With new methods of composition came new ways of conveying emotions in dramatic settings. Musical rhetoric can be identified in terms of articulation of form, text declamation, and text painting by studying the scores of Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Lully’s Armide.
Orfeo contains several examples of musical rhetoric in its various forms. For example, m. 12 displays form articulation with a shift in instrumentation to theorbo. The basso continuo section that follows is an example of simple recitative. This change in texture communicates to the audience that the singer is about to perform, with the lighter texture of a theorbo to convey a sense of joy. Just a few measures later, m. 17 includes an instance of text painting, where the word “acerbo,” translated “bitter fortune,” is set to a chromatic movement from G# to A. The effect is audible pain in the Messenger’s melody, which further helps to communicate the meaning of the text to the audience. In mm. 15 and 21, text declamation is demonstrated when Monteverdi …show more content…
One instance can be observed at m. 54, which uses text painting for at the text “ravir le jour” with a rising line that arrives at a climactic G natural. This could be portraying any number of actions, but one interpretation could be a depiction of the sun rising. In m. 63, “Hé,” which is translated “yes,” uses a sustained pitch for effect, and also serving as an example of text declamation. This causes the word to be emphasized for dramatic purposes. Another example of text painting is found at mm. 107 and 110, where the text “volex,” meaning “fly,” uses large intervals that resemble a bird flapping its wings. An example of form articulation is heard at m. 20 where a shift in the orchestral texture to long sustained pitches occurs in the recitative. This places the focus on the vocalist and the dramatic action, and is an example of form
Orfeo contains several examples of musical rhetoric in its various forms. For example, m. 12 displays form articulation with a shift in instrumentation to theorbo. The basso continuo section that follows is an example of simple recitative. This change in texture communicates to the audience that the singer is about to perform, with the lighter texture of a theorbo to convey a sense of joy. Just a few measures later, m. 17 includes an instance of text painting, where the word “acerbo,” translated “bitter fortune,” is set to a chromatic movement from G# to A. The effect is audible pain in the Messenger’s melody, which further helps to communicate the meaning of the text to the audience. In mm. 15 and 21, text declamation is demonstrated when Monteverdi …show more content…
One instance can be observed at m. 54, which uses text painting for at the text “ravir le jour” with a rising line that arrives at a climactic G natural. This could be portraying any number of actions, but one interpretation could be a depiction of the sun rising. In m. 63, “Hé,” which is translated “yes,” uses a sustained pitch for effect, and also serving as an example of text declamation. This causes the word to be emphasized for dramatic purposes. Another example of text painting is found at mm. 107 and 110, where the text “volex,” meaning “fly,” uses large intervals that resemble a bird flapping its wings. An example of form articulation is heard at m. 20 where a shift in the orchestral texture to long sustained pitches occurs in the recitative. This places the focus on the vocalist and the dramatic action, and is an example of form