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Exam next Tuesday 4/8

Exam next Tuesday 4/8. Review Questions. What type of piece is Brahms’s German Requiem? What does Requiem mean? What type of music is Verdi known for? What are some characteristics of his operas?. Verdi’s Operas.

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Exam next Tuesday 4/8

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  1. Exam next Tuesday 4/8

  2. Review Questions • What type of piece is Brahms’s German Requiem? • What does Requiem mean? • What type of music is Verdi known for? • What are some characteristics of his operas?

  3. Verdi’s Operas • Verdi’s music is divided into “numbers” (arias, recit, choruses), yet fluid drama • Followed conventions for arias-recitatives-ensembles • Great emphasis of the singer: parts were written with specific singers in mind

  4. Verdi’s Rigoletto • Listening guide 51 • Story… • Based on Victor Hugo play, The King is Amused • Rigoletto is a court jester, enemies place a curse on him

  5. Verdi’s Rigoletto • Gilda is his daughter • Duke is a nasty seducer of women an he’s after Gilda • Gilda gets abducted by Rigoletto’s enemies • Sparafucile is an assassin slated to kill the Duke

  6. Verdi’s Rigoletto • Gilda and Rigoletto watch as the Duke seduces Sparafucile’s sister • Gilda offers herself to be killed in place of the Duke • Rigoletto gets a body bag; thinks the dke is inside, but it’s really Gilda • Curse is fulfilled

  7. Verdi’s Rigoletto • Act 3 excerpts... • Duke-sings a famous tuneful STROPHIC song: Woman is fickle--ha ha • Song captures the Duke’s character perfectly

  8. Verdi’s Rigoletto • Ensemble… • classic ensemble technique: each character responds differently to situation; all sing together, but in different styles (like Mozart’s Figaro

  9. Verdi’s Rigoletto • Listen for differences in style: Maddalena and the Duke are passionate, singing in long lyrical lines.. • While Gilda is angry: her singing is short and punctuated

  10. Richard Wagner • (1813-1883) • Huge innovator in German opera

  11. Wagner: Philosophical Stuff • Believed that traditional opera was artificial because • Divided into numbers (like Verdi) • Ensembles where everyone sang different things at once • Solution: “endless melody” or continours music-no separation inteo recitative and aria

  12. Wagner: Philosophical Stuff • Believed in unity of the arts, called it collective artwork (Gesamtkunstwerk) • Poetry, state sets, the architecture of the theater, all were just as important as music • Believed opera should be more natural, like spoken drama .., • So he called his operas “music dramas.”

  13. Wagner: misc. interesting things • Pontificated on many issues, obnoxious antisemitism • Participated in a political uprising, had to go into exile. • Built his own theater at Bayreuth • Second wife was the daughter of Franz Liszt, his close friend (and the wife of another friend).

  14. Wagner’s Music dramas • On mythological or historical topics • Orchestra very important, often having the more lyrical melody. • Vocal parts less tuneful and memorable

  15. The Ring Cycle • 4 operas (Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, Gotterdamerung) • Written over a period of c. 40 years • Takes 16 hours to perform • Complicated story based on Norse mythology • Lust for power, incest, adultery, heroism

  16. Wagner’s Ring Cycle • Uses LEITMOTIFS: a specific musical theme that represents a character, event. object or concept. • Wagner didn’t invent the idea, but took it to a whole new level of complexity- • some listeners have found 200 leitmotifs in the Ring Cycle!! • Star Wars illustrates the leitmotif concept well

  17. Die Walküre • Second opera in the Ring • A very simplified summary: • Gold in the Rhine river guarded by maidens • Who ever can steal it and make a ring from it will have power, but must renounce love • The dwarf Alberich does this

  18. Die Walküre • The gods steal it from him • This begins a series of events that end with the downfall of the gods (16 hours later) • Wotan is the head of the gods • Brünnhilde is his daughter • Siegmund and Sieglinde are his twin son and daughter, who have fallen in love with each other

  19. Die Walküre • Wotan must punish them because Sieglinde has cheated on her husband • Tells Brünnhilde she must let Siegmund get killed in a fight with Hunding, Sieglinde’s husband • But Brunnhilde disobeys him, therefore...

  20. Die Walküre • He puts her to “sleep” surrounded by fire • But allows her to be woken by a hero • In the next opera, this hero will be Siegfried, the son of S and S, Brunnhilde’s half-nephew. He is a great hero, and her lover

  21. Leifmotifs in Die Walküre • In this excerpt you will hear the following leitmotifs: • Sleep • Wotan’s spear (which represents his authority.) • Loge, the god of fire • Siefried, the hero who will wake up Brunnhilde

  22. French opera: Carmen • By Georges Bizet (1838-75) • Example of opéra comique (not sung all the way through used spoken dialogue) • Later the spoken parts were replaced with recitative • An example of EXOTICISM-dealing with far away people and places in a romanticized way

  23. Carmen • Considered very scandalous in its time • Carmen is a gypsy (the “bad girl” character type) • Don José is a soldier who loves her • But he is engaged to Michaela (the “good girl” character type) • When Carmen takes up with another man, D.J., kills her

  24. Musical Exoticism • Bizet uses a Habanera, a Cuban dance, to depict Carmen’s “otherness”

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