MUSIC

• OPERA COMPOSERS OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD

  FRANZ PETER SCHUBERT

  GIUSEPPE VERDI

  GIACOMO PUCCINI

  RICHARD WAGNER

  GEORGES BIZET
• Lieder


  The German word for "songs"
• Schubert's famous vocal music works/lieder

  • Gretchen am Spinnrade
  • Erlkonig
  • Ellens Gesang III (Ave Maria)
  • Schwanenge Sang (Swan Song)
• Other works by Schubert

  • Piano pieces
  • String quartets
  • Operetta
  • Symphony no. 8 in B Minor (Unfinished Symphony)
• Giuseppe Verdi


  A name associated with Romantic Opera
• Verdi's operas


  • Ordinary people, found in German operas
  • He insisted on a good libretto
  • He wrote operas with political overtones
  • He wrote for a middle-class audience
• GIACOMO PUCCINI


  He was born in a poor family on December 22, 1858 in Lucca, Italy. He studied at the Milan Conservatory. He belonged to a group of composers who stressed realism, therefore, he drew material from everyday life, rejecting heroic themes from mythology and history. His famous operas were: ''La Boheme'', ''Tosca'', ''Madame Butterfly'', and ''Turandot''.
• Richard Wagner


  • Attended Leipzig University
  • Inspired by Ludwig Van Beethoven
  • Introduced new ideas in harmony and form, including extremes of chromaticism
  • Explored the limits of the traditional tonal system that gave keys and chords their own identities
  • Paved the way for the rise of atonality in the 20th century
  • Exerted a strong influence on the operatic medium
  • Advocate of a new form of opera called "music drama" 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
  • Used leitmotifs or musical sequences standing for a particular character/plot element
• Famous works by Richard Wagner


  • Tristan and Isolde
  • Die Walkyrie
  • Die meistersinger
  • Tannhauser
  • Parsifal
• Richard Wagner's work


  Influenced modern film scores, including those of Harry Potter and Lord of Rings film series
• Richard Wagner died of heart attack at age 69


  February 13, 1883
• Georges Bizet


  Registered name: Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet, baptized as Georges Bizet, always known by the latter name
• bizet - He entered the Paris Conservatory of music at a very young age
• When Carmen first opened in Paris


  The reviews were terrible, the shows were criticized in horrible ways that resulted in poor audience attendance
• Bizet died

  June 3, 1875
• Four months later

  Carmen opened in Vienna, Austria and was a smash hit
• Carmen is now one of the most popular operas ever written
• Bizet never knew that audiences would come to consider Carmen as his masterpiece
• ROMANTIC OPERA


  Composers interpret poems, mood, atmosphere, and imagery into music. Vocal music in this period require singers to perform a greater range of tone color, dynamics, and pitch. It was the place where all the arts converged; not only music, but poetry, painting, architecture, and the dance as well.
• ROMANTIC OPERA


  usually characterized by elaborate costumes, scenery, and choreography
• Libretto


  the text of an opera

  work closely together to tell the story
• SCORE


  * book that the composer and librettist put together

  * has all the musical notes, words, and ideas to help the performers tell the story

  *there are operas with overtures, preludes, prologues, several acts, finales, and postludes
• RECITATIVE


  *declamatory singing

  *used in the prose parts and dialogue of opera
• ARIA


  *air or solo singing part sung by a principle character
• FOR THE MALE VOICE

  1. TENOR
  2. BARITONE
  3. BASS
• TENOR


  highest male voice
• BARITONE


  middle male voice, lies between bass and tenor voices.

  the common male voice
• BASS


  lowest male voice
• FEMALE VOICE

  1. soprano
  2. coloratura
  3. lyric
  4. dramatic
  5. mezzo-soprano
  6. contralto
  7. duet, trio, and other small ensemble
  8. chorus
  9. orchestra
  10. acts
  11. scene
• coloratura


  highest soprano voice
• Soprano


  highest female 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 female
• acts


  main divisions of an opera
• scene


  setting or place
• MUSICAL TERMS

  1. a capella
  2. cantabile
  3. capo
  4. coda
  5. dolce
  6. falsetto
  7. glissando
  8. passagio
  9. rubato
  10. tessitura
  11. vibrato
• A CAPELLA


  one or more singers performing without instrumental accompaniment
• CANTABILE


  in singing style