Lesson 10e - Western European Opera

Lesson 10e - Western European Opera

A brief history 

The Beginning of Opera --- late 16th century

Opera is said to have originated in Florence by a group of poets and musicians called the Camerata who met in houses of Florentine lords and nobles from about 1580. The group evolved the monodic representational style (stile rappresentativo) which human speech was represented dramatically. The monody had a declamatory solo vocal line with simple instrumental accompaniment. The rhythm of the melody was metrically free, allowing it to follow the natural accents of the text. The subject matter of early operas was largely based on Greek and Roman mythology.

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) was an important composer to foster the development of opera. His opera used elements from the madrigal (a secular vocal composition), and the ornate Venetian church music. Through his effort, the extended and technically brilliant arias (a solo vocal work) became an important element in opera.

The Age of Bel-Canto --- 18th and early 19th century

The characteristics of Bel-canto singing are the beauty of tone, vocal ornamentation, legato phrasing, and exhibition of faultless vocal techniques. The music most often highlights the beautiful singing of the Italian singers. Examples are the comic operas of Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), such as The Barber of Seville.

German Romantic Operas --- 19th century

Maria von Weber was regarded as the Father of German Romanticism. His Der Freishcutz (The Freeshooter, 1821) was a landmark of German romantic operas, which successfully combined folksong, coloristic orchestral scoring, scenes of country life and supernatural horror.
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) further expanded the horizons of operas. He expounded his theory of music drama as Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), a complete unification of music, drama, poetry, dance, and painting.

Operettas / Musical --- end of 19th century

The light operas (operettas) achieved popularity in England by the end of the nineteenth century. Gilbert and Sullivan (Arthur Sullivan and the playwright William S. Gilbert) were two leading figures. Their first production was The Sorcerer (1877), which ran for 175 nights. This was followed by the immensely successful H.M.S. Pinafore (1878) and The Pirates of Penzance (1880). In 1885, The Mikado was another huge success running for 672 nights, and has remained the most popular of the series.

The Musicals --- 20th century

Porgy and Bess (1935) by George Gershwin (1898-1937) is known as the first successful American opera. This opera was a bridge between light operas and Broadway musicals, which were the predominant form of theater music in the first half of the century. Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960) are the pioneers of the musicals. Their works include Oklahoma (1943), Carousel (1945), and South Pacific (1949).

Composers such as Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), and Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930) further extend the operatic language by incorporating the distinct rhythms and phrases of American popular song. In the second half of the twentieth century, musicals such as Cats, Les Misérables, and Rent help to bring "opera" to a wider audience.

Gesamtkunstwerk

Gesamtkunstwerk is a term referring to a work of art that utilizes various art forms. In 1849, German composer Richard Wagner used the term Gesamtkunstwerk in two of his articles "Art and Revolution" (Die Kunst und die Revolution ), and "The Artwork of the Future" (Das Kunstwerk der Zukunft ). In those articles, Wagner explained his ideals of unifying music, drama, poetry, dance, and visual arts in his operas.

   Read Krisztina Lajosi, "Wagner and the (Re)mediation of Art Download Wagner and the (Re)mediation of Art: Gesamtkunstwerk and Nineteenth-Centry Theories of Media," in FRAME 23.2, Literatuur en Muziek, Journal of Literary Studies. (Utrecht, The Netherlands, November 2010), pp. 42-60. (LO10.3 & LO10.4)