The Development of Certain Tendencies in Modern Opera / Thesis for the degree of Bachelor of Music

by Kathryn Eleanor Browne

III. ROSSINI AND HIS SCHOOL UP TO WAGNER.

In 1814 the operatic conditions were deplorable. Vocalists were masters over the composers. They accepted the mere skeleton of a tune, and so adorned it with their own trills and flourishes that the poor composer could scarcely recognize it. The solos were placed to suit their convenience, whether or not they were suited dramatically. The tenor singers were very prominent and the bass singers had not as yet emerged from the background.

Rossini expelled the male soprani from the stage, directed and controlled his own operas. His music was sensuous and, as shown in "William Tell", of a simple dramatic style. The operas were of two acts and scarcely conducive to the maintenance of dramatic action, separated by a ballet. His "Elizabetha" contained an overture, a duet and the finale had involved motives in the orchestra. There were two tenors, for the bass was still in the background. This was the first opera in which the recitative was accompanied by a stringed quartet and double bass. He supported the declamation by brilliant themes for the orchestra. "The Barber of Seville" is a series of melodies, continuous, and the characters only ceased to sing for strains executed by the instrumentalists. The transfer of the current of the melody from the voices to the orchestra was an entirely new idea. He also introduced new instruments into the orchestra.

Mozart was indebted to the Italians for the sweetness of his melodies and gave to Italy, through Rossini, new instrumental combinations, new dramatic methods and new operatic forms. The horn, eighty years ago, was not very important in Italy and the orchestration played in the operatic band probably had a part in developing the taste for wind instruments and especially for horns. Rossini was a student of Haydn's symphonies and quartets.

In the opera-buffo "L'Equivaco Stravagante" the concerted pieces are good, and the final rondo a type of final airs. "L'Inganno Felice" was the first to make an impression. "Ciro in Babilonia" was given to accomodate a woman, who sustained one tone while the orchetra played the melody. With "Tancredi" came the commencement of reforms and the character of the easily comprehended melodies was fascinating. Rossini substituted singing for declamation, for monologues supported by chords, and concerted pieces connected with and supported by a brilliant orchestral accompaniment. In "Tancredi" the bass was given prominence, in fact he was as prominent as the tenor. In "Semiramide" the principal is a bass. The action is sustained, the number of formal airs decreased, the number of characters increased and a free use made of the chorus, which previous to this time had been merely a subordinate part with no dramatic functions. In "Otello" the recitative is used more sparingly and accompanied by a full band, from which the piano was banished. This had been expelled before in Germany, and by Gluck in France. The two leading parts are assigned to bass voices, and the interminable recitative accompanied by double piano or piano and double bass, is done away with. The most beautiful airs for the prima donna are in "La Cenercatola".

Rossini was now bringing his operas to a brilliant termination, and beginning to emphasize the alto and mezzo voice. It was only toward the end of his Italian career in "Matilda di Shubrun" that he assigned the leading part to a soprano. We find now that there are no leading parts written for contralto and whether this is due the fact that the soprano has bean forced into activity to suit new tastes, or because contraltos are rare, we can not say. Of course Meyerbeer's "L'Africaine" and Donnizetti's "La Favorita" are exceptions. The orchestration of "La Gazza Ladrone" is more brilliant and sonorous than that of its predecessors and introduces new instruments, new combinations, a new distribution of voice parts, and of orchestral melodies with declamatory phrases for the singers instead of the endless recitative accompanied only by chords for the cellos or piano.

He introduced cornets and ophicleides in the overture to "William Tell", as the nearest approach to the actual instruments used by the cowherders of Switzerland. In "Semiramide" he brought an entire band onto the stage and wrote beautifully harmonized music which suggests the chase. He began the overture to "La Gazza Ladrona" with a duet for the drums, and did away with the extemporaneous attempts at orchestration by solo instrumentalists in the accompaniment, who were every bit as disagreeable and authoritative os the vocal soloists.

Berlioz charged that Rossini's music was heartless, unemotional and written entirely for the singer, utterly disregarding the vocal effect. His particular attention to orchestral and choral effects may be traced to the Parisian influence of his fine experience in hearing their choruses and orchestras. His music changed from the soft voluptuous melodies of "Semiramide" to simple emotional dramatic ones in "William Tell".

Rossini, as mentioned before, was the first Italian to accompany recitative with a full band, assign leading parts to the bass, make each dramatic scene one continuous piece of music, and bring to perfection the highly varied, amply developed, concerted finales.