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Opera History Timeline 1

Pergolesi's "La Serva Padrona"

Bach's "St. Matthew Passion"

Handel's Giulio Cesare

John Gay and "The Beggar's Opera"

Shelby Rhodes

  • English composer b. 1685-1732
  • developed the subgenre "english ballad opera" for accessibility
  • example of this is "The Beggars Opera" (published in 1728)
  • An english ballad opera featured:
  • songs set to tunes in the popular style (newly composed or already written)
  • and actual spoken dialogue
  • Some saw this new subgenre as a rebellion against Italy's new opera reformation rules
  • Giovanni Pergolesi was born in 1710 and died in 1736 at age 26
  • Was one of the first to develop the controversial "opera buffa" (different from "opera seria")
  • An example of opera buffa style would be the opera "La Serva Padrona", that was published in 1733
  • La Serva Padrona featured
  • 2 acts, (instead of opera seria's 3)
  • lower voices for males, excluding the castrati
  • focus on comic banter between characters as part of the plot
  • b. 1685- d.1750)
  • was a composer who wrote many religious compositions, like the St. Matthew Passion (published 1727)
  • Most Passions and all Oratorios are religious texts and messages set to opera music
  • These were subgenres developed in this time period because the opera was banned during Lent, but people still wanted to hear the music
  • St Matthew Passion was not staged, but music was built around a choir
  • More compact, similar to a cantata:
  • just recitative, arias, and a chorus
  • not necessarily dramatic
  • last verse of each hymn is sung in 4 parts, so the congregation can join in
  • Handel was born in 1685 and died in 1759
  • He composed the opera seria, "Giulio Cesare", in 1724
  • This opera featured the reformed standardized aria form of ABA
  • The cast of this opera was not small, but the chorus part is simple, and the subplots are limited

Monteverdi

Opera from 1650-1700

Jean Baptiste Lully's "Persee"

  • born 1567, died 1643
  • Composer from Italy known for writing the first opera form pieces

The Beginnings: 1600-1650

  • France and England start to have an impact
  • French subgenre "tragedie lyrique" is invented
  • England features operas with basso ostinato, further establishing grief themes in opera of the 17th century
  • Lully was born in 1632 and died in 1687
  • French inventor of the opera subgenre "tragedie lyrique"
  • An example of this was his "Persee", a tragedie lyrique published in 1682
  • Persee featured arias with dancelike rhythms and binary form, unlike the Italian opera's ritornello form
  • Recitative rhythms were also different because of language differences
  • Opera began developing at the end of the Renaissance, and starting the Baroque time period.
  • Invented in Italy, a type of intellectual interpretation of music
  • Entertainment based, for higher class audiences

Christoph Willibald Gluck b.1714- d.1787

1700-1750

Handel's "Messiah" Oratorio

Purcell and "Dido and Aeneas"

The Coronation of Poppea

L'Orfeo

  • Composed the opera seria "Orfeo ed Euridice" (published 1762)
  • one of Gluck's first attempts at a reformed opera
  • Orfeo ed Euridice has a simplified plot with 3 acts
  • vocal lines kept simple with accompanied recitative
  • mythological subject with a chorus and dance numbers
  • Published in 1643 (Monteverdi)
  • Opera Seria
  • Polyphony occured, and emphasis on Monody solo singer with acommpaniment
  • Piece for a public opera house, more accessible
  • Published in 1607 (Monteverdi)
  • Opera Seria
  • Features ritornello form (strophic, repeated phrases)
  • Recitative featured is accompanied by basso continuo line
  • Handel published the Messiah Oratorio in 1741
  • This was an alternative to going and attending the Opera, which was banned during Lent
  • However, composers could still have an income and keep audiences entertained during this time because of Oratorios
  • This new subgenre featured scripture set to opera music
  • Henry Purcell was born in 1659 and died in 1695
  • Composer who wrote "Dido and Aeneas", an English opera seria published in 1688
  • Dido and Aeneas, an opera about a tragic love affair, was one of the first operas that featured basso ostinato
  • An example of this is in "Dido's Lament", where it has an established descent into the baseline, symbolizing grief
  • Messiah is
  • an atypical oratorio because there are no specific characters
  • most text from Old Testament books like Isaiah, (prophetic texts), except for an angel's recitative from the book of Luke
  • Arias less ornamental
  • No castrati singers
  • Although becoming very popular in society, opera has also become over the top and unorganized in form
  • Around 1700, some Italian composers decide that opera needs to be reformed and standardized
  • Examples include
  • only occasional dance sequences
  • strict alternation of aria and recitative
  • reduced subplots and simplified themes
  • arias always in da capo form
  • This proves to be limiting, but even so, four new borderline controversial subgenres of opera develop:
  • opera buffa
  • english ballad opera
  • passions and oratorios

Mozart's "Don Giovanni"

Opera of 1750-1800

  • Mozart was born in 1756 and died in 1791
  • He was a very successful composer of many genres, and wrote the popular opera buffa "Don Giovanni" in 1787
  • Don Giovanni featured:
  • 2 acts, standard for opera buffa
  • a basso buffo (or "patter") part (Leporello) that became popular in the opera buffa's comic form
  • characters with very distinguished personalities that were accented by the background orchestration
  • Strong emphasis of establishing the Italian's reformed opera theory
  • Though reformed and simplified, opera remains popular going into the Classical time period
  • More of a concentration on orchestration
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