An Outline of The History of Western Music Grout ... - The Reel Score

(2) in his Orfeo of 1647 the antique simplicity of the myth is almost buried under a
mass of incidents and characters, spectacular scenic effects, and comic
episodes
i) librettists of the 17th century typically allowed the comic, groteque, and
sensational to intrude into serious drama
ii) suggests that composers no longer put the integrity of the drama first
4. Venetian Opera
a) librettist & composer Benedietto Ferrari (ca. 1603-1681) and the composer
Francesco Manelli (after 1594-1667) inaugurated opera in Venice with production
of Andromeda in 1637 a the Teatro San Cassiano
(1) this theater admitted the paying public - a decisive step in the history of opera
(2) until then musical theater depended upon the wealthy or aristocratic patrons
b) Venice was an ideal place for opera to florish
(1) the venetian carnival brought together a diverse audience
(2) a reputation for freedom form religious and social restraint
(3) Rich merchants built and supported theaters
(4) anyone could rent a seat for a single performance - providing steady
financing and multiple performances of a work during the season
c) Monteverdi composed his last tow operas (Il ritorno d'Ulisse (1641) &
L'incoranazione di Poppea (1642) here
(1) despite the trend toward separating recitative & aria he continued to write in a
fluid mixture of speechlike recitative and more lyrical and formal monody
(2) content more than poetic form and heightened emotional expression rather
than charm a dazzle determined the shifts from recitative to aria and back
d) Pier Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676)
(1) a pupil of Montverdi
(2) wrote 41 operas to meet the demand
e) Antonio Cesti (1623-1669)
(1) excelled in lyrical arias & duets
(2) Il pomo d'oro (1667) is his most famous
5. Features established with Italian Opera by the middle 17th century - maintained for
the next two hundred years essentially unchanged
a) concentration on solo singing - to the detriment of ensembles & instrumental music
b) the separation of recitative and aria - i.e. rise of smooth, mainly diatonic lines and
easy rhythm gratifying to singer known as "bel canto"
c) introduction of distinctive styles and patterns for the arias
d) Florentines had considered music an accessory to poetry, the Venetians treated
the libretto as hardly more than a scaffolding for the musical structure
E. Vocal Chamber Music
1. Except in Venice, opera as an extra ordinary event - the bulk of secular music
produced in Italy for both amateur and professional performance was vocal chamber
music
2. Strophic Method
a) strophic aria not offered the best framework for setting poems without interfering
with their continuity