Romantic Period Vocal Music and Opera

Vocal Music of the Romantic Period

• Vocal music became more prominent as a tool for expressing emotions.
• The Romantic period coincided with the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe.
• Opera combined all aspects of music from the Romantic period.
• Romantic operas were known for being extravagant spectacles focusing on heroic/epic subjects, the supernatural, mystery, and passion.
• Italian style was dominant; however, Italy, France, and Germany developed their own styles.
• Opera is a musical composition with most or all of its text set to music with arias.
• Opera is usually characterized by elaborate costumes, scenery, and choreography.

Components of an Opera

• Libretto - the text of an opera.
  • The librettist and composer work together to tell the story.
• Score - the book that the composer and librettist put together.
  • Includes all musical notes, words, and ideas to help performers tell the story.
  • Often includes overtures, preludes, prologues, several acts, finales, and postludes.
• Recitative - Declamatory singing used in the prose parts and dialogues.
• Aria - An air or solo singing part sung by a principal character.
  • This song is what the public will remember best.
  • Well-sung arias can decide the success of an opera.

Male Vocal Types

• Tenor - The highest male voice.
• Baritone - Middle male voice, between Bass and Tenor.
  • It is the common male voice.
• Bass - The lowest male voice.

Female Vocal Types

• Soprano - The highest female voice.
• Coloratura - Highest soprano voice (dramatic - darker full sound.)
• Mezzo-Soprano - The most common female voice.
  • Strong middle voice with a darker tone than soprano.
• Contralto - The lowest female voice.

Musical terms

• A Capella - Singing without instrumental accompaniment.
• Cantabile - Singing style.
• Capo - Head/beginning.
• Coda - Closing section appended to a movement or song.
• Dolce - Sweetly.
• Falsetto -Weaker and airier voice usually in the higher pitch arranged.
• Glissando - Sliding quickly between 2 notes.
• Passagio - Sections of the singing voice where register transitions occur.
• Rubato - Changing the tempo of a piece at the soloist's discretion.
• Tessitura - Most comfortable singing range of a singer.
• Vibrato - Rapid, slight pitch variation during sustained note.

Western Classical Plays/Opera

• Theater began from myth, ritual, and ceremony.
• Theater is more than just the buildings where performances take place.
• A playwright writes scripts, a director rehearses, designers and technical crews create scenes, and actors perform.

Greek Theater

• Originated in Ancient Greece around 700 BC.
• Festivals honored gods, particularly Dionysus (god of wine and fertility).
• Religious festivals were called "The Cult of Dionysus".

Types of Greek Drama

• Tragedy - Most admired type of play with tragic events and unhappy endings.
• Comedy - Plays derived from imitation.
• Satyr - Plays with comic elements to lighten the mood, with a happy ending.

Greek Theater Structure

• The theater building was called theatron.
• Large, open-air structures on slopes of hills.
• Consisted of the orchestra, the skene, and the audience.

Roman Theater

• Started in the 3rd century BC.
• Featured festivals, street theater, acrobatics, comedies, and tragedies.
• Common themes included chariot races, gladiators, and public executions.
• Christians opposed the plays and closed theaters.

Medieval Theater (500 CE – 1400)

• Theater performances were not allowed throughout Europe.
• Minstrels kept theater alive by performing in markets, public places, and festivals.
• These minstrels were viewed as dangerous and pagan.

Renaissance Theater (1400-1600)

• Renaissance theater arts saw a return to Classical Greek and Roman arts and culture.
• Morality plays and University drama were formed to recreate Athenian tragedy.
• Public theaters developed Commedia dell'arte and elaborate masques.

Renaissance Figures

• Was William Shakespeare noted actor and poet emerged.
• Ballet performed during period, Italian Renaissance courts

Innovation of Stage

• Proscenium was developed.
• Arches frame and divide stages from the audience.
• Commedia dell'arte or "Comedy of the Profession" developed
• Backdrops popularized

Baroque Theater (1600-1750)

• Used technology in current Broadway or commercial plays.
• Theater crew used machines for special effects.
• Theaters were richly decorated.

Neoclassical Theater (1800-1900)

• Roman and Greek societies influenced theater arts.
• Theaters were characterized by grandiosity, elaborate costumes, and sceneries.
• Main concepts were to entertain and teach lessons.
• Decorum applied; classical concepts and appropriate social behavior.
• Established tragedy and comedy.

Romantic Theater (1800-2000)

• Melodrama and operas became popular.
• Melodrama originated from the French word melodrama, derived from Greek melos ("music") and French drame.

Concepts

• Melodrama puts characters in danger.
• Opera combines text (libretto) and a musical score.
• Acting, scenery, costumes, and dance were key elements.

Romantic Playwrights and Composers

• Victor Marie Hugo - French writer known for works like Les Miserables and Notre-Dame de Paris.
• George Bizet - French composer known for operas like Carmen.