Richard Wagner was a German composer who revolutionized the opera genre of music. He composed over thirteen different operas throughout his life, but some of his librettos wouldn't receive the credit they deserve until long after his death. By composing his works with the unique style of writing the music as well as the libretto, he was arguably ahead of his time while setting a new standard for future composers to come. The similarities and differences between the first and last operas he composed help to demonstrate the evolution of Wagner's music over time, while also showing what has remained constant during his career. In comparing and contrasting Die Feen, one of his first works, with Parsifal, one could hope to gain a better understanding …show more content…
It should be pointed out that Wagner spent much more time composing his final opera than he did on his first. Wagner worked on Parsifal on and off for more than thirty years, while he barely spent a fraction of that amount of time composing his first opera (Rovi). He finished Die Feen when he was only twenty years old, clearly showing that he did not put as much time into trying to perfect his work. His final opera, Parsifal, is often referred to as one of his best compositions, reflecting the amount of time and effort he put into working on it before deeming it complete. It conveys that Wagner became somewhat of a perfectionist later on in his career, as his mature works took longer to finish than those he had composed when he was younger. Something else that should be noted, is that Parsifal is much longer than Die Feen. Parsifal has thirty-nine movements, while Die Feen only has twenty. This is most likely due to the fact that Wagner took a longer amount of time before he finally came around to completing Parsifal. Wagner introduced different arrangements in Parsifal that were unprecedented in his previous works, such as the specific composition complementing the acoustics that are in his Bayreuth theater. The complexity of his last opera is much greater than most of those that came before it. Die Feen was his introductory piece that would serve as a stepping stone to where his career would finally come to an end. Despite both operas, having a source of inspiration before their composition, the content of these two particular operas shows no relation. Die Feen was inspired by a fantasy tale that had to do with romance, while Parsifal was inspired by the epic poem that centered more around religion. Finally, the uniquity of his last opera is made apparent by the use of the contrabassoon. Wagner had implemented the contrabassoon one
He developed the idea of Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art”, which strived to bring music, poetry, visual and dramatic arts together. Wagner was a prolific writer as well as a composers. He made contribution to the practice of conducting as well.
30. What is a comic opera? Reaction against baroque style. Light in mood and modest in
Of the many great composers during this era, Wagner stood out to me because of the intensity of his composition from 1851 in “The Ride.” The song pulls at my emotions in a theatrical telling of a battle scene from which warrior maidens emerge. These women are attendants to Odin, who sought out the souls of those heroes lost in battle. The Norse myths story is told through the feelings I experience when I hear this composition. The tempo is fast and amped. It pulls me into the sounds and I want to hear what happens next. I feel the announcement of these heroic soldiers and the challenges they fought through. It starts fast, lightens up, and then comes back with stronger build up. I feel the drama in the battle as if it’s happening in front of me. There are moments while listening where I caught myself holding my breath. This draws out feelings of enthusiastic anticipation which reminds me of the music written for a screenplay. The song finishes with a final, proud, horn blast and then leave me with some tension in the fast-paced ending of thrills. I’m drawn in and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s style unlike anyone else. Mozart was a master of counterpoint, fugue, and the other traditional compositional points of his day. He is also considered the best melody writer the world has ever known. Wolfgang perfected the grand forms of symphony, opera string quartet, and concerto made the classical period. “Mozart’s music is characterized by lucid ease and distinction of style....”2 Wolfgang wrote over 600 works which consisted of 21 stage and opera works, 15 masses, over 50 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos,27 concert arias, 17 piano sonatas, 26 string quartets, and many more. His operas range from comic baubles to tragic pieces. In his Requiem it illustrates the supreme vocal sounds in any of his work.
The Renaissance period occurred from 1400-1600. It can be separated into third smaller periods. The early, middle, and the late period, but for the sake of this paper, they will be referred to as stages to avoid confusion. This paper will compare two composers one from the early stage and another from the late stage. The early stage composer will be John Dunstable, and the late stage composer will be Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. The purpose of this paper is to compare these two composers’ composition style through the analysis of two of their works.
The Sherman Act of 1890 as referenced in McConnell and Campbell (2011), consists of two main regulations;
Although I enjoyed both pieces of music I really enjoyed the works of Gustav Mahler and his piece Lied von der Erde. This piece is rich in drama. I feel that the texture used is this song is imitative polyphony. I feel that there are various parts in this song that use the similar melodies. I feel that the harmony between the two vocalists were right on with each other and the orchestra. You can hear the brass instruments in the very beginning of the songs then the strings, wind instruments along with the piano and keyboards begin to make their entrance. They come together very strong but in a peaceful way at first. Towards the middle of the song the tempo and rhythm really picks up (it seems as if all of their emotions are bursting out) then it slowly begins to drop back to slower movements. You can really hear the strings during this time. But surprisingly enough just when you think the song is going to end boom your hit again. This song keeps you on the edge of your
Even though the two pieces were composed in different centuries – Mozart’s piece in the 18th century and Strauss’ piece in the 20th century – some of the musical elements that they share transcend both time periods. The characteristics of music in the classical period had to do with the new view of human psychology. Mozart was one to introduce contrasting moods within movements or even within a theme. He was able to infuse strong contrasts of moods within the style of his music (Burkholder, Grout, & Palisca 475). In Figaro, Mozart includes an overture which is a piece in sonata form despite its lack of a development section. In Act I cavatina, “Se vuol ballare”, Mozart whimsically makes changes to the character of his music so as to correspond to Figaro’s machinations (Hambrik n.p). By doing so, he musically
In what period was the work composed? List three aspects of the musical style of this period that apply to this work.
As stated by Burkholder, Grout and Palisca, Weber’s Der Freischutz’s “rustic choruses, marches, dances and airs”; multisectional aria form (influence from Rossini) and florid vocal lines were all common characteristics of the Italian Opera. Meanwhile in Verdi’s Otello, Wagnerian influence could be seen. Verdi used melodic motives to show the characters’ emotions. In Act 4 scene 3, the orchestra was used to heighten the dramatic moment instead of the voice, which was a breakthrough in the history of Italian Opera. It is apparent that both Italians and Germans knew how to blend the musical elements and text well to demonstrate the Romantic traits in their opera.
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was one of the greatest opera writers of all time. He helped to take opera to a whole new level from even Verdi and Puccini. Some say that Wagner was very egotistic, however; “his extreme egotism rested on conviction, Wagner had the ability to do great things” (Colles 207). He was extraordinary at composing music as well as formulating words. He was not a prodigy however his musical skills surpassed many other composers from his time period.
The Italian opera and the German opera are two different fields that both share characteristics, some of which are paralleled, and some of which contrast. Specifically, Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner use motifs such as: redemption through love, patriotism, and sacrifice which run throughout both of their operas. The theme of betrayal also seems to be echoed throughout both operas; yet they are each used to project a different response. The significance of this comparison demonstrates that Verdi and Wagner may allude to the same references, such as Victor Hugo, Shakespeare, and Byron, but the operas The Flying Dutchman (German opera) and that of Nabucco (Italian opera) are completely different in context, and musical style; perhaps even
In Richard Wagner’s, The Ring of the Nibelungs, there are four operas in his cycle titled, The Rhinegold, The Valkyries, Sigried, and The Twilight of the Gods. Wagner’s first opera, The Rhinegold, unfolds with a dwarf, Alberich, who was mocked when trying to pursue three Rhine maidens that are guarding a magic ring. The Rhinegold was the magic ring offering the power to who wears it, though that individual must relinquish love. Once the Rhine maidens told Alberich of the power the Rhinegold withheld, he had stolen the ring from them, closing scene one.
The Renaissance and Baroque era entailed very different characteristics, due to the Renaissance composers writing more freely and being more individual then those of the Baroque era where they followed more ‘rules’ and experimented less. This essay will show the difference in two pieces by different composers, even though they were written less than a century apart.
Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck, was written in 1762 and The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart was written in 1786. It is interesting to analyse the changes and developments from opera seria to these two examples.