Aria

Marriage of Figaro- Cherubino

What key is the music in?

E flat major

Describe Cherubino’s melody

In the beginning of the phrase, Cherubino’s melody is mainly conjunct, however it includes interval of a 6th followed by an octave, showing Cherubino’s building excitement when talking about women

What does the interval of a 6th represent?

The interval of a 6th represents the interval of love, potraying Cherubino’s longing and yearning for love

Where are the apoggiaturas first seen within the music?

Bar 6, on the lyrics ‘Donna’

What are the violas doing in the beginning phrase?

The viola plays sustained notes of a 6th, followed by a 3rd

How do the violins play in the beginning phrase?

The violins play con sordino, meaning the violins play without mutes, just being the only song in Marriage of Figaro

The violins play an off-beat quaver pattern motif, the accompaniment setting up Cherubino’s state of mind, butterflies within his stomach

Starting from bar 7 for the violas, what pedal do they play?

The violas play an inverted Bb pedal

Where is intervalic augmentation seen in the Aria?

Where does the melody become disjunct?

In the melody, on the lyrics, ‘ogni donna,’ contrasts the conjunct opening phrase, shows the explosive nature of the piece

What’s the typical harmony that Mozart uses within this section?

iib V7 IV I

Where is the music does it modulate and to what key?

On bar 7

What is the harmony on the repetition of the lyric ‘ fa palpitar’

Chords:

Bbmaj( Ic)

Bbmaj7(V7)

Eb(I)

Where is chromaticism seen in Cherubino’s melody?

On the play where Cherubino and Cello play in parallel 3rds on the lyric ‘Solo ai nomi d’amor, di diletto’, Cherubino expressing his feelings where he sees women

This is an 3-bar pattern that repeats in an ascending sequence, resolving on a apoggiatura on the last two notes

What does his 3-bar pattern chromaticism represent?

This represents Cherubino’s unrequited passions within his love

When the sequence is repeated, what changes within the pattern?

When the pattern is repeated, on the word peto(and), it ends with an inverted apoggiatura

What rhythmic device is used on Bar 22-25?

Rhythmic diminution

Where does the mood change within the melody?

The mood of the piece changes on the lyric ‘un desiro,’ expressing his desire that he truly cannot contain

Mozart utilizes a sustained Db diminished 7th, adding a sense of doom within the music, word painting on desire

How does the harmony from the lyric, ‘ non posso spiegar’

Mozarts creates an interrupted cadence, the harmonic progression being iib V7 iib, ending on a E natural to the descending conjunct chromatic melody