MUSIC AND DRAMA IN THE'OPERA BUFFA FINALE : MOZART AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES IN VIENNA, 1781-1790.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Platoff, John.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Subjects (All):

Music.

0413.

Local Subjects:

0413.

Physical Description:

476 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 45-07A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

This study examines the conventions of organization and style in the finales of opere buffe written for Vienna in the 1780s, with a focus on contemporaries of Mozart such as Paisiello, Salieri, Dittersdorf, and Martin y Soler, as well as on Mozart himself.

The innovation of the buffo finale in the late 18th century was its inclusion of dramatic action within a musical number, instead of segregating it in recitative. But in fact the action in a finale was carefully limited and controlled. Librettists wrote finale texts in successive "cycles" of active and expressive passages. That is, a sequence in which some dramatic action took place was followed by a passage in which all the characters on stage expressed an emotional response to the action. The scene then ended with the entrance or exit of one or more characters, and the next scene began another cycle.

The distinction between active and expressive passages was plain to audiences, because active passages were written in dialogue while expressive passages were tuttis, sung simultaneously by all the characters present. A finale was thus organized as a succession of scenes comprising an active dialogue, then an expressive tutti, and finally a strong cadence closing the section or movement. Normally the following scene began in a new tempo and meter.

Active and expressive passages were set by composers in somewhat different musical styles. Active passages emphasized continuity: they minimized strong cadences, moved in fast tempos, and featured energetic motivic accompaniments that carried the musical flow, while the vocal lines were short and declamatory. Active passages were also emotionally neutral, suggesting agitation and energy but little else. By contrast, expressive passages were more expansive, stressing stability and closure (they almost invariably end sections of a finale) and in most cases conveying the emotional affect being sung about. The vocal writing was typically more lyrical, and the orchestra played a subordinate, purely accompanying role. At key moments in a finale, an expressive passage was detached from the preceding active passage and set as a separate section in a new (usually slow) tempo. This interruption of the musical flow highlighted the particular emotion of the passage, such as shock or fear, while the fast and exciting closing section (the stretta) conveyed the agitation, anger, or joy called for by the dramatic situation at the end of the finale.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-07, Section: A, page: 1912.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1984.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

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