After Idomeneo, Mozart composed a few more operas, but in 1786, the premiere of Le Nozze di Figaro set Mozart’s opera career on a new path. Le Nozze di Figaro is one of, if not the most famous opera buffa composed by Mozart. The Libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte, and is the was first of the infamous Da Ponte operas, the others being Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte. The opera is set in 18th century Spain. This story takes place on the wedding day of Figaro and Susanna, Count Almaviva’s…
Unit four of the textbook is about music in the nineteenth century, and the first part of this section starts by dedicating a whole chapter to Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was a true genius, his music is still widely popular until today. His style of music was mostly Classical, he was a student of Haydn. One of Beethoven 's first work that really showed his his individuality as an artist was his symphony called Bonaparte. This symphony was written in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte, but later on,…
The History of Bela Bartok The composer that I will be writing about in the paper will be Bela Bartok. Bartok was born on March 25, 1881 and he died on September 26, 1945. He was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He along with another composer named Liszt are known as Hungary’s greatest composers. What I found really cool during my research was that he was musically talented at an early age. He was able to play 40 pieces on the piano at the age of 4. I don't know any 4 year old that can play 40…
this opera participates in what she calls a theatrical conversation which involves the composers, librettists, performers, and the audience. Ms. Hunter attempts to eavesdrop on said conversation to show the reader how the opera buffa was able to behave as entertainment in Vienna. She also states that studying opera buffas as entertainment does not mean that these works have any less artistic value as others do. This book is split into three parts, all pertaining to the idea of how the opera…
Kirkendale with regard to the “birth” of opera, or how it truly originated. Kirkendale has written an article “The Myth of the “Birth of Opera” in the Florentine Camerata Debuked by Emilio de’ Cavalieri: A Commemorative Lecture” in effort to determine exactly where opera began and who created it. We will also compare Kirkendale’s article to Grout, Palisca, and Burkholder’s textbook “A History of Western Music” with their chapter that discusses the invention of opera. Indeed, this topic has…
“Love, Love, Love that is the soul of genius” (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). In Western music he is generally identified as one of the most significant and substantial composers. Ludwig Van Beethoven, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were few of many innovative composers, but one who stood out from the few and was a prodigy as a young child was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Born on January 27 1756 to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria, née Pertl in Salzburg, which is the…
While cheerful and bright melodies are used to represent Mozart’s early years in his short lives, the prelude of the opera “Don Giovanni” composed by Mozart after the death of Leopold Mozart – Mozart’s father – indicates the relationship between Mozart and Leopold and shows the process how Salieri set his scheme foreshadowing the death of Mozart. First of all, the opera “Don Giovanni” suggests the abnormal relationship between Mozart and his father. In the film, Mozart is illustrated as a…
(“Recitative”). Members of the Florentine Camerata also contributed to the development of the recitative by implementing their principles of virtuosic music. The earliest composition of recitative also came from the Florentine Camerata (Ulrich 68). Composers who sought to adopt the style of recitative found it difficult to incorporate because of its strict form that the Florentine Camerata originally designed, and also would not modify. In the coming decades, the original recitative had been…
second performer of the night. Her first performance was “Alma Del Core” by Antonio Caldara. Born in Venice, Caldara made his career in Mantua, Rome and Vienna, serving in the last of these from 1716 as vice-Kapellmeister at the imperial court. As a composer he was versatile and prolific, with some 90 stage works to his credit. Caldara wrote a steady series of over 40 oratorios, liturgical music, motets, and cantatas sacred and secular. His 1712 Christmas cantata Vaticini di pace (‘Prophecies…
Wagner was a great composer of music that shaped history as we know it. His music was full of passion and despite his many characteristic flaws, he was able to convey great emotion and love in his music. Wagner composed 13 operas with his most famous works like Tristan und Isolde, Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg(The Mastersingers of Nuremberg.) He transformed the way opera was written and performed by actually doing the libretto himself. The longest opera he performed…