Opera defines a form of art, either comic or tragic, where musicians and vocalists perform dramatic pieces that bring together the elements of musical score and text, more often than not in a theatrical setting. Though dramatic, music forms an essential part of the opera. As such, operas usually contain choruses, arials, recitatives, trios and duets, and congregate the elements of spoken theatre, like costumes, dance, scenery and drama. In simple terms, opera is drama set to music, which could either be orchestral music or music from a lesser ensemble.
Opera as we know it is believed to have been created by an elite class of humanists from Florentine, who were referred to as the Cammerata de Bardi in a quest to revivie classical Greek drama. This explains why earlier versions of operas borrowed their plots from Greek mythology, with most popular one being the Legend of Orpheus (Hubbard 37).
Opera music has distinct characteristics that separate it from other classes of music, especially in terms of form. One of opera’s important characteristics would be the librettos, which may either be comical or serious in nature (Hubbard 45). Later on, Opera was separated into two genres, Opera Seria, the serious opera and Opera Buffa, the comical opera. Unlike operettas, operas have a unique musical complexity and differ from the latter in the subject matter. Even though oratorios have been linked to operas, the two differ especially in as far as the subject matter is concerned. Oratorios are primarily anchored on religious rhetoric and are performed devoid of sceneries, drama or costumes. Opera emphasizes on spoken dialogue on the backdrop of musical accompaniment, such as an orchestra or the harpsichord, which was a common accompaniment in earlier opera years (Hubbard 60).
The music that accompanies the dramatic scenes in opera is usually continuous, with set pieces like choral pieces, quartets, duets, solos, trios used to dramatize the action on stage while showcasing the specific vocal skills of the performing singer (Albright 57). They also help in breaking the monotony that would otherwise abound as is evident in the use of Marguerite (soprano), Mephistopheles (bass) and Faust (tenor) in Gounod’s Faust, which enabled the singers to display their vocal prowess and later combining their voices into an ensemble (Albright 70).
Opera began in the year 1600, though musical drama like ‘The Play of Daniel (12th C)’ existed before this time (Hubbard 19). Florence, Italy is the place where Opera was born under the midwifery of the camerata, a caucus made up of philosophers, scholars and amateur musicians such as the legendary Jacopo Peri, Ottavio Rinuccini, Vincenzo , Giulio Caccini and Emilio del Cavaliere. This elite group was devoted to promoting the aspect of monodic music declamation, that is, a single line of melody with its basis being the ancient Greek drama (Gerhard 77).
Early composers named their works dramma per musica which means drama through music, and operas musicians form the 17th and 18th C involved myths and historical figures as plots in their drama. Written in 1597, Jacopo Peri’s Dafne is considered by many to be the first Opera in existence (Riggs 43). This was one of the many attempts done to revive classical Greek drama. Sadly though, Dafne got lost throughout the years and only a few snippets of the musical drama still exist.
Euridice, composed by Jacopo Periand set to verse by Rinuccini Ottavio in quick succession is 1600, is thought to be the oldest opera music that is available to the masses today, and is therefore regarded the first complete opera (Hubbard 77). This was later followed by 's that was composed in 1607, in the court of Mantua. Opera music then went viral, throughout the Baroque and renaissance periods. From its humble beginnings in the streets of Florentine, Opera spread into Rome and Venice, where Baroque opera is said to have developed. The first Opera house in the world was opened in 1700 in Venice with Monteverdi’s La Favola d'Orfeo ( The Tale of Orpheus, 1607) and L'Incoronazione di Poppea ( The Coronation of Poppea, 1642), being the most common screen plays performed (Hubbard 81).
It is important to note that operas in the beginning used signature monotones in their melodic line. This is evident in 's , Peri’s and Gounod’s Faust (Gerhard 98).However; modern opera has a different stylistic manifestation especially in the tonality of the melody. Comparison between ancient and modern opera will reveal a major shift from conventional tonality which was perpetuated by the likes of Tristan chord and Richard Wagner (Gerhard 103). Composers such as Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten, Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith and Giacomo Puccini are credited with the push from Wagnerian harmony, attributed to Richard Wagner, to a new style that embraced the use of dissonance and wider chromatism.
Works Cited
Albright, Daniel. Music Speaks: On the Language of Opera, Dance, and Song. New York:
Gerhard, Anselm. The Urbanization of Opera: Music Theater in Paris in the Nineteenth Century.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Riggs, kate. Opera Music. Madison: The Creative Company, 2008.
W. L. Hubbard, H. E. Krehbiel. The American History Encyclopedia Of Music: Operas.
Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing, 2004.
