Star Power: Opera and Musical Theatre

prelude

• venice was the primary centre for opera
• german imported venetian opera and fused styles to make german opera
• france developed an operatic idiom
• english monarchy and treasury were too weak to support opera
• vocal chamber and church music flourished
• italy vs france clash - too extra vs too simple

italy

• birthplace of opera
• operas and chamber cantatas relied on recitative and aria

opera:

• venice, naples, florence, milan
• scarlatti - rome and naples
• opera houses competed to bring in audiences   * singers and arias attracted the public   * high fees and in-demand singers
• arias   * most common was strophic song - every stanza performed to the same music   * reflected the meaning of the text in musical motives in the melody or accompaniment   * da capo aria became most prevalent - large aba structure with room for repetition and contrast, became standard form in 18th century opera because of its flexibility

chamber cantata:

• leading form of vocal chamber music - rome
• the wealthy had private parties for the elite with original cantatas written and performed for the occasion
• elegance and refinement in a way unlike opera due to the small, intimate nature of the performances
• short, contrasting sections, separate and alternating recitatives and arias
• scarlatti wrote a ton of cantatas   * used da capo aria to sustain a lyrical moment through a musical design

france

• slow to adopt italian vocal styles due to traditions of dance and spoken theatre
• french language required pace and flow adjustments that created different styles and practices
• some french frowned upon italian opera
• dancing was still very important and provided stability and social hierarchy
• louis xiv   * sun king   * huge patron of the arts   * had a monopoly over music   * dancer   * the universe revolved around him   * 1000 wigs guy

opera:

• by 1700 italian opera was flourishing everywhere except france
• the french finally established a national opera after having opposed italian opera forever
• influenced by ballet and tragedy
• prioritized and reconciled poetry, drama and music   * shouldn't sacrifice clarity of text for the sake of music
• jean-baptiste lully   * tragedie en musique/tragedie lyrique   * composed italian instrumental and dance music for operas, pieces for court ballets   * purchased the exclusive right to produce sung drama in france and established academie royale de musique   * librettists quinault provided him with five-act dramas   * each opera began with a grand ouverture following the two-section majestic-fast structure used in his ballets   * divertissement occured in the middle or end of each act and provided a non-plot-related excuse to show off costumes and choreo   * adapted italian recitative to french poetry   * recitatif simple - followed the contour of spoken french while shifting the time to match it   * recitatif mesure - unifom, deliberate motion   * lyrical moments cast as airs, short, rhyming, dancelike pieces   * bands became the model for the modern string orchestra   * musical monopoly - everyone had to write like lully for 50 years after his death
• convinced by a composer who arranged orfeo to please the french   * had a love story   * music was central to the plot   * able to insert louis xiv as the main character and a prelude praising him   * secret agent musical spies
• french opera basically became propaganda for the state - had to be approved, praising france

church music:

• second half of the century - french composers borrowed italian genres but wrote in french styles
• petit motet - sacred concerto for few voices with continuo
• grand motet - soloists, double chorus and orchestra, different meters and tempos

england

• priority was believability - disney musicals with big musical numbers interrupting the plot wouldn't fly
• charles changed the culture of the english court to emphasize aristocratic privileges, mirrors what's happening in france with louis' court   * trying to have similar artistic emphasis in his court   * more plays including incidental music - first time music was creeping into plays   * french-like overtures
• rise of semi-opera - somewhere between theatre and opera
• purcell parallels lully   * did well at every genre he tried   * worked as the organist at westminster abbey   * dramatick operas   * dido and aenaeas     * more drama and action     * sung through     * plot taken from an ancient roman epic     * hype - english people were trying to find their identity and the arts played heavily into shaping it
• ground bass - continuo bassline plays the same thing over and over (early ancestor of ostinato)   * provides a sense of familiarity   * locks you into a pattern for the whole aria

musical theater:

• masque - shared features with opera but included spoken parts and were long, collaborative spectacles, appealed to all levels of society
• stage plays were prohibited but not music, so opera was born (mixture of elements from spoken drama and masque
• purcell - similar to lully's structure, overture, homophonic choruses
• use of dance owed to masque tradition
• solos use the upbeat, major tone of the english air
• english strongly preferred spoken drama

ceremonial and domestic music for voice:

• vocal music outside the theater owed little to foreign models
• specialty of purcell and other english composers was the catch, an unaccompanied group of men singing a humorous round/canon
• produced many verse anthems

the public concert:

• all musical performances in england were private affairs
• staged a takedown until public concerts began to spread

germany

• composers blended french and italian styles with new traditions
• first public opera house opened in hamburg and germany
• keiser
• telemann   * one of the best and most prolific composers of his area

lutheran vocal music:

• lutheran churches were restored
• orthodox lutherans - using all available choral and instrumental music
• pietists - distrust formality and high art in worship
• lutherans possessed a common heritage in the corral
• new private-use poems and melodies composed   * developing sacred concerto for public worship - vocal ensemble singing biblical texts
• buxtehude   * composed long church music and improvisations   * composed for abendmusiken - public concerts following afternoon church services during advent     * watchet auf - sacred concerto containing a series of variations on chorale

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