MODULE 1

• Vocal music is one of the best tools for expressing one's feelings. This form of expression became more evident during the Romantic period.
• Composers interpret poems, mood, atmosphere and imagery into music. Musical compositions such as the art song was written for solo voice and piano.
• Art song


  Has its inspiration from poetry in this period. Mood is often set at the beginning with piano introduction and concluded with a piano postlude.
• Vocal music in the Romantic period

  • Requires singers to perform a greater range of tone color, dynamics, and pitch
• Opera


  Became an important source of musical expressions. The birth of the opera houses came, It was the place where all the arts converged: not only music, but poetry, painting, architecture, and the dance as well.
• Lieder


  The proper name for Franz Schubert songs. Schubert developed lieder so that they had a powerful dramatic impact on the listeners.
• Famous vocal music works/Lieder of Franz Schubert

  • Gretchen am Spinnrade
  • Erlkonig
  • Ellens Gesang III (Ave Maria)
  • Schwanenge sang (Swan Song)
• Giuseppe Verdi


  Produced many successful operas, including La Traviata, Falstaff and Aida, and became known for his skill in creating melody and his profound use of theatrical effect.
• Giacomo Puccini


  Drew material from everyday life, rejecting heroic themes from mythology and history. Famous operas were: La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, and Turandot.
• Opera


  A theatrical work consisting of dramatic text, or libretto(booklet), that has been set to music and staged with scenery, costumes, and movement.
• Components of an Opera

  • Libretto
  • Score
  • Recitative
  • Aria
  • Duet, trio, and other small ensemble
  • Chorus
  • Orchestra
  • Acts
  • Scene
• Aria


  An air or solo singing part sung by a principal character. This song is what the public will remember best when leaving the opera house.
• Male Voice Types

  • Tenor
  • Baritone
  • Bass
• Female Voice Types

  • Soprano
  • Coloratura
  • Lyric
  • Dramatic
  • Mezzo-Soprano
  • Contralto
• Composers like Verdi, Puccini , and Wagner saw the opportunity to explore ways to develop the vocal power of a singer.
• Musical terms used in Romantic vocal music

  • A Capella
  • Cantabili
  • Capo
  • Coda
  • Dolce
  • Falsetto
  • Glissando
  • Passagio
  • Rubato
  • Tessitura
  • Vibrato
• La Traviata


  Music by Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto in Italian by Francesco Maria Piave, based on "La Dame aux Camelias," played by Alexandre Dumas after his novel by the same name.
• Cantabili


  In a single style
• Capo


  Head, the beginning
• Coda


  Closing section appended to a movement or song
• Dolce


  Sweetly
• Falsetto


  A weaker and more airy voice usually in the higher pitch ranges
• Glissando


  Sliding quickly between 2 notes
• Passagio


  Parts of a singing voice where register transitions occur
• Rubato


  Slight speeding up or slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist
• Tessitura


  The most comfortable singing range of a singer
• Vibrato


  Rapidly repeated slight pitch vibration during a sustained note, to give a richer and more varied sound
• La Traviata


  Music by Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto in Italian by Francesco Maria Piave, based on "La Dame aux Camelias," played by Alexandre Dumas after his novel by the same name. The play is known in English as "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
• La Traviata

  1. ACT I: Violetta's Paris salon, luxuriously furnished

  2. ACT II: A Villa near Paris

  3. ACT III: Ballroom in Flora's mansion

  4. ACT IV: Violetta's bedroom
• At one of her brilliant supper parties, the beautiful but frail demi-mondaine (a woman supported by a wealthy lover-Merriam Webster Dictionary), Violetta Valery, meets the well-born Alfredo Germont. They immediately fell in love and she decided to abandon her life of pleasure.
• Alfredo's father did not approve of their lifestyle in the country and demanded that Violetta renounce Alfredo. Violetta, determined to make the sacrifice, then departs and leaves only a note for Alfredo.
• She appears at a ball in Flora's house on the arm of an old admirer, Baron Douphol, which makes Alfredo angry. Alfredo challenges Baron to play cards where Alfredo wins consistently. Unable to persuade Violetta to go with him, Alfredo insults her. Violetta becomes ill, and all her friends desert her, leaving her virtually penniless.
• Alfredo returns to Violetta. His father told him of the real story behind Violetta's departure from their country house, and urged him to seek her forgiveness. Overjoyed at the sight of him, Violetta attempts to rise but falls into Alfredo's arms. As Germont and the doctor enter, Violetta dies.
• Does the plot of the opera reflect the ideals of the Romantic period?

  Why?
• Do you think the opera " La Traviata" is an opera worth watching?

  Why?