While the term “bel canto” is a rather loose term, Celletti’s words seem to sum up what bel canto was generally about. The Italian term translated to “beautiful singing,” developed in the late seventeenth century, where it became a technique used to create a beautiful sound as opposed to the imitation of instruments by the voice. It was also intended to set virtuoso singers apart from amateur and choral singers, which resulted in a new kind of vocal expression. Giulio Caccini, a member of the Florentine Camerata, was one of the theorists to advise against imitation of instruments by the voice. Instrumental virtuosity came about during the same time as the bel canto style was developed. The human voice was a model to be followed by instrumentalists who developed an affinity towards the melodic purity of the voice. As Celletti points out, the principal followed during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is that instrumental sound should emulate the human voice in both “colour and expressiveness.” In short, the bel canto style originated from a strong effort of imagination and technical skill in which singers and instrumentalists joined forces.
Many scholars use the term “bel canto” as a comprehensive label for all vocal performance between 1600 and 1850, and did not begin to represent a style of singing until the second half of the nineteenth century. One of the starting places to bel canto was Monteverdi. In a letter to Alessandro Striggio, Monteverdi states that “for males and females alike, the appropriate musical language is simle canto spianato, (plain, unadorned singing), but that divine beings should express themselves in the symbolic language of tirate, (scale-like runs), gorgheggi (shakes), and trills.” ...
... middle of paper ...
...l canto tradition did not begin to fade away until Wagner and his new Germanic school of singing. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) also had an impact on this style. During the mid-nineteenth century, a weightier and more fervent style began to replace the lyrical quality of bel canto singing, which was required to sing Verdi, Wagner and Weber. This new German style took over, which required much more chest singing as opposed to the floaty head voice or falsetto as used by bel canto tenors. Sopranos and baritones had to adjust in a similar fashion as tenors, using greater pressure throughout their range, while basses and contraltos were not affected as much by this style of singing. Today, we can be grateful for the singers who revived the bel canto style, such as Antonio Cotogni and many that were previously mentioned, like Joan Sutherland Maria Callas and Marilyn Horne.
The first composition, "Miserere Mei, Deus", was produced by Gregorio Allegri in 1638. I learned this, as I read along with the well-thought-out program that was given. As we, the audience, looked up to the vocalists, we were entranced by the consuming sound. The room filled with a vibrant melody, in which the harmonization and tone color was spectacular. The emotion conveyed throughout the room was one of absorption and delight. During this piece, the sopranos hit such high notes, that I was astounded. Being a person who participates in concert choir, I understand the level of commitment and talent it takes to reach those notes and stay in tune. This ...
In an article in Musical Quarterly in 1999, Beth L. Glixon wrote that Strozzi was “the most prolific composer – man or woman – of printed secular vocal music in Venice in the middle of the 17th century”. In 1644, Strozzi published her first opus “the first work that I, as a woman, all too daringly bring to the light of day”. Dedicated to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, these madrigals featured texts written by her father. Her remaining eight published collections appeared after Giulio Strozzi died in 1652, with some texts written by her father’s friends; others by herself. Almost all of her works were secular and most were written for a lyric soprano. They show her flexible mastery of musical form as she moved easily between cantatas, ariettas and duets. Her significant body of work included six volumes of cantatas, more than any other composer working in that genre at the time.
Austell, Edmund S. "Great Opera Singers." : Farinelli: The Great Castrato. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
“For over one thousand years the official music of the Roman Catholic church had been Gregorian Chant, which consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment” (Kamien 67). The credit for developing Gregorian chant music, also known as plain...
...tion through voice selection and harmonic function. Hasse has returned to his celebrated status as we remember him in modern times for his influence and formation of the classic opera form.
1. The new classical vocal form was created at the end of the 19th century that included the orchestra is etude (french word for study). Etude was written in the early 20th century and oversaw numerous collections of etudes. Major composers such as Claude Debussy and Franz Liszt achieve this form in the concert repertoires that features didactic pieces from earlies times like vocal solfeggi and keyboard.
It was an early age when Monteverdi’s career began, he then published his first pieces, and this was based on as a collection of three-voice motets, at the age of fifteen. It was by 1591, when he went to Mantua as a musician for the Gonzaga court, by then he had already published books of “spiritual madrigals” in 1583, then another canzonettas in 1584, by 1587 and 1590 he published his first two books of “madrigals.” It was in Mantua he continued writing madrigals, and then in 1607 he produced his first work in the new genre of opera, the setting was of Orfeo. 1613, he was then appointed maestro di cappella at ST. Mark’s Cathedral which was held in Venice. Monteverdi had remained in Venice for the rest of his life, writing music in all different kinds of genres, including his final opera, “incoronaszione di Poppea in 1642.
As discussed by Greenberg (2009), the Renaissance saw many changes and advancements over a two hundred year span of evolution in music. The intellectual and social trends strayed from the absolute power of the church and secular music became admired and composed for the beauty of its art. Renaissance composers developed a more expressive style by clearly articulating lyrics “musica reservata” and a process called word painting or tone painting which reflected
As time passed and music continued to evolve what is known as the Renaissance period emerged from 1475-1600. Music during this period was still written with worship as its intentions. Where the Medieval period had no harmony the Renaissance period introduced the use of a constant chord to form the building block of the different pieces. A good example of this period of music is “Ave Maria” by Josquin written in 1485. The many different voices the repeat the same words create a process called imitation. This particular chant is capella, meaning that it is performed by voices alone and has no musical accompaniment and with all the voices entering at different times but in harmony counterpoint i...
The term romantic first appeared at sometime during the latter half of the 18th Century, meaning in quite literal English, "romance-like", usually referring to the character of mythical medieval romances. The first significant jump was in literature, where writing became far more reliant on imagination and the freedom of thought and expression, in around 1750. Subsequent movements then began to follow in Music and Art, where the same kind of imagination and expression began to appear. In this essay I shall be discussing the effect that this movement had on music, the way it developed, and the impact that it had on the future development of western music.
History shows that women were not as big of participants in music as men until later in the medieval era. This is due to many obstacles that faced women disabling them from singing, playing any instruments, or even composing music. Although barriers were present, many women and nuns were able to surpass them, and make use of their abilities and skills. In this paper, I will present the role of women as they interacted with polyphony, and as they became scribes, performers, composers, and patrons.
With the Romantic era taking a foothold in the nineteenth century, the rise of the German opera was nourished with the rise of nationalism in music. Due to the comparative nature of the German language versus the Italian language, early German language operas were imitative but could not effectively compete with Italian language operas. “Traditional operatic singing was a function, an outgrowth of the Italian language, the nature of its vowels, and consonants, and its ability to sustain melisma. As long as German language opera attempted to compete with Italian opera on its own artistic turf without one embracing the unique character of German language vocal music and two, by employing plot elements that would somehow distinguish it from
The 20th century was an extremely rich period for the arts, including music. Artists pursued new means of expression, and many musical artwork including compositions caused euphoria among the critics and audiences because of their innovative character. Modernism replaced the romanticized aesthetics of the 19th century and composers ventured to discover new sonorities, forms, organizational systems, rhythms and instruments. Luciano Berio was born in the midst of this cultural whirlwind which was taking place between both World Wars. The Italian composer whose career flourished after World War II in the United States had contact with the most prominent composers of his time such as Dallapiccola, Boulez, Stockhausen, Ligeti, Posseur and Cage.
The Baroque period was “one of the most brilliant periods in history, standing squarely at the crossroads between medieval and modern times, this was an age of real achievement, strong hope, and vigorous actuality” (McKinney 270). The term Baroque comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning a pearl of irregular shape (Smith 31). Beginning in Italy, the Baroque period was known for its “grandiose concepts” and “magnificent effects”. The grandiose concepts were basically concepts that were grand and over the top. The magnificent effects were just fancy effects. Even while writing the music of that time, the composers would always make the notes fancy and curly. An era of emotional art and music, this period was divided into two time frames: the Early Baroque and the Late Baroque. The Early Baroque lasted from 1650 to 1700 (Britten 84). During this period, choruses and opera were widely popular. Dances were also choreographed to include grace into the songs when performed. Lasting from 1700 to 1750, the Late Baroque added a style of singing known as bel canto (Britten 85). In bel canto, the beauty of the sound overtook the importance of the dramatic dances. Summarizing these two periods, dramatic dancing became popular to go along with the music during the Early Baroque music and singing became popular to be performed along with the music during the Late Baroque. The Baroque period was also a time of numerous achievements. Driven by the influences of the Renaissance period, man began to realize what phenomenal things one could achieve. But what changes in music occurred at this time and what other achievements were made? The Baroque period was a phenomenal period still talked about today.
This era is recognized by the creation of tonality, as well as the establishment of the opera, cantata, and concerto. Different from the classical era, this era featured a unity of mood, a continuous rhythm and melody, and a predominantly polyphonic texture, meaning that there were two melody lines, each fighting for the listener 's attention. The composers from the Baroque period were well-known for their extravagant, frivolous and bizarre usage of their instruments and their performances. The most notable influence from this era is in modern music especially rock music, because in rock music emotions are intense and the mood are usually unified just like the music from the Baroque period. Some artists and rock bands have adopted this bizarre style, for example Prince and Lady Gaga. Many rock bands were inspired by composers of this era such as Bach because of the intensity of his