Libretto

Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer born in 1858 and is known to have put a considerable amount of thought into creating the mood and literary components of his librettos (Kamien, Roger Music An Appreciation p.280). Richard Wagner was a German composer born in 1813 to a theatrical family (Kamien, Roger Music An Appreciation p. 289). Both of these composers are famous for their operas and are from the Romanic Period. Their compositions, La Boheme and Die Walkure, share the characteristics of…

sense of passion and meaning behind the pieces. With the pieces Va Pensiero by Verdi and Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner, we can see the passion and drama. Both of the opera pieces were written in a series of acts and both pieces can be considered libretto. Wagner and Verdi both capture the musical style of drama in these two pieces and their inspiration for these pieces come from stories. Both of these pieces have a rather disjunct tone to them. The melodies of these two great pieces can be…

References to Popular Works in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera is a novel written by Gaston Leroux and published as a serial in Le Gaulois, a Parisian newspaper, between September of 1909 and January of 1910 (Freeman, “Le Gaulois”). Originally published in French, the novel first reached English-speaking audiences when it was translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos in 1911. Due to time constraints, de Mattos’s translation has many errors, ranging…

Literary Analysis of The Count of Monte Cristo Determination: a firmness of purpose; a process of deciding, determining, or calculating, as well as making a resolution. People who obtain this determination tends to be confident in their ways of success. “The Count of Monte Cristo” “Yakusoku no Hi” happens to display determination in their literature. In “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “Yakusoku no Hi” each author adapts the plot and diction to convey the idea that determination leads to being…

lecture tour of the United States in 1934 which was very successful, but she later went back to France, where she stayed until the end of World War II. Many Americans visited Gertrude Stein after the liberation of Paris in 1944 and she later wrote librettos for operas like The Mother of Us All (1947) by Virgil Thomson. As mentioned before The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas was one of Gertrude Stein’s only commercial successes and one her bestsellers. The book talks about the experiences of…

On Saturday April 9th, I attended the Austin symphony’s showing of Schubert’s Unfinished symphony “The Sounds of Hope”. The Symphony was filled with incredible pieces by Verdi, Schubert, and contemporary composers Nigel Westlake and Lior Attar. The evening began with Verdi’s Nabucco from his opera that follows the plight of the Jews as they were subsequently exiles from their homeland by the Babylonian King Nabucco. The next piece was Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, Schubert started this…

Do you like classical music? If you like classical music, and you are its fans, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, or Schubert, all of these name may not strange to you. So, they are one of many the most famous composers of the world’s music history. They are very famous and become legendary because they are composing many valuable and incredible works that contributes a lot in the evolution of world’s music. Like these famous composers above, Igor Stravinsky as known as one of the most important…

Operatic censorship refers to the process of controlling those aspects of a production that might be considered to destabilise the political, religious, and moral fabric of society. The censors were primarily concerned about the scenario and the libretto. Ideas promoting freedom of expression and political independence from the ruling faction could only stir opposition that was dangerous to the rulers. The idea that opera functioned as a coded form of political subversion would seem to be…

being created. He produced a new opera every year, besides one where he created a smaller production, until his death. Most of his operas were librettos which he made in collaboration with his librettist, Philippe Quinault (Parker 36). When Lully achieved success with his setting of Quinault's Cadmus et Hermione, he gave his wordsmith a contract of one libretto a year for 4,000 livres. The result was eleven Tragedies en Musique and a pair of large-scale ballets (Pettitt…

Being a vocalist, it’s hard not to notice that vocal music wasn’t a highly talked about genre during the Early Baroque. Since vocal music is a familiar genre, its lack of appreciation can catch the attention of many Baroque fans, especially those who are studying the voice. Taking the time to analyze the Baroque period more in depth by exploring the ultimate goal of the era, the composers of the era, and by examining music scores, especially those of Claudio Monteverdi, I was able to grasp an…