larger brass section, more woodwinds with increased reliability of sound and the addition of cymbals, the triangle and harp lead to a wider range of emotions. The melody of La Bohème flows seamlessly. The scene begins with a flute melody, followed by the orchestra in in pianissimo, indicating Mimi’s fragility, the music decrescendos to Mimi’s fainting, leading to a single oboe of concern. There is break in the orchestra with only vocal, then some gentle strings begin again as Mimi awakens. The tempo shifts frequently throughout the scene. Like the tempo, the dynamic range shifts frequently, changing from largo to presto and back again throughout the scene. The composition is much brighter then Mozart’s Don Giovanni with a large scale and a harp solo, something Mozart’s Don Giovanni does not