BRIEF HISTORY OF WESTERN
OPERA
When refugee scholars from the Fall
of Constantinople (1453) flooded Italy and Europe, their knowledge
of the classics of Rome and Greece added to the development of
European musical traditions.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) reformed church music and composed
music in his native tongue for use in church services. He also
simplified the style so that average people could read and sing
in the congregation. Luther turned to the one-line melodies and
folk tunes of the troubadours and minstrels and adapted them to
religious texts. His reforms had great impact upon the music of
Europe. The common people began to read and sing music.
Into this world of renewed interest in learning and culture came
a group of men who formed a club, the Camerata, for the advancement
of music and Greek theater. Their goal was to try to recreate
Greek drama as they imagined it must have been presented. The
Camerata struggled to solve problems confronted by composers of
music and to synthesize advancements as they developed. They were
known for the development of the recitative, or sung speech. This
was an attempt to imitate the singing nature of the ancient Greek
Attic language. They also introduced the solo song, which became
the opera aria.
Greek mythology and tragedies provided the subject matter of
the first librettists. The spectacle of the setting in mythology
made singing seem the natural language of the characters.
The composers used instrumental accompaniment to help establish
harmony. This freed them to experiment with instrumental music
for preludes or overtures. Development of the recitative and the
instrumental bridge enabled them to connect the song, dance and
scene of the drama into the spectacle which was to become opera.
This connector-recitative also helped in developing the religious
drama, known as oratorio. One of the best examples is Handel's
Messiah.
Jacopo Peri (1561-1633) was a member of the Camerata and
is credited with writing the first opera, Dafne, based on the
Greek myth of Daphne. Peri used a sizable orchestra with his singers
in costume. This opera became famous across Europe.
Meanwhile, onto the operatic stage came Claudio Monteverdi.
He is considered the last great composer of madrigals and the
first great composer of Italian opera. His recitative was smooth-flowing.
He was the first composer to de-velop the orchestra's tone color
and the instrumental style. He developed two techniques to heighten
dramatic tension: pizzicato (plucking strings instead of bowing
them), and tremolo (rapid repetition of a single note in bowing).
Modern orchestration owes him as much gratitude as opera does.
In his operas, such as La favola d'Orfeo (1607), the music was
more than a vehicle for the words; it expressed and interpreted
the poetry of the libretto. His orchestral combinations for Orfeo
were considered to be the beginning of the golden age of Baroque
instrumental music.
His experimentation with instruments and his willingness to break
the rules of the past enabled him to breathe life into opera.
Monteverdi freed instruments to communicate a depth of emotion
which was not heard again for many years; he was far ahead of
his time. His orchestration was valued not only for the sounds
that the instruments created but also for the inherent emotional
effects they could convey. Through his accomplishments, the music
blended with the poetry of the libretto to create an emotional
spectacle. His audiences were moved to an understanding of the
possibilities of music's role in drama. Greek drama had become
melodious drama.
In response to the work of the Camerata, many of the early operas
were based on the Greek myths and legends. Opera soon began to
reflect the contemporary drama of the day. Many of Shakespeare's
plays were transformed into operas. Opera later played a role
in the development of the nation states of Europe. Nationalism
demanded that opera reflect the heritage and language of the nation
funding the production. Therefore, opera was written and produced
in the languages of such countries as Italy, Germany, France,
Russia, England, Czech ( once known as Bohemia), Slovakia, Poland,
Hungary, Spain, the United States, Argentina and Denmark.
RELEVANT LINKS:
http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/EastEurope/FallConstantin.htm
http://pweb.netcom.com/~supeters/luther.html
More about Martin Luther
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/spectop003.html
More about Jacapo Peri
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/monteverdi.html
More about Monteverdi
http://www.research.umbc.edu/~dkusic1/TimetableDecember321.htm#Early
Opera
http://www.music.indiana.edu/ddm/Baroque.html
http://www.jazzvocal.com/outline.html
http://plato.acadiau.ca/courses/musi/callon/2233/details.htm
http://www.ao.net/~jmo/john/music/ophistory.html
http://patriciagray.net/operahtmls/terms.html
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