Opera Seria

Front 1

opera

Back 1

dramatic (staged) work in which most/all lyrics sung

Front 2

opera seria

Back 2

ie dramma per musica
serious opera

-originated in Italy
-major genre of opera
-produced throughout Europe

Front 3

tragedie en musique

Back 3

french language opera

Front 4

reform opera

Back 4

opera of 1760-70's GLUCK

*new kind of sung drama that was more widely appealing

-first int'l, cosmopolitan form of opera
-incorporated best aspects of IT, FR operas

Front 5

characteristics of opera seria

Back 5

3 acts
serious, tragic, grim tone
distinct numbers (ie aria, recitative)
happy ending (lieto fine)
few principal roles

Front 6

characteristics of reform opera

Back 6

well-populated stage (chorus)
emphasis on spectacle, action
supernatural intervention
tableaus

Front 7

libretto

Back 7

lyrics/text of an opera, bought and read as literature

Front 8

Christoph Willibald Gluck

Back 8

pioneer of "reform operas" of the 1760's-70's

Front 9

soprano castrato

Back 9

castrated male with huge chest, able to sing in high registers of typically female voice, distinctive quality of voice

*typical for leading, heroic young characters

Front 10

lieto fine

Back 10

happy ending of opera seria

Front 11

number

Back 11

discrete musical form with stop and start

ex- aria, symphony etc

Front 12

tableau

Back 12

long scenes that combine different types of numbers

ex- recitatives, arias, quartets, symphonies etc

Front 13

overture

Back 13

piece of orchestral music @ beginning of opera (sounds like symphony)

Front 14

simple recitative

Back 14

recitative that has small instrumental accompaniment (OLDEST)

--> subset of orchestra, just keyboard

Front 15

accompanied recitative

Back 15

recitative accompanied by whole orchestra or string section (LATER DEVELOPMENT)

-used in times of great emotion (conflict, revelation, etc.)

Front 16

aria

Back 16

conventional type of singing in opera, self-conscious song, departure from spoken lang

-reg meter, rhythms
-structural rep
-lyrical melody
-ritornello

Front 17

recitative

Back 17

conventional type of singing in opera
imitates spoken language

-unpredictable rhythm
-stop and start
-no structural repetition (through composed form)

Front 18

through composed form

Back 18

no structural repetition, starts, goes through, ends

Front 19

ritornello

Back 19

orchestral music that precedes aria

Front 20

opera invented...

Back 20

in Europe in late 16th cent (1590's) in princely courts of Italy

Front 21

Idomeneo premiered...

Back 21

in Munich, sponsored by patron (prince)
= COURT OPERA

Front 22

court opera

Back 22

paid for by wealthy/royal patron

Front 23

public opera

Back 23

paid for largely by commercial receipts

Front 24

1670's

Back 24

opera has spread from Italy to rest of Europe

Front 25

Gluck

Back 25

wrote series of reform operas for Austro-Hungarian empire

Front 26

Idomeneo librettist

Back 26

Varesco from Mozart from Danchet

Front 27

retelling of stories

Back 27

classical myth/tragedy --> modern version (usually spoken drama) --> libretto

Front 28

Danchet

Back 28

wrote Idomenee (1712)

Front 29

political conservatism of Idomeneo

Back 29

Idomeneo's mistake= source of tragedy, but happy ending restores order, reputation of kingship, absolute monarchy preserved

Front 30

Enlightenment opera

Back 30

politically conservative

ex- though Ido's action is source of tragedy, forgiven at the end, absolute monarchy preserved

Front 31

depth/complexity of Idomeneo

Back 31

draws from:
1. opera seria
2. tragedie en musique
3. reform opera
4. comic opera

Front 32

elements of comic opera in Idomeneo

Back 32

large ensembles (trios, quarts)
chorus

Front 33

characteristics of tragedie en musique

Back 33

spectacle
deus ex machina
chorus/dancers (ballet)
accompanied recitatives (loved the dramatic)

Front 34

literary aspect of aria/recitative

Back 34

aria= poetic conventions, often in verse

recitative- free form

Front 35

tremolo

Back 35

kind of figure, string player plays fast repeated note
-agitation, unrest

Front 36

chromaticism

Back 36

moving up 1/2 steps
-dramatic device, overcome by feelings

Front 37

"sigh motifs"

Back 37

sung or played descending half steps

Front 38

enharmonic modulation

Back 38

very shocking harmonic change
-wrenching, dissonant sound

Front 39

terrifying style (sturm und drang)

Back 39

flexible musical language, procedures that represent terror, horror, sublime

Front 40

characteristics of terrifying style

Back 40

1. unison texture
2. use of brass (esp trombone) and percussion (esp timpani)

ex- tremolo, chromaticism, minor modes, synchopation, fast scales, arpeggios

Front 41

chiaroscuro

Back 41

stark contrast between light and dark/shadow

Front 42

sequence

Back 42

same figurations repeated in different keys very quickly

Front 43

counterpoint

Back 43

kind of texture, multiple melodies/parts playing independently, at same time
-learned technique