Essay Structure

1. Opera before Gluck (Baroque Opera Seria)

 Baroque opera ‘superficial’
 Very decorated melodies for Arias; virtuosic melodies
 Clear distinction between Arias and Recitatives
 Italian Librettos (even when performed in England or Germany)
 Very little emotion in the music
 Operia Seria was deemed rhetorical – the story had a message to send across to its listeners,
with the aim of the opera to teach and edify its listeners (comedy was left to Opera Buffa)
2. Why the need for a reform of opera?
 a ‘profound yearning for free, simple, unaffected expression of human feelings’
 a want for less serious content with more musical importance (but not comedy)
 simple expression through increased dramaticism
 more emotional quality – more interaction between characters and a more realistic
presentation of feelings (not just operatic virtuosity)
3. How can Orfeo ed Euridice be identified as a reform opera?
 Story based on classical mythology (as opposed to a moral or serious story)
 Main cast only consists of three characters (in opposition to the superfluous nature of
anything Baroque)
 The plot is short and to the point (ibid)
 the libretto is full of emotion as Orfeo laments through the first two scenes of the Opera
with language such as ‘Alone my sorrow stricken breast shall once more sigh her name
where she will rest in death’
 the opera focuses on feelings rather than events (emotional expressiveness)

the music is also emotional and complements the poetry: This was a very noticeable variation to
previous operatic ideology, that seemed to feel that the libretto and the music to an opera may have
been both important, but that they had their separate areas of development and never truly shared the
stage . (http://www.classicalmusicjournal.com.au/glucks-reform-operas/)
  Simple word setting that emphasises the meaning of the text
 Gluck considered the ‘tone’ of instruments and how they would help the words be
expressed
 Gluck realised the important emotional effect of instrumentation
 Gluck did not feel bound to using the Da Capo aria which he felt held up the progress of the
plot
 He inserted dances or purely orchestral numbers if he felt it helped portray the plot
 Gluck removed overt virtuosic passages, such as coloratura cadenzas, as they did not serve
the dramatic action
 A happy ending!
4. Analysis: (a)Che Faro Senza Euridice?
 It is not a Da Capo aria. Form? With bar references? (5 part rondo ABACA)
  Melody: frequent use of the dissonant appoggiatura (the descending melodic semitone at
the end of phrases) to convey a musical ‘sigh’; so even though the melody is in a major key,
the sense of anguish and grief is still achieved (bar number references)
 Locate simple word inflections on the score
 It is thought that Gluck wrote the aria in C major as Orfeo’s emotional state is almost
beyond grief! That a minor key would suppress the emotion, or, it’s purpose was not to
evoke sadness but transcend it.

Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy

By James Stark
Edition: illustrated, reprint
Published by University of Toronto Press, 2003
ISBN 0802086144, 9780802086143

5. Analysis: (b) Recitativo: Ecco in Nuovo Tormento?

 Use of orchestra to accompany the recitative and not just basso continuo
 Any points where music supports text or dram