Chapter Eleven Outline: "Music and Drama"

 

Music clarifies and reinforces the action and words of drama. Many of the combinations of music and drama that are used in film, television, and theater were pioneered in opera.

 

How Music Contributes to Drama: Plot

            The characters: a certain theme may be associated with a particular character, or the nature of a theme might illuminate the nature of the character

            Their emotions: fill in the gaps between spoken lines

            The action: music can describe actions or intensify the visual images, but it can also anticipate action

            The scene: a change of music often accompanies a change of scene

            The genre: certain types of music are appropriate for certain genres

 

How Music Contributes to Drama: Story

            Emotional support: pounding music can convey anxiousness or fear, lush strings indicate a romantic scene, etc.

            Expressive unity: themes can unify large works, such as films

            Popular appeal: soundtracks can become popular apart from the film or TV show with which they are associated

 

Across The Arts: What’s Up With Cartoon Music?

            Classic cartoons such as “Looney Tunes” often use classical music as their soundtrack, often to great dramatic or comic effect.

            “Mickey Mousing”: using music to mimic a character’s actions

 

Cinematic Opera: one of the most enduring genres in Western classical music

            Incidental music: music that accompanied dramatic performances and was designed to enhance the audience’s experience

            Music drama: an opera in which the music is continuous throughout each act—Verdi’s Otello

            Numbers opera: an opera in which numbers (or songs) are separated by other text—Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro

 

A Literary Link

            Some operas (Otello and Le Nozze di Figaro included) are based on well-known plays; other operas have less illustrious origins.

            Composers and librettists often alter a play’s content to fit an operatic format.

            Composers do not usually write their own libretti: several of Mozart’s most famous operas had libretti written by Lorenzo da Ponte.

 

Music Drama

            Wagner suggested that music, action, and all other aspects of an opera should work so closely together that it becomes a single work—a music drama.

            Music dramas were written by Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Strauss, and others.

 

Focus on Guiseppe Verdi

            Known as the greatest Italian dramatist and, at the end of the his life, a profound artistic symbol of the newly united Italy

            His chorus Va, pensiero from Nabucco became an unofficial national anthem.

            Came out of retirement to fulfil his goal of interpreting Shakespeare in Otello and Falstaff