Q4 Music

• Opera


  Combination of music, both vocal and instrumental, acting, visuals, theatrics, tied together by a storyline
• Opera


  • Combination of all the arts in one extravagant performance
  • During Baroque period its popularity and performance in the Western music scene continued up to the Romantic period
• Romanticism


  • Focus of emotions
  • Fits well to the concept with which the opera was originally conceived
• Some operas in Romantic


  • La Traviata
  • La Bohome
  • Carmen
• 4 Components of Opera


  • Libretto
  • Score
  • Recitative
  • Aria
• Libretto


  • Text of an opera
  • Contains the story or the plot of the opera
• Librettist


  Person who writes the libretto, and the composer work closely together to create the whole story of the opera
• Score


  • The book that the composer and librettist put together
  • Has all the musical notes, words and ideas to help the performers tell the story
• Recitative (Declamatory singing)


  • Used in the prose parts and dialogue of opera
  • May be accompanied (accompagnato) or unaccompanied (secco)
• Aria


  • Air or solo singing part sung by a principal character
  • What the public will remember best when leaving the opera house
  • Brings an audience to its feet and decides the fate of an entire opera
• Types of voices of male singers


  • Tenor
  • Baritone
  • Bass
• Tenor


  Highest male voice
• Baritone


  • Middle male voice, lies between Bass and Tenor voices
  • Common male voice
• Bass


  Lowest male voice
• Types of voices of female singers


  • Soprano
  • Coloratura
  • Lyric
  • Dramatic
  • Mezzo-Soprano
  • Contralto
• Soprano


  Highest female voice
• Coloratura


  Highest soprano voice
• Lyric


  Bright and full sound
• Dramatic


  Darker full sound
• Mezzo-Soprano


  • Most common female voice; strong middle voice
  • Tone is darker or deeper than the soprano
• Contralto


  Lowest female voice and most unique among females
• Acts


  • Main divisions of the opera
  • Distinctive part of the story with its own small rising action and even climax
  • Divided into scenes which may pertain to a specific setting or place
• A lot of money is spent for the set designs, props, make-ups and costumes of the performers to project the scenery and for the overall aesthetic effect of the opera performance
• The very beginning of an opera is accompanied by an instrumental ensemble
• Romantic period opera


  • One the changes that occurred in the opera performance was the increase in a number of orchestra players in a performance, from 20-25 players to 50-60 players
  • Verdi, Puccini and Wagner saw the opportunity to explore ways to develop the vocal power of a singer
• La Traviata


  • Music by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
  • Libretto in Italian by Francesco Maria Piave, based on "La Dame aux Camélias"
  • Play by Alexandre Dumas after his novel by the same name
  • English: "Camille"
  • Premiere: Venice, March 6, 1853
  • Categorized as a Romantic tragedy
  • Set in Paris, France during 1850
  • Originally in three acts, but present-day productions are usually in four acts dividing the original Act II
• Acts in La Traviata


  • ACT I: Violetta" 's Paris salon, luxuriously furnished
  • ACT II: A villa near Paris
  • ACT IIl: Ballroom in Flora"s mansion
  • ACT IV: Violetta"s bedroom
• Opera composers


  • Giuseppe Verdi
  • Giacomo Puccini
  • Richard Wagner
  • Geroges Bizet
• Oberto


  First opera of Giuseppe Verdi

  performed in La Scala, the most important opera house at the time
• All the world's a joke


  Last opera of Giuseppe Verdi
• Giuseppe Verdi


  • Completed 25 operas throughout his career
  • Mostly his works are serious love story with unhappy ending
  • Born in Parma, Italy on October 9, 1813
  • Died in Milan, Italy on January 27, 1901
• Expressive vocal melody


  Soul of a Verdi opera
• Giuseppe Verdi works


  • La Traviata
  • Rigoletto
  • Falstaff
  • Otello
  • Aida
• Aida

  Giuseppe Verdi wrote for the opening of the Suez Canal
• Giacomo Puccini


  • Born in a poor family on December 22, 1858 in Lucca, Italy
  • Studied at the Milan Conservatory
  • Belonged to a group of composers who stressed realism, drew material from everyday life, rejecting heroic themes from mythology and history
• Giacomo Puccini works


  • La Boheme
  • Tosca
  • Madame Butterfly
  • Turandot
• Richard Wagner


  • Born in Leipzig, Germany on May 22, 1813
  • Attended Leipzig University
  • Very much inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Introduced new ideas in harmony and in form, including extremes of chromaticism
  • Died of a heart attack on February 13,1883 at age of 69
• Music drama (Richard Wagner)


  • Where musical and dramatic elements were fused together
  • Developed a compositional style in which the orchestra has of equal importance in dramatic roles as the singers themselves
• Richard Wagner works


  • Tristan and Isolde
  • Die Walkyrie
  • Die Meistersinger
  • Tannhäuser
  • Parsifal
• Richard Wagner's work

  influenced modern film scores, including those of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings film series