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Words and Music in Nineteenth-Century Italian OperaAuthor(s):
Luigi DallapiccolaSource: Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 5, No. 1
(Autumn - Winter, 1966), pp. 121-133Published by: Perspectives of
New MusicStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832391 .Accessed:
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/(6-L(0
WORDS AND MUSIC IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY ITALIAN OPERA
LUIGI DALLAPICCOLA
ABOUT THIRTY years ago, when I was asked by Edward J. Dent
whether I knew any Italian treatise describing the principles of
the compo- sition of arias in Italian opera, I had to answer in the
negative. Now, however, I believe that there existed at least a
tradition for composing arias, one perpetuated orally and by
example.
I should like to consider here what the poetic quatrain offered
to the composer of the Italian melodrama as a basis for the
construction of operatic forms, with specific reference to arias,
ariosi, and cavatinas.
In La Traviata, in the scene where Alfredo reveals his rage at
his sup- posed betrayal by Violetta, these lines occur:
Ogni suo aver tal femmina Per amor mio sperdea: Io cieco, vile,
misero, Tutto accettar potea.
The range of the voice in the first line is a major sixth and in
the second a major seventh. In the music, no significant metrical
differences between the two lines are evident; in the second,
however, the melody has a slight tendency to move upwards. It is in
the third line that the tragedy is most clearly implied, and an
emotional crescendo is brought about here by a discontinuous and
agitated declamation that is matched by an appropriate
accompaniment. The fourth line is accompanied by a decrease in
excite- ment (one entirely independent of the actual musical
dynamics). (See Ex. 1)
At this point it might be interesting to see how Verdi solved
his compo- sitional problem when the librettist expanded a quatrain
by two lines. This happens, for example, in the Quartet in
Rigoletto. The Duke starts:
Bella figlia dell'amore, Schiavo son de' vezzi tuoi, Con un
detto sol tu puoi Le mie pene consolar.
* 121.
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PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC
The music of this quatrain is almost precisely in accordance
with the formal scheme described above: there is no melodic
difference between the first and second lines, in both of which the
melodic range is a major sixth; a climax is reached in the third
line, where the voice spans an octave, and a diminuendo follows in
the fourth line.
La Traviata (Finale secondo) Allegro sostenuto
Alfredo - -,[r? -.I40. 1.
0 - gni suo aver tal fern - - - mi-na
per a - mor mio sper - de - - - a: Io cie-co, vi-le,
mi - - - se-ro, tut - - to ac-cet-tr po-te - -
7x Ex. 1
Verdi also sets the two lines that the librettist has added:
Vieni e senti del mio core II frequente palpitar,
but for the sake of the musical structure he makes his own
emendation by repeating the third and fourth lines of the stanza,
so that the original six lines have grown to eight. And although
Verdi holds to the traditional scheme in the initial quatrain, he
now feels compelled, with eight lines at his disposal, to regard
lines five and six as the climax of the two quatrains,
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COLLOQUY AND REVIEW
or, in other words, to treat the entire passage as a quatrain of
two-line pairs. Indeed, while the voice in the crescendo of the
first quatrain reaches the high Ab, it goes to high Bb in the
over-all climax, and the diminuendo is accomplished with the
repetition of the third and fourth lines from the original
quatrain.
S a, . I Lb-A
Al Bel-la fi-gliadel-l'a - mo - - re schia-vo son de've-zi tuo -
-
co- i Bonun detto;un det-to sol tu puo - - i le mie pe-ne, le
mie pe-ne con-so-
- lar. CVieni e sen ti delmio co - re il fre-quen -te pal-
pi-
4P J^ -1 r IN, -rYI it - tar o- - - I on un detto,un.det-to
sol tu puo - - - i le mie D
pe-ne, le mie pe-ne con-so - lar.
Ex. 2
In Leonora's cavatina in Act I of II Trovatore, the text
consists of two ten-line stanzas. There is a structural innovation
here: lines five and six form a kind of insertion. The big
emotional crescendo occurs in the pe- nultimate line, and the
diminuendo in the last.
i " ' Y F r i ! quando so-nar per l'a - e-re in - fi-no al-lor
si mu
- - to,
? =,. I , I F --.a -- -
i- 48,
Ex. 3
The same ten-line construction, including the inserted fifth and
sixth lines, is to be found in the aria "D'amor sull'ali rosee," in
the last act of the same opera.
123
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PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC I should like to reemphasize that the
emotional crescendo is normally
found in the third line (in a four-line stanza) or in the third
pair of lines (in an eight-line stanza). It is almost too well
known that the reason for many changes in the original text of
Italian operas lies in the vanity of singers. Even though I am, in
principle, against modifications, I wish to underline a case where
the modification is quite preferable to the original text.
In Manrico's aria "Ah si, ben mio, coll'essere" (II Trovatore:
third act), the last quatrain is repeated two times; in the printed
score there is only one change: in section A. Although the first
time the highest note is Db, the second time the climax is reached
at Eb. And because of that there is no doubt that Bb (instead of
Ab) in section C is perfectly, indeed, in- finitely more beautiful
than in the original version. Unfortunately I was not able to learn
when this modification became a part of performance practice. It is
certain, in any case, that it underlines once again the im-
portance of the third section, the real keystone in the
construction of the aria in Italian opera. The performer, on his
part, cannot establish the prin- cipal tempo of the aria without
taking this third section into account (Ex. 4).
The emotional crescendo is created through rhythmic animation,
through harmonic surprise, or through the upward movement of the
vocal line. Frequently, of course, the final result is achieved
through the col- laboration of two or three such elements; only
rarely does a fourth, such as a striking instrumental idea, take
part. I shall return to this point later, with reference to a
passage in Otello.
Especially interesting treatment of the climax is found in "0
qual soave brivido" in Un Ballo in Maschera: the beginning of the
third pair of lines is underlined by a fermata. In this case there
is also a coda, but one which, based entirely on word repetition,
is completely independent of the poetic- musical form of the
quatrain.
Although the quotations so far have been from operas by Verdi,
the formal scheme I have described is to be found also in Rossini,
Donizetti, and Bellini. In Mathilde's aria ("Selva opaca") in the
second act of William Tell, for example, the climax is effected by
harmonic means. And the classic example of Italian melody, "Casta
Diva" from Bellini's Norma, completely confirms the same principle.
Here, with regard to duration, the first line contains sixteen
times the unit of three eighth-notes, and the second fifteen
(including the rests, of course). The third line contains no less
than twenty-two times the same unit--and the concluding line,
"senza nubi, senza vel," only four!
Nor does Verdi abandon this traditional scheme in the works of
his last period. In evidence I adduce a single example from the
first act of Otello. The climax of the so-called "tempest scene"
(where chorus and orchestra are marked ff, tutta forza) sets the
following lines:
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C-r
CR.
Manrico _ _ - dim. dolce
Ia IVOF M wig II) i l . i1
Fra que - glie-stre-mlv-
ne - ii- ti a tej pen-sier ver - ra, ver-ra, e so - lojn cel pre
- ce--der -ti la mor-tea me par - r,
A B C D
Execution : .6
o - loJn ciel pre-I I i --- I dim.
Fra qL-e- t ev
Fta que -glive-stre-miva-
ne - li-ti a te.Jl pen-ster ve - rl, ver-rl, e so -
lo. ctel pre - ce-der -ti la mor-to me par
- ABI
Ex. 4
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PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC
Dio, fulgor della bufera! Dio, sorriso della duna, Salva l'arca
e la bandiera della veneta fortuna! Tu, che reggi gli astri e il
Fato! Tu che imperi al mondo e al ciel, Fa che in fondo al mar
placato posi l'ancora fedel.
Here we find a greater formal variety than in the previously
quoted ex- amples. Nevertheless, one can still recognize the
emotional crescendo in the third of the quoted lines ("Tu, che
reggi," etc.). It is produced after an initial mf, by harmonic
means and by two unexpected cymbal crashes on weak beats, marked
soli (i.e., "with solistic function"; see p. 26 of the full
score).
Further evidence of Verdi's intentions can sometimes be gathered
by a comparison of initial sketches with final versions. The first
rough version of "La donna e mobile" is such a sketch, obviously
written in haste. In the final version (known to us from a complete
manuscript), the music for the first and second lines corresponds
with that of the first scribbled notation. The music for the third
line, however, is completely different in the two cases; in the
early version it deviates from the formal scheme. It lacks all
rhythmic excitement, there are no possibilities of harmonic sur-
prise, and its vocal line, instead of pushing upward, descends.
8F a) b) C)
I I ' c Ex. 5
Regardless of whether there existed a literary tradition that,
consciously or unconsciously, determined the aria-form in Italian
melodrama, there are certainly an immense number of closed
quatrains in poetry (i.e., quatrains ending with a full stop) -an
immense number of rhymed quatrains in Italian and French, from
Dante to Baudelaire-in which the second line merely continues the
first, increasing the emotional level but little. The climax
appears in the third line; and in the last, the conclusion brings
diminishing intensity.
This analogy certainly deserves consideration. From numerous
examples I shall choose only a few. From Dante:
Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare La donna mia quand'ella altrui
saluta, Che ogne lingua deven tremando muta, E gli occhi non
Pardiscon di guardare.
In the following example, from Petrarca, notice the last word in
the third line: salita (participle of the verb salire-to ascend, to
rise) a verb denoting ascent.
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COLLOQUY AND REVIEW
La bella donna che cotanto amavi Subitamente s'6 da noi partita,
E, per quel ch'io ne speri, al ciel salita; Si furon gli atti suoi
dolci e soavi.
From Victor Hugo: Ruth songeait et Booz dormait: l'herbe etait
noire; Les grelots des troupeaux palpitaient vaguement; Une immense
bonte tombait du firmament; C'etait l'heure tranquille oh les lions
vont boire.
Here, the descent implied by the verb tomber (to fall down) is
canceled by the adjective immense and by the noun firmament.
Finally, in Baudelaire:
C'est la mort qui console, helas!, et qui fait vivre; C'est le
but de la vie et c'est le seul espoir Qui, comme un elixir, nous
monte et nous enivre, Et nous donne le coeur de marcher jusqu'au
soir.
Notice in the third line two verbs suggesting ascent: monter (to
climb, to rise) and enivrer (to enrapture) -not to speak of the
noun elixir.
On the other hand, could not the melodrama-the best kind of
popular theatre-have developed, gradually and unknown to its
creators, from a primitive art form of similar type? The section of
the thirteenth-century mystery play, The Play of Daniel, in which
the hero explains to the King the significance of Mane, Thechel,
Phares, cannot fail to strike the hearer by its structural
resemblance to an aria in a melodrama.
Daniele I.E
O p=T= Ip,
, ad
Et MA -NE di - cit Do - mi -nus, Est tu - i re - gni ter - mi -
nus. E - A B
A' . 1 i/ I I- -CKEL li- bran si - - gni - fi - cat Quae te
mi-no- rem in - di -cat. PHA -
C
I I I (segue) - REs. nec est di - - vi - si - o, Re - gnum
trans-por - tat a - - . (segue)
iQui sic sol-vit la --ten-ti - a Or --ne - tur ve-ste re- gi -
a. D
Ex. 6
Now, it is by no means the case that the principle of the
emotional climax as the penultimate section of a musical quatrain
belongs exclusively
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PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC to the aria in Italian opera. The same
principle is at work in other music as well, although it functions
in a different way. The first name that comes to mind is that
of
Schubert--especially Schubert in his more popular vein,
rather than the composer of Nacht und Triiume, which is
constructed quite differently. (I might note here that Alban Berg
emphasized the "instru- mental" character of the voice in
Schubert's Lieder.) Beethoven also should be mentioned in this
connection. One of the most thoroughgoing examples of his use of
these principles is the theme of the rondo in the Sonata Op. 90.
Indeed, according to Schindler, Beethoven called this rondo "Con-
versations with the Beloved." It is a dramatic scene, then, without
a stage.
Busoni relates that an intelligent music critic, just as an
experiment, conceived the idea of adding words to the first violin
part of a Mozart string quartet, and that he gave the part to a
soprano to sing. Busoni tells us that, upon going into the room
where the experiment was taking place, he had the clear impression
"of being in the middle of a performance of a Mozart opera."
What is the origin, then, of the characteristics we have noted
as pe- culiar to the Italian melodrama? They stem, it seems to me,
from the fact that the Italian opera composers of the nineteenth
century disregarded all tradition relating to purely instrumental
music. They seem to have conceived the emotional crescendo in the
third section of the musical quatrain almost as the result of
theatrical necessities-as a theatrical gesture.
In evidence I adduce two examples that are almost identical in
melody, yet totally different in effect: on the one hand, a passage
from Mozart's Violin Concerto in A major; on the other, a passage
from Lucia di Lam- mermoor. In the first case, the third and fourth
sections develop according to the logic and rules of purely
instrumental style; in the second, the de- velopment of these
sections obeys the demands of the stage. (See Ex. 7.)
So far, I have restricted my discussion to the structure of the
aria in the melodrama as a musical quatrain, and to the analogy
between quatrains in music and poetry. Now I should like to broaden
my field and explain how Verdi applied the same principle of
organization to a large form, such as the trio in Act II of Un
Ballo in Maschera.
Let us first look at the libretto. Each singer presents a stanza
of eight lines (or rather of four couplets). In both the original
and the modern editions of the libretto, which doubtless follow the
original manuscript, the characters appear in the following order:
Amelia, soprano; Riccardo, tenor; Renato, baritone. It is rather
startling to note that Verdi, in setting this trio to music,
changed the succession of male voices as fixed by the libret- tist:
he transferred the entrance of the baritone from third to second
place, and that of the tenor from second to third. This observation
should help us to realize the extraordinary clarity of purpose with
which Verdi set to work: Riccardo, the tenor, is now entrusted with
the climax of the trio, while to the three stanzas of the
librettist are added a fourth and a fifth-as
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COLLOQUY AND REVIEW Mozart A u
-.4.a Ml,,, =
#*ILMN FF i 1 F IIBI A A j I I \ r - Co-me ro- - sa i na -ri -
di - - -ta, Es sa
A tI sta fra mor tee vi - - - ta, Io son
{Ii7rI DH! -
vin .
to son corn - mos - - - so, ta moin-
1 1 F2 gra --ta, t'a - mo, ta-mom -grata, t'a moan - or -gra - -
ta, t'a - mo, t'a- mo in - gra- ta, t'a - - - mo an - cort.
Ex. 7
a musical reprise and coda, respectively. In the reprise each
singer partici- pates in such a way as to repeat the words assigned
him before: the soprano and the baritone repeat all of the words;
the tenor, only a few. Verdi, with his exceptionally acute feeling
for stage effect, could not fail to see that the feeling of guilt
(almost a guilt complex!) expressed by the tenor here represented
the true climax of the piece.
This trio has been called "beautiful" and "magnificent." Many
people are satisfied with such characterizations. The trio will
remain "beautiful" and "magnificent" even after my attempt at
structural analysis, for analysis can take nothing away from the
esthetically perfect nor, on the other hand, can it contribute
anything to the esthetically imperfect. Viewing such an achievement
as this trio-listening to it, more than a hundred years after its
appearance, with modern ears (the only ones I consider valid), and
reading it with modern eyes (again the only valid ones) -we shall
become aware of various points heretofore overlooked. Consequently,
I will not hesitate to speak of macrostructure and microstructure,
although such terms have originated only in recent years and have
been employed chiefly
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PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC
in the analysis of contemporary music. I should like to remind
you of a famous phrase of the doctor angelicus, St. Thomas Aquinas,
on the ele- ments of beauty: "Ad pulchritudinem tria requiruntur:
integritas, conso- nantia, claritas." Thus: integrity, or unity of
the whole design; consonance, or equilibrium of the parts; clarity,
or expression of significant content.
Let us now proceed to the examination of the macrostructures of
the design. (See the chart on the following page.) In the first
stanza, each of the microstructures a, b, c, d, corresponds to four
measures of music; the fifth corresponds to the eight measures of
the codetta. (A codetta of the same length will be found at the end
of the second and fourth musical stanzas. One should not forget, in
this connection, that, like the reprise mentioned above, the
codettas and the coda are not derived from the libretto. They are
of purely musical significance--the singers only repeat words
previously sung.)
Amelia: Odi tu come fremono cupi Per quest'aura gli accenti di
morte?
The voice range is D-A (with Bb di volta). The same pattern
appears in the second microstructure:
Di lassil, da quei negri dirupi Il segnal de' nemici parti.
Here the melodic line begins to swing upward: in place of the
fifth D-A, we have the fifth F-C. The third microstructure:
Ne' lor petti scintillano d'ira E gia piomban t'accerchiano
fitti
represents, as always, the apex of the first stanza. Three
elements con- tribute to this effect: the extension of the vocal
range to the high F; a dynamic crescendo followed by a decrescendo;
and, as if this were not enough, surprising accents on weak beats
in two horns, violas, and cellos. Microstructure d:
Al tuo capo gia volser la mira, Per pieta, va, t'invola di
qui
represents the conclusion of the quatrain-couplet and, compared
with the previous section, an emotional diminuendo. Amelia's high A
should not deceive us: it is basically a resolution which does not
weaken in the least the effect of the high F, the vocal climax of
microstructure c. One might even consider this high A as completely
independent of the three subse- quent A's that are repeated almost
like cries of anguish (in the codetta). (The vocal score, even in
the first edition, which must be assumed to be based on the
original manuscript, shows no accent on the first A. But the three
subsequent A's and their parallels in the following stanzas are
given accents.)
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c*o
A Climax of the piece Son colui che nel cor lo fere. d)
Innocente, sfidati li avrei:
Or d'amore colpdvole fuggo.
Ah, I'amico tradito ho pur io... c)easu 561)
Che minacciano il vivere mio? b)
In
- no - cen - te sf -
Traditor, congiurati son essi La pieta)
del Signore su lei (N.B. In the orchestra score it Posa ialetde,
protegga su
le reads sciagurati, not congiuratil) d,
b)/ D Reprise
d) a) Va, ti salva, del popolo b vita d) Questa vita che getti
cosi C) C
c) Soprano, Tenor and Baritone a 3.. (Baritone solo) Codetta
Codetta
Climax of A and B ) Va, i salva, o che varco all'uscia b)
Soprano and Baritone a 2.
(Baritone and Soprano a 2) Qui tra poco serrarsi vedra.. a)
a)
b)Allo scambio del detti esecrati Ogni destra la daga brandA
a) Fuggi, fuggi, per l'orrida via c) d) Sento l'orma dei passi
spietati: Co da
d) Al tuo capo gi .volser la mira.,. b)
Per piett, va, t'invola di qui. Codetta Climax of the first
stanza. The a) voice arrives at the high F:" dy- namic crescendo
followedbya de- crescendo: accents on the weak beat assigned
totwolHorns, to the Violas, and to the Violoncellos.
) Nei lor petti scintillano d'ira, E giA piomban, t'accerchiano
fitti...
Di lassi, da quel negri dirupi
-
b) I1 segnal dei nemici partI.
) Odi tu come fremono cupi Per quest'aura gli accenti di
morte?
Chart 1
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PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC The second stanza is given to Renato,
the baritone. It is, in form,
identical to the first: the variant in the two final lines can
only be ascribed to the necessity of arriving at the dominant at
the end of the stanza. Nevertheless, in spite of this similarity,
it should be noticed that the soprano adds her own part, an octave
above the baritone, in the fifth and sixth lines, i.e., in
microstructure c. The resultant musical differentiation is
sufficient to yield a higher degree of intensity-as it were, a
double emotional crescendo. (The soprano again joins the baritone
in order to give greater force and luster to the words "Va, va, va"
of the codetta.)
The third stanza brings us to the climax of the entire trio:
Traditor, congiurati son essi Che minacciano il vivere mio? Ah,
l'amico ho tradito pur io.... Son colui che nel cuor lo feri.
Each of the microstructures a, b, c, d, corresponds here to two
measures. In contrast to the previous stanzas, where each pair of
lines is linked through the musical setting, here each individual
line is marked off by an eighth-rest. Here, then, is one element
that contributes toward the triple emotional crescendo within this
section. Two more will be added. Since the first three lines are
based on A, C, and E, respectively, while the fourth begins on F,
the necessary upward swing is strictly observed. Furthermore, the
conclusions of the first three are emphasized through highly
expressive insertions ("Ah, fuggi-Ti salva-Va, fuggi") derived from
the end of the climax (microstructure c) of the first stanza.
Now, without even a rest, the tenor continues with lines five
and six, which constitute the climax of the third stanza and also
of the entire trio. After reaching the high A on the first syllable
(In-nocente), the vocal line gradually descends. This also marks
the beginning of the emotional diminuendo, both of the
macrostructure and of the microstructures. (It is the only passage
in the piece that Verdi has marked poco allargando, col canto.)
Let me now count the measures of the stanzas, in order to
clarify their proportional relations. The first comprises 24
measures; the second, 24; the third, for dramatic reasons the
briefest, 16 (there is no codetta); the fourth, 24; and the coda,
23. On the last chord of the coda there is a fermata; and, as we
know, in Verdi's time it was customary to double the note values to
which this sign applied. Thus we can properly assign 24 measures to
the coda as well. All told, then, there are 112 measures. The
tenor's line "Innocente, sfidati li avrei," the climax of the third
stanza and of the whole piece, begins exactly with m. 56 and thus
stands in the center of the entire trio. To me this seems
extraordinary, the more so since Verdi could hardly have planned
such a miracle of proportions; he must have conceived and carried
it out intuitively.
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COLLOQUY AND REVIEW We are now approaching the conclusion of the
trio. The fourth stanza
is musically identical with the first. But the first eight
measures of this reprise (corresponding to the first four lines of
the stanza) are set for two voices (soprano and baritone) rather
than for a single voice as before; and in lines five and six
(climax: microstructure c) the tenor also enters. Thus three voices
appear in the fourth stanza, corresponding to the two voices in the
parallel passage in the second.
The concluding section of the piece consists of the 23 (+ 1)
measures of the coda-that is, of the sum of the measures of the
three codettas of the first, second, and fourth stanzas. This coda
is a mere conclusion, and, in character, rather ordinary. The word
ordinary is not meant in a deroga- tory sense: I am simply trying
to explain a dialectic and stylistic procedure characterizing a
whole period. To deny this would be just as foolish as to call the
29 measures of C major at the end of Beethoven's Fifth Sym- phony
"too long," or the ottava rima of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso
"monoto- nous," or the proportions of the Wagnerian opera
"exaggerated."
Listen now, if you can, to the entire scene of which this trio
is the culmination. Un Ballo in Maschera is the last opera that
Verdi called a melodramma. In this scene one can find, in condensed
form, many of the conventional elements of the form. But the
composer's genius, the "genius of the dramatic accent," according
to Busoni's beautiful characterization, has surmounted the
incredible situation, the absurd language, the lame syntax, the
pathos of the formalistic style of the Italian melodrama.
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