Lecture in Music 9 Unit IV duets, trios etc, sung to orchestral

Lesson 1 accompaniment
Vocal Music of the Romantic Period  Usually characterized by elaborate
 The parallelisms of music and literature costumes, scenery and choreography
were clearly evident in almost all forms of Components of an Opera
vocal music during the Romantic period.
 Composers interpret poems, mood,
atmosphere and imagery into music 1. Libretto 
 Musical composition such as “art song” was  The text of an opera that tells the story
written for solo and piano 2. Score
 Subjects were traditional myths, legends and  The book that the composer and librettist put
folklore usually dealing with supernatural together
and less ordinary  Has musical notes, words and ideas
 Vocal singers requires singers to perform in 3. Recitative
greater range tone, color, dynamics and  Declamatory singing, used in prose part and
pitch dialogue of opera
 Opera became an important source of 4. Aria
musical expressions  An air or solo singing part sung by a
 The birth of opera houses came where all the principal character
arts converged  This song is what the public will remember
Opera Composers of the Romantic Period best when leaving the opera house
1. Franz Peter Schubert (1/31/1779-1828)  Properly and well sung, a beautiful aria can
 Known as the lieder (songs), which as bring an audience to its feet and decide the
developed to produce a powerful dramatic fate of an entire opera
impact on the listeners The Types of Voices of Singers
 Tapped the poetry of writers like Johann Male
Goethe 1. Tenor- highest
 Considered as the last classical composer 2. Baritone-common male voice
and one of the first romantic ones 3. Bass- lowest
2. Giuseppe Verdi (10/09/1813-02/13/1883) Female
 Born in Parma, Italy  1. Alto- lowest
 Characters are ordinary people and not those 2. Mezzo Soprano- slightly lower
of the royal family 3. Soprano- highest
 Insisted a good libretto and wrote operas 4. Coloratura-  highest soprano voice
with political overtones and for middle-class 5. Lyric- bright and full sound
audience 6. Dramatic-  darker full sound
 Studied on Busseto and later to Milan were
his first opera OBERTO was performed in Controlling Tone Quality
La Scala, the most important opera house at  The timbre of the voices describe the voice
the time quality
3. Giacomo Puccini  The lower the pitch, the lower the resonates
 Born in a poor family on December 22, 1858 a. Breathing
in Lucca Italy, studied in Milan conservatory  Important in singing
 Stressed realism, drew materials from b. Posture 
everyday life, rejecting heroic theme from  Proper posture promotes efficient breathing
mythology and history which is essential to projection, tone quality
 Works includes TOSCA, MADAME and vocal range
BUTTERFLY NAD TURANDOT c. Vocal Range
4. Richard Wagner  One of the major goal of every singer
 Born in Leipzig, Germany on May 22, 1813 d. Endurance
 Inspired by Beethoven 
 Introduced new ideas in harmony and in
form
 Explored the limits of traditional tonal
system
 Advocate of a new form of opera which he
called MUSIC DRAMA- music and drama
were fused together
5. George Bizet (Alexander-Cesar-Leopold Bizet)
 Born on 10/25/1838, died 06/1875 (36)
 Famous for his opera “CARMEN”, the
most popular operas ever written

Lesson 2: Romantic Opera

 A musical composition having all or most of
its text set to music, recitative, choruses,