Before beginning the survey of modern operas and before
tracing the development of the different tendencies, it will be
interesting to consider briefly the historic source of the opera,
and the part that music played in the various dramas, madrigals,
ballets, church services, etc.
It is an acknowledged fact that Peri and his little band
of Florentine reformers went back to the old Greek dramas for
their models and forms. However, it is not to be supposed that
opera was developed spontaneously among these reformers. Like
every other world wide movement, it was the culmination of tendencies
and customs from various sources. We have no reason to accept
the Greek dramas as the only models which served, although they
were considered seriously by the first opera writers.
The Egyptians sang jubilations to their Gods. These consisted
of florid cadences on prolonged vowel sounds. In the old
Greek dramas, music played an important part. The Greek tragedy
and comedy developed from the hymns, choral dances and chants
sung by a chorus of singers disguised as satyrs, at the festivals
of Bacchus. The chorus often addressed the audience on topical
subjects. The various actors intoned or chanted their words, and
were often accompanied by a lyre and other instruments of the day.
The chorus chanted their parts. This would not be termed music
by us today, but was more of a recitative. Later the chorus chanted
while the principals sang, forming a sort of background accompaniment.
The slow developement of the music in the mass must not be
forgotten, but there is nothing which definitely resembles opera
until the thirteenth century. "Noel" was supposed to be a song
which the angels sang, and is found in many festivals. Perhaps this
may be termed one of the sources of Wagner's ideas, the association
of a particular song with one group of people. In the "Three
Maries" the chorus sang words in Latin, Gabriel and the three virgins
sang, but the words of the Savior had no music. The "Fete of
the Ass" was quite an elaborate festival and here the various
characters sang quite definitely, and the congregation was urged
at stated intervals to join in the singing. Part of the words and
music were symbolical, especially those imitating the braying of
the ass. "The Passion", in 1264, enacted by the Fraternity of the
Gonfalone, lasted for several days, and contained scenes which
were sung, choruses and a trio.
At this period, we must consider the vaudeville plays
which were plays interspersed with song. "Li gieus de Robin et
de Marion", given at the court of Charles d'Artois in Naples in
1285, was an operatic symptom and was divided into songs, spoken
dialogue, dialogue songs in which two voices alternated, and popular
ballad tunes, although the music was not appropriate since it
consisted of such complex counterpoint. The Madrigal plays, although
comic in character, influenced in the introduction of
village gossip related by chorus. The "Ballet de la Reine" was a
brilliant ballet with elaborate scenery, costumes, music, etc.
It contained solos, duets, choruses and instrumental interludes.
The melody, however, was only loosely associated with the play.
In 1554 "Il Sagrifigio", a pastoral drama, arose, in which the
priest sang solos, accompanied by lyre and the chorus. The first
solo singing was in the Madrigal of Corteccia in 1539. In "Aminta",
1573, the choruses separated acts, and introduced the action
danced to the chorus behind the scenes. There was no attempt at
the complete setting of the text in these plays, and no union of
the lyrics by any sort of recitative. In "Decameron" one or another
of the personages sang to the company, and they all sang and danced.
The lyric solo resembled somewhat the dramatic recitative of Peri
and Caccini. The vocal melody was simple in melodic structure.
Cecchi's "Esaltazione delle Croce", 1589, a sacred representation,
had an orchestra of viols, lutes, horns and the orchestra played
an interlude with special music. There was an accompanied solo
allotted to the Deity and a dance of David. The orchestras were
composed of lutes, trombones, which accomapnied the dancing, etc.,
but were usually silent after the entrance of the various characters,
excepting the lyres. In the English masque the words and
song were written for an actor but sung behind the scenes by a
chorus.
The Madrigal dramas became comedies which exhibited a
variety of style and expressive power. When a single character
spoke, the chorus sang in madrigals, while the actors were on the
stage. The music was from behind the curtain. These Madrigal dramas
began to degenerate, however, as the spectacle disappeared, and
the comic element became preeminent.
Then came the band of Florentine nobles who were not originators,
but merely revived certain musical practices and traditions
of the 14th century and modeled these on the early Greek
tragedies. "Eurydice" was accompanied by a large orchestra for
those days consisting of a chitarone, viola di gamba, theorba,
three flutes and smaller trombones. There was a brief entr'acte,
and a trio of two sopranos and a tenor. The chorus was in five
parts. Previous to this the solo without harmony or harmonic
support was unknown. The instrumental music was of course in its
infancy and expressive melody was out of the question. This first
operatic orchestra was concealed—perhaps this suggested the idea
to Wagner—perhaps not. There were no set tunes, nor any sort of
formal melody divided into periods, balancing each other symmetrically,
but a sort of recitative which observed the inflection of
the spoken words was created.
Peri developed this principle to a great extent. He expressed
soft gentle speech by half spoken, half sung tones on a
sustained instrumental bass. Feelings of deeper emotional kind,
he expressed by melody with greater intervals and a lively tempo,
accompanied by instrumental harmonies changing frequently, sometimes
using dissonance. His prologue was in verse and he gave
short metrical passages for the chorus which were rich in harmony.
An instrumental episode in the first act and dancing in
the end are effective.
Vecchi's "L'Amfiparnasso" and "Commedia Armonica" are
really only a series of madrigals for five voices. There was no
overture, no orchestral accompaniment, nor ritornello of any
kind. When the stage was occupied by a single character, four
voices were made to sing behind the scenes, foretelling the modern
orchestra. In "Orfeo" the accompaniment was a figured bass.
"Dafne" and "Arianna" were written in this newly invented "Stilo
rappresentatino" with a larger orchestra. "Dafne" consisted of an
imitation of speech, a sort of melodious recitative accompanied
only with a sustained bass. The instruments were really so contrasted
and combined as to invest each character and scene with
marked individuality. The introductory toccata (founded on a single
chord) was followed by a ritornello, the recitative was accompanied
by a figured bass, sometimes by two or more instruments
indicated at the beginning.
These reformers really resuscitated a style of musical
declamation, and their music better expressed passion and the
like. There was a monodic exchanging of contrapuntal richness for
the simplest of melodies, confined to a single part, and accompanied
by bass of the rudest type and construction. The melodies
were destitute of figure and the composers really aimed at exact
oratorical rendering of the words. The possibilities of orchestral
coloring were limited and the dry style of recitative really
dramatically untruthful. There was little variety of contrast.
This weakened the true power of the drama by the introduction
of measured melody and formally constructed movements. The libbrettos
were carefully considered at first, but finally declined,
and more and more attention was paid to the aria and the various
concerted music introduced without regard to the dramatic tendencies.
The rules became strict, and it is not difficult to see how
the operas became a concert in costume. We find a quotation of
the rules:—
1. A woman always took a man's part.
2. Characters were stereotyped.
3. Position of the aria was determined to give entrance impressiveness.
4. The solos, duets, choruses and ballets were arranged artificially
to suit the convenience of the performers and without
regard for the dramatic context.
Monteverde has been termed "the Italian Wagner". He never
ventured to introduce flowing melody save in the ritornello. His
music was dramatic and he increased the dramatic scope of the recitative.
His "Orfeo", 1607, contains the first dramatic duet.
He was an innovator and gave a new developement to the harmonic
system. His influence may be summed up as follows;
I. He made operatic recitative more melodious and expressive.
II. He boldly used unprepared discord to express dramatic
emotions.
III. He greatly enlarged the orchestra, used special, appropriate
groups of instruments to accompany characters, and employed
separate combinations to announce the return and entry of persons.
In his "Arianna" the widening influence of his orchestra developed
to thirty-six instruments, including violins, trombones, trumpets
and three small organs. He invented the pizzicato and tremolo on
the violin. In his "Orfeo" there are parts for the harpsichords,
lyres, violas, double basses, double harps with two rows of strings,
two violins, guitars, organs, flutes, clarions and trombones. The
apportionment of the instruments was as follows:—
The bass viols accompanied Orpheus.
The violas, Eurydice.
Four Trombones, Pluto.
The organs, Apollo.
The guitars, Charon.
The flute registers of the organs, the chorus of sprites.
Scarlatti's genius for melody modified the still though
dramatically correct recitative, and substituted airs in its place.
He introduced measured recitative for the first time, and invented
the "de capo aria", his singers thus distracting attention from
the important dramatic meaning. His knowledge of counterpoint
aided him in the construction of the bass, and elaboration of accompaniments.
He tired of the monotony of uninterrupted recitative,
and organized three forms:—
1. Recitative secco for ordinary business.
2. Recitative stromentato which was accompanied and used
for violent emotion, and used the "thorough bass" by the harpsichord
to aid this passionate form of declamation. The sense of
the verbal text was enforced by continual interposition of orchestral
symphonies.
3. The aria, to which he added the "de capo"—that is,
the repetition of the second part following the first.
Cavalli employed the ritornello constantly to relieve the
monotony of continuous recitative, and introduced repetition in
his ariettas, which was disapproved by the Florentine Caccini,
who was the father of a new order of music, a style of melody
which is not melody; a recitative melody, noble in character and
surpassing the songs of the people, not altering the words nor
depriving them of life, but augmenting them and giving them
meaning and force.
Purcell had true dramatic instinct and a declamatory recitative
second only to that of Wagner, and his airs show unfettered
melody. The laws of his time, which he chose to disregard
and modify, are interesting.
I. The number of characters was six, three women and
three men.
a. Prima Donna (soprano).
b. A contralto.
c. An artificial or male soprano.
d. An artificial alto.
e. A tenor.
f. A bass.
II. (a) "Aria Cantabile" was quiet and slow with opportunities
of ornamentation, accompanied by a figured bass under
pathos.
(b) "Aria di portamento" in slow movement and marked
rythm was sometimes accompanied only by one or two violins.
(c) "Aria di mezzo carattere" had the second part
faster than the first, and the accompaniment was rich and varied.
(d) "Aria Parlante" was elaborately declamatory.
(e) "Aria di bravura" was allegro with brilliant
divisions.
III. There were three acts and every scene terminated
with an air. Every member sang one air but no one sang two airs
in succession and no two airs of the same type followed each other.
The most important ones came at the conclusion of the first and
second act and here the hero and heroine claimed a grand scene,
with accompanied recitative followed by "aria d'agilita" and then
united in a grand duet. The third act ended with a chorus of lively
movement frequently accompanied by a dance. There were no trios,
quartets or other concentrated movements allowed, though three
characters could join in harmonized exclamation at close of the
recitative.
Handel broke away from these rules in "Radamisto" with
an elaborate quartet and "Teseo" in five acts with two airs in
succession to each character. His operas have been termed a ballad
concert in costume, although he did a great deal toward faithful
reproduction of the embodied sentiments of the text. Purcell rebelled
against the idea of succession of songs and dances and in a
tuneful chorus with dramatic spoken action, he introduced a decided
dramatic feeling. The English opera was advertised to be performed
after the Italian manner, with recitative in place of dialogue
and measured melody for airs. Purcell's "Dido and Aeneus"
contains not one spoken word, and his drawn out aria foreshadowed
the dramatic aria of Gluck and Wagner. Balfe and Benedict raised
the standard of the old ballad operas by using better music although
Balfe only appealed to the ear. Tallis, Byrde and Purcell
are tolerated for their voice parts only.
