Ch. 9 Vocal Music, 1650-1750

Chapter 9 Vocal Music, 1650–1750 A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-1 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera Beyond Italy, opera was slow to develop France, Spain and England enjoyed their own forms of dramatic entertainment with music A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-2 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera France: Comédie-ballet and Tragédie en musique Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) established sung drama that was part opera and part ballet Wrote series of comédie-ballet for dancing talents of his master, Louis XIV Mixed spoken drama and dance A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-3 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera France: Comédie-ballet and Tragédie en musique In 1672, Lully created new operatic genre: tragédie en musique (also known as tragédie lyrique) Drew on classical mythology and chivalric romances, with plots as veiled favorable commentaries on recent court events A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-4 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 France: Comédie-ballet and Tragédie en musique Structurally, a tragédie en musique consists of: 1. an overture 2. an allegorical prologue 3. five acts of entirely sung drama, each divided into several different scenes 4. many divertissements (interludes) A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-5 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera Opera Italy: Opera seria Opera seria (“serious opera”) Usually tragic content The most important type of opera cultivated from 1680 and 1770 Developed in Italy and sung almost exclusively in Italian Became an international genre A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-6 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera Italy: Opera seria Libretto draws subject matter from classical antiquity Rulers presented in favorable light: heroic, magnanimous, placing duty and honor above personal gain Texts balance drama and music with mixture of action (recitative) and reflection (aria) A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-7 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera Italy: Opera seria Majority of arias are da capo arias Name comes from indication at end of second section: da capo “from the head,” or, as said today, “from the top” (the beginning) Having finished B section, the performer goes back to beginning of A and continues to end of that section A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-8 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera Italy: Opera seria recitativo semplice – “simple recitative,” accompanied by basso continuo for extended passages of prose Arias tend to be dramatically static but psychologically revealing recitativo accompagnato – “accompanied recitative,” supported by full orchestra for moments of high emotion and drama A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-9 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera Italy: Opera seria Da capo aria offered singers a way for demonstrating vocal prowess with very high or low notes, fast passages, rapid ornaments Castrato – young boys with promising voices underwent castration preventing change of voice at puberty; combined the high range of the female voice with physical power of male voice A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-10 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 The castrato. This early 18th-century caricature lampoons two well-known tendencies of castrati: to put on weight and to sing fantastically elaborate passagework. A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-11 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera Italy: Opera seria Establishment of first public opera houses in Venice in 1638 New audience demanded new kinds of performance spaces and imposed new economics Without direct support of court or church, opera established itself on a for-profit basis A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-12 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera England: Masque, Semi-Opera, Opera, and Ballad Opera Masques began as semi-improvised intrusions into large social festivities by masked and costumed actors Masques migrated to stage as loosely assembled series of vignettes that allowed for colorful mixture of musical and dramatic elements A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-13 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera England: Masque, Semi-Opera, Opera, and Ballad Opera Semi-operas flourished in the second half of the 17th century Essentially plays with a large proportion of vocal and instrumental musical numbers A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-14 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Opera England: Masque, Semi-Opera, Opera, and Ballad Opera 17th century was a time of political unrest in England. Circumstances were not favorable to introduction of opera from abroad Ballad opera – play with music that portrayed common criminals rather than mythological figures or historical heroes A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-15 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Sacred Music Music in Convents Families sent daughters to convents for a variety of reasons, mostly economic – convent dowry cost was fraction of cost to marry daughter into respectable family More than half of women who published music in Italy between 1566 and 1700 were nuns A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-16 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Sacred Music Oratorio Sacred counterpart to opera presenting a dramatic scene from Bible or from lives of saints Genre of sung drama performed without staging or costume Music for projecting the drama includes recitative, da capo aria, and chorus A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-17 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Sacred Music Motet and Mass Polyphonic motet continued to thrive throughout Continent Cantata Throughout Baroque era, the term cantata was applied to many different kinds of sacred and secular vocal works A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-18 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach holds in his hand a copy of his Canon Triplex, BWV 1076. A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-19 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Conceptions of the Compositional Process Almost every composer of 17th and 18th centuries borrowed musical themes and sometimes entire pieces from others Almost every composer recycled an earlier work into a new composition A History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 9-20 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evan Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458