9. An Analysis of the Vocal Ensembles from the Opera “I Puritani” by Vincenzo Bellini (original) (raw)
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Studies of melody in Puccini have adopted a variety of interpretative strategies, ranging from attempts to define general or historical stylistic features, through accounts of semantic content (1) and text-setting, to more formalist analyses. Underlying these various approaches is an acknowledgement that operatic melody, through its connection to drama, gives rise to a number of considerations beyond those that apply to instrumental melody. Investigations that concentrate upon musical parameters have generally sought, to a greater or lesser degree, to take account of their interdependence with non-musical elements such as dramaturgy, staging, and libretto. This may go some way towards explaining why analytical studies of melodic structure in Puccini have tended to assume a cellular or motivic foundation, and have employed corresponding analytical methods. Melodic motives lend themselves more readily to alignment with non-musical aspects of the drama than many other forms of analytical reduction, as witnessed by the long and prolific tradition of motivic/thematic guides to operas. (2) The identification of "basic cells" and "mosaic-forms" likewise offers an effective means of mapping musical structure onto dramatic events. In this article I shall survey the analytical tradition relating to Puccinian melody before putting forward some suggestions as to alternative theories and methods. The survey concentrates upon the more overtly formalist analyses of melodic cells, motives, and mosaics and does not involve the large literature devoted to broader issues of form and structure. As well as providing a context for the subsequent case studies, and a source of reference for those readers unfamiliar with the literature, the survey is intended to demonstrate a uniformity of approach within the analytical tradition that supports the case for a widening of the avenues of research. The suggested analytical method that follows is based upon voice-leading reductions that suggest patterns of expectation and fulfilment, and is applied in the main part of the article to seven brief case studies drawn from well-known Puccini melodies. Motives, Cells, and Mosaics [2] Carner's study (1958) may be credited with consolidating the "mosaic" theory of Puccinian melody, which has been taken
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This project has been very long in the making and thanks are due to many friends, colleagues and institutions. I am very grateful for many inspirational conversations with Colin Slim, Margaret Murata and Bill Holmes many years ago when I was an undergraduate student at the University of California, Irvine. It was a music history lecture with Bill Holmes that first stimulated my interest in Farinelli. At the University of Southern California, Jim and Joyce Tyler supported and encouraged my studies in performance practice and professional work as a performer of 18 th-century Italian opera. A special thanks to Bruce Brown, whose friendship, support and feedback have been, and continue to be, invaluable to me. I would like to express my sincere gratitude both to the College of Arts and the School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow for their generous funding of my research. Warm thanks also to the University of Glasgow library staff for their help in acquiring reproductions from archives throughout Europe. I am very grateful to the music staff at the University of Glasgow, especially Nick Fells for his kind, generous support and Martin Cloonan for his continuous encouragement. A heartfelt thanks to my inspirational supervisor, John Butt, for his creative, challenging and insightful comments and constructive criticism as well as his patience, assistance and unfailing cheerfulness. I also thank Rouksana, Jane, Grace and Kenneth; their support has meant very much to me. A very special thanks to Hannes, Gila, Flo and Axel and, above all, my parents, to whom I dedicate this study. All mistakes are, of course, my own.
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This essay tracks the historical-musicological context of the lemma “organi” / “organo” as it appears in Purg. 9.144 and Par. 17.44. Drawing from medieval treatises and monks’ descriptions such as Raban Maur, Notkerus Balbulus, Baldric of Dol, Aelred of Rievaulx, and Wulstan, the author uses intertextual evidence to show that Purg. 9.144 (“quando a cantar con organi si stea”) evokes a great pipe organ as was found in some medieval churches. The essay also argues that Par. 17.43–44 (“come viene ad orecchia / dolce armonia da organo”) should be understood as a polyphonic organum that serves the twofold purpose of lending authority to the Commedia’s longest prophecy and of musically representing the harmonious reconciliation of the highs and lows in human life.