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Lecture Notes: Critical Listening & Romantic Opera (Verdi, Puccini, Wagner) 7/16

Critical Listening Exercise: “Danse Macabre” (Saint-Saëns)

  • Context

    • Instructor always plays it during the fall/Halloween season → spooky associations.
    • Students asked to analyze using the five habitual listening categories: Instrument/Sound, Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, (plus Tension/Dynamics implicitly).
    • Link contained the ID “…704…”.

  • Formal/Programmatic Outline (as dictated while the instructor took notes)

    • Opens with 12 clock-like strikes (midnight) → sets up the program: skeletons rise, dance, must return by sunrise.
    • Melody
    • Begins in minor; bass line alone → solo violin enters with harsh, dissonant double-stops.
    • Flute introduces a rapid repeated line = Theme 1 (recurring “introductory theme”).
    • Solo violin introduces Theme 2, supported by pizzicato strings pulsing in triple meter \frac{3}{4}.
    • Alternation pattern: Theme 1 (woodwinds) ↔ Theme 2 (violin) → later orchestral tutti swap the themes.
    • Texture
    • Frequent antiphonal “conversation” between string family & woodwind family.
    • Middle section becomes highly polyphonic—both themes overlaid.
    • Timbre/Instrumentation
    • “Very large orchestra” (>100 players): full strings, expanded woodwinds, large brass, percussion (notably timpani, xylophone for skeletal effect).
    • Violin techniques: short, quick bow strokes, double-stops, pizzicato.
    • Harmony
    • Predominantly minor → sudden pivot to major (brief “carnival-like” brightness) → returns to minor.
    • Heavy use of dissonance, especially in polyphonic climaxes.
    • Dynamics & Tension
    • Extreme swells: repeated crescendi & decrescendi, swirling strings, brass power chords.
    • Sudden drop to near-silence near the end (sunrise).
    • Coda
    • Abrupt stop → solo oboe + light orchestra + light timpani (fading energy).
    • Tender solo violin phrase → piece “runs out of gas” and ends softly (skeletons back in graves).

  • Story/Program (narrative shared verbally)

    • At midnight (12 chimes) skeletons rise, dance madly through the night.
    • Dawn approaches → music softens → they mournfully return to their graves.
    • Encouraged students to expand the tale as a group discussion.

Romantic Opera Overview & Historical Back-References

  • Opera predates Romanticism: origins in late Renaissance (Monteverdi) → flourished through Baroque & Classical eras.
  • Italian opera dominated from early Baroque through Romantic period; even German Mozart wrote in Italian style.
  • Core 19th-century repertory = Romantic era (Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, etc.).

Essential Terminology (likely exam items)

  • Opera (definition)
    • “A drama that is sung to orchestral accompaniment and is secular.”
    • Full staging: scenery, costumes, action; can be serious, comic, or mixed.
  • Libretto
    • Text/script of an opera; written by a librettist (unless composer writes both, e.g., Wagner).
  • Overture
    • One-movement orchestral work (≈6\text{–}7 min) performed before curtain rises; previews thematic material.
    • Orchestra usually in a pit—audience sees mainly conductor’s head.
  • Solo-Song Types
    • Recitative (resetatif)
    • Speech-like solo that conveys dialogue & plot; light accompaniment; ≈95\% of opera is sung, so mundane actions are sung here.
    • Aria
    • Big, showy solo; full orchestra; emotional outpouring.
  • Verismo (“realism”)
    • Late-Romantic (post-1890) trend—gritty depictions of everyday/lower-class life, violent crime; rejects myth & historical subjects.
    • Principal exponent: Giacomo Puccini.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

  • Background
    • From impoverished northern Italian village; quintessential “rags-to-riches.”
    • Early tragedies: wife + 2 children died while he was writing his 2nd opera (a failed comedy).
  • Political/National Significance
    • Ardent Italian nationalist; identified with exiled Jews in libretto of Nabucco (opera #3) → symbol of Italian independence.
    • Elected to first Italian parliament (1861) at age 48.
  • Output
    • Total operas: 28.
    • “Middle-period Trilogy” (all exam items):
    • #16 Rigoletto (famous tenor aria on playlist)
    • #17 Il Trovatore
    • #18 La Traviata
    • Late triumph: Falstaff (1893)
    • Written at age 80; first comedy since early fiasco; hailed as comic masterpiece.
  • Death & Legacy
    • Died age 87; national mourning; bequeathed fortune to a retirement home for elderly musicians (still operating).

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

  • Education/Career Path
    • Studied at Milan Conservatory (institution that had once rejected Verdi).
    • Late professional start; first true hit age 35.
    • Secured lucrative contract with premier Italian publisher thereafter.
  • Style & Importance
    • Leading figure after Verdi; central in Verismo movement (realism, contemporary lower-class subjects).
  • Major Works
    • La Bohème (1896)
    • Inspired by Puccini’s own bohemian student days; later inspired Broadway musical “Rent.”
    • Other staples: Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot (unfinished at death).
  • Multimedia Note
    • Instructor provided Michael Cooper’s subtitled YouTube performance for study.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

  • Self-Authored Music Dramas
    • Preferred term “music drama,” dismissing traditional “opera.”
    • Wrote own librettos (rare among composers).
    • Continuous dramatic flow—no discrete arias/ensembles; unified by Leitmotifs (recurring themes representing person, place, idea).
    • Combined mythology, symbolism, philosophy; extremely innovative harmony (pushed toward atonality).
  • Monumental Project: Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle)
    • 4 interconnected operas to be given on 4 consecutive evenings.
    • Composition span: 26 years; total playing time ≈19.5 hours.
    • Content includes rape, incest, murder—“everything horrible.”
  • Musical Legacy
    • Advanced dissonant harmony → influenced early 20th-century modernism & film scores.
  • Personality & Ethics
    • Fierce German nationalist; outspoken antisemite (blamed Jews for “mediocrity” in art).
    • Financially irresponsible—habitual borrower with no intent to repay.
    • Polarizing: passionately adored & intensely hated.
    • Claimed: “I am the German spirit.”
    • Adolf Hitler’s favorite composer.
  • Exam Listening Cue
    • “Ride of the Valkyries” excerpt from Ring Cycle—universally recognizable; associate with Wagner.

Practical Exam-Prep Recommendations (implicit advice from lecture)

  • Always preview opera plots (foreign languages + distracting super-titles).
  • Know precise definitions & distinctions (e.g., Recitative vs. Aria; Overture; Verismo).
  • Associate signature listening examples:
    • Verdi → “La donna è mobile” (Rigoletto) sung by Pavarotti.
    • Puccini → La Bohème excerpts (Cooper video).
    • Wagner → “Ride of the Valkyries.”
  • Recall numbers & dates that may appear in multiple-choice:
    • 12 chimes in Danse Macabre.
    • 100+ musicians in large Romantic orchestra.
    • Overture length 6\text{–}7 min.
    • Operatic singing proportion ≈95\%.
    • Verdi’s trilogy operas #16–18; Falstaff at age 80.
    • Verismo emergence \approx 1890.
    • Ring Cycle: 4 operas, 19.5 hrs, 26 years.

Connections to Previous Material & Real-World Relevance

  • Historical Continuity
    • Monteverdi (Renaissance) → Baroque → Classical (Mozart) → Romantic (Verdi/Puccini/Wagner) shows opera’s evolving yet persistent dominance.
  • Musical Techniques
    • Wagner’s harmonic daring foreshadows 20th-century atonality & modern film scoring.
    • Danse Macabre’s vivid orchestration exemplifies program music—critical Romantic trait previously studied (e.g., Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique).
  • Ethical/Philosophical Dimensions
    • Wagner’s art vs. artist debate (nationalism, antisemitism) remains a modern ethical discussion.
    • Verismo’s focus on everyday struggles parallels contemporary social-issue storytelling in theater & film.