Elvira & Zerlino Mozart's Don Giovanni The choice of the “Three women of Don Giovanni” can give a good understanding of the type of music which was used to create an opera in the 18th century Italy. The opera buffa was a comic opera with a funny story line and light music. Mozart wrote at different levels. In order to have full understanding of the women's roles, it is necessary to understand the social context of women in the 18 century. In Kristi Brown's Mozart's Women she compared…
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However, the ideas of love, lust, and even rape have been projected to audiences for centuries. The perfect example of this is the spell-binding opera Don Giovanni, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although this opera was composed and performed in 1787, it incorporated all of these elements. Only, it did it in a more subtle way. Don Giovanni, the Italian equivalent of Don Juan, was a nobleman who traveled Europe and made love to literally thousands of women.…
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In Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni, the main protagonist is a ruthless character who desires nothing but hedonistic pleasure. He constantly harrases women, about 2,000 to be more precise, and disregards them afterwards. The theme that resonates in this opera is Aristotle's concept of a tragic hero. Aristotle gave the name tragic hero to someone that is better than us but, because of his tragic flaw, he meets his downfall. Don Giovanni is always better than any of the the characters because of his nobility…
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Salzburg, Austria. From four years old, Mozart’s dad began pushing his son into playing music. Mozart was able to play piano pieces before the age of five. Without the influence of his father, his musical talent may have never been realized. So Mozart’s dad felt no need to hide Wolfgang’s talents at home, and the child played his first recital at the age of six for the Empress of Austria. In 1763 his father decided to go on a concert tour with the whole family. Mozart’s dad’s true goal of the tour was to…
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Exploring Music- Opera notes Definition: an extended dramatic composition, in which all parts are sung to instrumental accompaniment, which usually includes arias, choruses, and recitatives, and that sometimes includes ballet. Key Issues/information Opera Opera is a mixed-media form of art and often involves actor-singers, musicians, often dancers, scenery, lighting, props, production staff, and assorted paraphernalia. “Opera is a veritable symbiosis in which sense and sound unite as equals”…
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“Mozart is historically notable as one of the first composers to attempt to make a living as a musical freelancer… he was both prodigy and creator” (Manheim 132). Mozart, possibly one of the world's greatest composers composed hundreds of very well known, and much played works. In the thirty-five years Mozart lived, he accomplished many things such as traveling and touring Europe, he also helped design Anton Stadler’s Basset Clarinet and Basset Horn, bringing them into the world of standard repertoire…
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Handel’s major compositions • State Handel’s role in history Handel in a Nutshell Handel was a brilliant composer who wrote a vast amount of exceptionally well crafted music. Handel distinguished himself for writing oratorios, operas, music for the harpsichord, concerti grossi, music for orchestra and an extensive variety of sacred and secular music. His music was regarded as the most elegant and well written of his time. Handel was a giant among giants, with other composers…
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able to understand where he is coming from and what the music is trying to convey. There are many good things about his style one of which is that he is very classical in form and follows its traditions. According to Mozart, Fisher, & Da Ponte; Mozart’s goal is specifically, to comply, with…
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betrayed and abandoned by her husband. The opera After the dramatic and agitated overture (interrupted by a wistful middle section) we observe Costanza, standing beside a boulder, facing the sea. On the boulder, she is laboriously carving an inscription that chronicles her supposed desertion. Haydn’s instrumental music suggests this activity, as well as delineating the characters, their emotional states, and their responses to each other; later in the opera he will associate the violin with Costanza…
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maintenance of tonal centers amidst mostly dissonant harmony, and reference to materials or forms from before the nineteenth century. Important works in Stravinsky's neoclassical style are Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920), Octet (1923) and the opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (1927). This was followed by other breakthrough works such as Symphony of Psalms (1930), a work critics have praised as among his greatest. Multiple Styles: Stravinsky went on to continually re-invent his music, writing in an…
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