Monody

In opera, the composer is the dramatist. In opera the music interprets, crystallizes, and intensifies the expressive meaning of the words, far beyond anything with the words alone are capable of (Greenberg, 2009, L11, 8:35). During the transitory period of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, the tremendous increase in the popularity of secular stage drama punctuated by musical intermezzos (music played between the acts of stage plays) invariably ignited opera into existence. As discussed by Greenberg (2009), the intermezzo and the madrigal evolved and flourished during the late sixteenth century and led directly to the invention of opera. ‘The intermezzi had music, they accentuated the dramatic and emotional content of the play in which they were interpolated and all the leading Italian composers wrote them” (L29, 17:30). By the late sixteenth century these intermittency, which were so well received, began to increase in the spectacle of its production and musical forces; audiences craved for more and the composers at the time were more than happy to oblige them. As discussed by Greenberg (2009), the Florentine composer Emilio de ' Cavalieri wrote the very first intermezzo in which he referred to its genre as an intermedio/madrigal for the purpose of the opening ceremony for the wedding of Grand Duke Ferdinand de ' Medici and Christine of Lorraine in 1589 entitled Dalle Piu Alter Sfere (from the highest sphere). This musical work contains four instrumental parts with the…

Contrast became a massive factor in music or this time to truly make it stick out from the crowd as something new and exciting. The differences between loud and soft, solo and ensemble (as in the concerto), different instruments and timbres all play an important role in many baroque compositions. Then we have monody and the advent of the basso continuo. In previous musical eras, a piece of music tended to consist of a single melody, perhaps with an improvised accompaniment, or several melodies…

During the medieval times, which was the period between c1150-c1400, the music created started out in the form of a monody, which meant music was written as a single line. This is the earliest period where we can be pretty sure of how the music that survived actually sounded. The manuscripts for music during this time were often influenced by religion through the churches, which was a common place of learning. It was during the 11th to 13th century where monody music turned into organum music,…

The bells are made of grim, heavy iron. Iron emphasizes how heavy, cold and lifeless the world becomes and is showcased in the stanza. These are the last bells that call when someone has died, far from the happy jingling Silver Bells. The speaker included “What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!” The word “monody” is like a single melody but also the sounds of a funeral song. This gives readers idea of the quick sense of death, how a fast a rhythm or song is over, as fast as life.…

When life brightens up, it can always reach back to darkness. Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates this throughout the poem “The Bells”. Poe starts the poem off with silver bells making us remember the happy memories big and small in our life. Then Poe goes on to describe golden bells as joyus by saying, “How they ring out their delight...what a gush of euphony voluminously wells!” This represents a time in life that is happy, peaceful, and where life seems perfect. Next the narrator says, “What a tale…

Task One Analyzing Figurative Language “The Bells” is a poem that was written by Edgar Allen Poe and was not published until after his death. The tone of this poem goes from happy and joyous to fear and death. Several elements are used throughout this poem such as assonances, personifications, and onomatopoeias. Assonances is the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible. In “The Bells,” there are…

Death is inevitable and should be accepted. In stanza two of “The Bells”, Poe mentions how the bells tell “Of the rapture that impels.” According to some believers, the rapture is the transporting of believers to heaven at the Second Coming of Christ, which is the end of times. This means that the end of time is pushed forward by the bells. Also, in stanza three, Poe mentions that “the ear distinctly tells.” The line before says that danger is always moving, and that the people know this. This…

For example, the author starts the poem off happily. In the first stanza, he writes, “Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!” He does this to explain the cheerfulness that someone may feel in their childhood. However, as the poem comes to an end, the tone starts to get darker. Towards the end of the poem, the author writes in a dark tone. In the last stanza, he writes. “Iron bells! What a world of solemn their monody compels!” In these lines, the author demonstrates that…

through music. Composers sought to revive the ideas of ancient Greece and Rome by being aware of the emotions being evoked from the audience. The second philosophy is the realization of patronage. The freedom given to composers today to make music at your own leisure was not given to Baroque composers. Many composers of this time were employed by the church or by a Duke. Composers were told when and what kind of music to make, so it is incredible the individuality many composers were able to…

His works show an interest in “grand effects” and it was the next obvious step up from the clear melodic lines of monody. 1607 was when he composed his first opera, Orfeo, for the Carnival of Mantua. This was a court performance for Prince Francesco Gonzaga, who the opera is dedicated to. Orfeo is based off of the Greek mythological god of music. Orfeo also marks an important moment in music history where the score is composed for specific instruments rather that whatever consorts (whole or…