Notes
from Monday, February 18 class session:
Preparation For Mon. Feb 18:
1. Complete the
online eWorkbook assessment Quiz #6 (Baroque) in WebCT/Vista/Blackboard by 3PM
Monday. Feb 18
(click here for
instructions on how to log onto WebCT).
2. Read textbook Chapter 6 (Classic)--pages 45, 46 and 53 only.
3. Read Lecture
Notes from Feb 18.
4. Listen to "Classical Music
Online" examples for Pre-Classic Opera (all examples for this class
are now in a separate "MUS1700" folder).
5. Review the Lecture
Notes from Feb 13.
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Background
on the Classic Era
The Classic Era was a
turbulent "Age of Revolution" initiated by French philosophers Voltaire
and Rousseau, who cried out for equality of the lower classes, and a common
humanity achieved through education ("Enlightenment"). The American
and French revolutions were driven these concepts. This philosophical enlightenment also opened up an "Age
of Reason" represented
by the "Scientific Method" (have a theory, test it through empirical
processes of direct observation, prove it with facts). The first encyclopedias and
dictionaries were also written at this time. (Rousseau wrote the first dictionary
of musical definitions).
In
music, the transition to the Classic Era (often called the "Pre-Classic
Era") occurred between 1720-60, head-to-head against the
Late-Baroque.
Musical Issues:
the "Age of Reason" is reflected musically by
1)
the standardization of musical terminology and notation
2) the writing of "how to" books on playing musical instruments
3) codifying music theory, especially fully embracing the theory of tonality (a
musical reflection of the concentric solar system--in this case related tones
revolving around a central tonic)
4) writing the first comprehensive music histories (Charles Burney is the most
important author in this regard)
In
musical structure, this standardization is seen in the gradual
1) Major/minor keys and triadic "functional harmony" become the
norm.1) Standardization of the orchestra (a delicate balance of
strings/woodwinds with limited brass/percussion)
2) The dying out of improvised basso continuo/figured bass realizations
(replaced by fully-written out/composer-controlled musical lines)
3) Greater equality of all the musical lines (in a more homophonic
texture--melodic predominated/harmonically-supported)
4) Melodies become THEMES--complete ideas in themselves, greater focus on
harmonic modulation and large-scale forms (more on this in later lectures).
5) PERIOD phrase structure ("antecedent" vs.
"consequent"phrases) in a regular design that echoes the syntax of
spoken/written language; Clearer large-scale forms (you will learn more about
these later in MUS 1700 and in MUS 2600).
The
Pre-Classic Era
This
transitional era began in the 1720s (while Bach/Handel etc. were still in the
high Baroque phase)
Pre-Classic
style simplified the structure of music (gradually reflecting Classic
aesthetics stated above under "Musical Issues")
The
process began through comic opera traditions that first arose in England
(1720s) and Italy (1730s), then spread to France (1750s):
Theatrical
Late-Baroque vs. Pre-Classic Contemporaries 1720-60:
-
ENGLAND: Handel (Late-Baroque) vs. Gay (Pre-Classic)
- ITALY: Handel/Neapolitan Opera (Late-Baroque) vs. Pergolesi (Pre-Classic)
- FRANCE: Rameau (Baroque) vs. Rousseau (Pre-Classic)--you will study these in
MUS 2700 and MUS 2710
See
Powerpoint slides on Pre-Classic vocal styles
PRE-CLASSIC
COMIC OPERA STYLES
I. English "Ballad Opera"--England's version of
comic opera (some big differences vs. Italian opera buffa)
John
Gay (with musical arrangements by Johann Pepusch): The Beggar's Opera (1728)--Video scene
shown in class
MAIN
CHARACTERS:
Peachum (Peach): a re-seller of stolen goods
Mrs. Peachum: his "wife"
Polly: their daughter
Macheath: a highwayman (head of a band of common thieves)
(We also saw "Filch"--one of Macheath's thieves)
Basic scenario
of the scene we saw:
"Mr. and Mrs." Peachum (who are not actually married), have told
their daughter, Polly, that the only chance she has for a better life is to
"save herself" for a wealthy husband. So, when Polly falls in love with Macheath (a common thief),
she marries him without telling her parents. In our video excerpt, Polly sadly
sings "A Virgin is like a flower blooming in lustre . . . Once it is
picked it is tossed away" (saying, now that she has nothing left to barter
with, at least she can live a low life with someone who truly loves her). When
Mrs. Peachum finds out about this marriage, she becomes very angry with Polly,
and confronts her with a sort of "rage" aria entitled "Our
Polly is a Sad Slut!" (implying that Polly has foolishly wasted her one chance).
Once they calm down, the Peachum's tell Polly "everything has a bright
side": the "good" thing is Polly can kill now kill Macheath,
then keep all of his stolen wealth (Polly, of course, refuses). Later in the
opera, Macheath shows his true love for Polly by singing "My Heart Was
So Free..."
(until he met Polly and gladly surrendered it). Considering this is 1728, there
is a lot of suggestive material here as compared to opera seria.
1)
This is a BIG change from the Italian opera seria tradition, in many ways
spoofed the concurrent high-brow Baroque styles
2)
The main characters of A Beggar's Opera are commoners (thieves,
general riff-raff, etc.), but Gay attempts to show them as still having value,
and in Polly's case—virtue, despite their life circumstances.
3)
Small string-predominated orchestra, with certain sections/characters involving
double reeds
4)
There is a lot of SPOKEN dialogue (jn common dialects--not proper English),
interrupted occasionally by a brief songs ("aria" in the loosest
sense)--primarily adapted from English folk/drinking songs (includes
Irish/Scottish). A few of the more beautiful/expressive/tragic songs sung by
Polly were adapted from well-known English operas by Purcell, Handel etc..
5)
68 songs (approx. 20 of these sung by Polly)
6)
Significant social commentary being made in these types of works
7)
Simpler, repetitive musical forms/designs
II. Italian
Comic Opera Tradition (Intermezzo and "Opera buffa")
Pergolesi:
La serva padrona ("The Maid as Mistress"--1733)
MAIN
CHARACTERS:
Uberto (a well-to-do bachelor)
Serpina (his maid)
Vespone (his "mute" valet)
Scenario:
Serpina wants Uberto to marry her, so she sets up a scheme about her fake
engagement to make Uberto jealous.
-
La serva padrona
is an "intermezzo" performed during the two intermissions of an opera
seria)
- This is a small-scale work (just two singing characters accompanied by a
small group of strings)
- The vocal style is hilariously crazy at times (much different than the
Late-Baroque style of opera seria), matching the Serpina's boldness/quick wit
and Uberto's growing frustration and ultimate admission of his love for her.
- Chordally-conceived harmonies
- SUNG recitatives (accompanied only by harpsichord)--no spoken dialogue here.
- The accompaniment is more dramatic (operatic) than Gay's.
- Though comic and simpler than opera seria, this work is closer to opera
seria
than Gay's ballad opera is.
EXAMPLE:
In Serpina's aria from Act I, "Stizzoso, mio stizzoso..." ("Oh
easily-provoked one..."), Uberto is angry that
he has been waiting over three hours for Serpina to bring him his daily
chocolate, so he decides to go out and get it himself. When Uberto calls for
his hat, wig and coat, Serpina sings this aria and forbids him to leave the
house, adding he needs to be quiet and obey her orders from now on because she
is the real mistress of the household. (This example can be heard from
the Classical Music Online/MUS1700 Pre-Classic Opera folder).
OPERA
BUFFA:
The intermezzo tradition soon led to stand-alone Italian comic operas (opera
buffa)
such as Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), which have sung
recitatives and real arias (some humorous, some beautiful)--no spoken dialogue.
III. Other
Comic Traditions
French
"opera comique": Rousseau: Le devin du village (1752)--spoken dialogue
with French songs
German
"Singspiel" (low-level German comic opera)--spoken dialogue with German
songs.
Later, in his masterpiece The Magic Flute (1791), Mozart took the simple/common
genre of Singspiel and elevated it beyond the level of most opera seria)
-----
These lighter
operas, with their more believable characters and situations soon caused Baroque
opera to fall under the weight of its own excess. What follows is . . .
IV. Reform
Opera (Italian opera seria adjusted dramatically and streamlined
musically)
Gluck:
Orfeo ed Euridice (1762)
- Gluck's style blended Italian, French and German traits; laid the groundwork
for Mozart's early opera style.
- Simplified operatic structure in order to make the music subservient to the
dramatic plot
- Focused more on the chorus, dancing and orchestra, while restraining the
vocal improvisations of soloists.
- Returned to Greek story models
Example:
"Che faro senza Euridice?" ("What Will I do Without Euridice?")
- (sung by Orfeo near the very end of the opera when he loses Euridice by not following Cupid's instructions)
- Simple, elegant, balanced, yet a very expressive rendering of Orfeo's grief.
-----
Keep this basic
timeline in mind as a comparison of concurrent Late-Baroque and Pre-Classic
styles:
Pre-Classic
1728: English ballad opera (Gay)
1733: Italian Opera buffa (Pergolesi)
1752: French opera comique (Rousseau)
1754: War of the Buffoons (aesthetic battle between serious French vs. Italian
opera buffa styles)
1762: Reform Opera (Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice)
Baroque:
1722: Rameau--Treatise on Harmony (theoretically establishes the concepts of
major-minor tonality and triadic harmony)
1727: JS Bach--Cantata No. 80 "Ein' Feste Burg ist Unser Gott"
("A Mighty Fortress is Our God")
1725: Handel--Giulio Cesare (height of the highly-ornate Baroque Neopolitan
Opera style)
1741: Handel--Messiah (still contrapuntal and stately)
1747-9: JS Bach--Mass in B minor