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"
- 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