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Music

The document provides information on several famous composers from the Classical and Romantic periods, including Franz Schubert, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Richard Wagner, and Georges Bizet. It discusses their most famous works, musical innovations, and impact on the development of opera. Examples of famous operas from the Romantic period are also summarized, including Verdi's La Traviata and Puccini's Madame Butterfly.

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280 views2 pages

Music

The document provides information on several famous composers from the Classical and Romantic periods, including Franz Schubert, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Richard Wagner, and Georges Bizet. It discusses their most famous works, musical innovations, and impact on the development of opera. Examples of famous operas from the Romantic period are also summarized, including Verdi's La Traviata and Puccini's Madame Butterfly.

Uploaded by

Alexandra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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MUSIC

Franz Peter Schubert (January 31 1797 Himmelpfortgrund, Austria 1828 Vienna)

Lieder- proper name for Franz Schubert songs, which is the


German word for songs.
-developed lieder so that they had a powerful dramatic
impact on the listeners.
He is considered the last of the Classical composers and one of
the first romantic ones.
Famous vocal music works/ Lieder were: Gretchen am
Spinnrade, Erlkonig, Ellens Gesang III (Ave Maria) and
Schwanenge sang (Swan Song). He also wrote piano pieces,
string quartets, operetta and the Symphony No.8 in B minor
(Unfinished Symphony)

Giuseppe Verdi (October 9, 1813 Parma, Italy - January 27, 1901 Milan,
Italy)

His characters are ordinary people and not those of the royal
family like those found in German operas.
He insisted on a good libretto and wrote operas with political
overtones and for middle-class audience.
His first opera Oberto was performed in La Scala, the most
important opera house at the time.
Almost all of his works are serious love story with unhappy
ending.
Expressive vocal melody is the soul of a Verdi opera.
He completed 25 operas throughout his career.
His final opera ends with All the worlds a joke.
Famous Works: La Traviata, Rigoletto, Falstaff, Otello and
Aida were he wrote for the opening of the Suez Canal.

Giacomo Puccini (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.
Famous operas: La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly,
and Turandot.

Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 Leipzig, Germany February 13, 1883)

He was very much inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Introduced new ideas in harmony and in form, including


extremes of chromaticism.
He also explored the limits of the traditional tonal system that
gave keys and chords its own identity which paved the way for
the rise of atonality in the 20th century.
Wagner exerted a strong influence on the operatic medium.
He was an advocate of a new form of opera which he called
music drama where musical and dramatic elements were
fused together.
He developed a compositional style in which the orchestra
has of equal importance in dramatic roles as the singers
themselves.
The expressiveness is aided by the use of leitmotifs or
musical
sequences
standing
for
a
particular
character/plot element.
His work later influenced modern film scores, including
those of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings film series.

Famous works: Tristan and Isolde,


Meistersinger, Tannhuser, and Parsifal.

Die

Walkyrie,

Die

Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838 Paris, France - June 3, 1875)

He entered the Paris Conservatory of music at a very young


age.
His most famous opera is Carmen. However, when
Carmen first opened in Paris, the reviews were terrible.
During the first round of Carmen performances, Bizet died
where he was only 36. Four months later, Carmen opened
in Vienna, Austria, and was a smash hit. It is now one of the
most popular operas ever written.

Opera became increasingly popular during the Romantic period.


The opera is usually characterized by elaborate costumes, scenery
and choreography.
Components of an Opera:

Libretto - text of an opera. Librettist and the composer work


closely together to tell the story.
Score - the book that the composer and librettist put together.
The score 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.

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.
Duet, trio, and other small ensemble
Chorus
Orchestra
Acts-main divisions of an opera
Scene- setting or place

Types of voices of singers:


For the Male Voice:
1. Tenor- highest male voice
2. Baritone- Middle male voice, lies between Bass and Tenor voices. It
is the common male voice.

Examples of the story of 2 famous operas of the Romantic


Period:
LA TRAVIATA

3. Bass- lowest male voice


For the Female Voice:
1. Soprano- highest female voice
Coloratura-highest soprano voice
Lyric-bright and full sound
Dramatic- darker full sound
2. Mezzo-Soprano- most common female voice; strong middle
voice, tone is darker or deeper than the soprano
3. Contralto- lowest female voice and most unique among female
Musical terms used:

A Capella - one or more singers performing without


instrumental accompaniment.
Cantabile - In a singing 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 variation during a
sustained note, to give a richer & more varied sound.

Music by Giuseppe Verdi


Libretto in Italian by Francesco Maria Piave, based on La
Dame aux Camlias, play 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
ACT I: Violettas Paris salon, luxuriously furnished
ACT II: A villa near Paris
ACT III: Ballroom in Floras mansion
ACT IV: Violettas bedroom

Madame Butterfly
Music by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Ilica. From the
short story by John Luther Lung, derived from Pierre Lotis
tale Madame Chrysantheme.
Romantic tragedy. Set numbers; recitative. Setting: Nagasaki,
Japan, at the beginning of the 20th century. Two acts; Act 2
with two parts

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