HOW WERE THE AIMS OF THE FLORENTINE CAMERATA REFLECTED / CONTRADICTED BY

LATER OPERA COMPOSERS?

Florentine Camerata

 A group of intellectuals (poets, musicians, scientists, architects) who met regularly to

discuss matters of interest

 A new type of art form combining:

MUSIC
POETRY
DANCE
DRAMA
DESIGN (i.e. visual arts)

 Modelled on the ideals of Ancient Greek drama

 Promoting the use of song to intensify the emotional impact of poetry and drama
- the camerata believed that song brings out the meaning and representative intent
more clearly

 Composers such as Caccini treated the singer as the persona of the poem (i.e. like a
narrator or actor), rather than spreading it across a group of several voices as seen in the
English madrigals
SINGLE SINGER + ACCOMPANYING INSTRUMENT = MONODY
(composers were trying to make the expression of a text seem realistic)
- the melody can closely follow the meaning / rhythm of the text, whilst also being
far more virtuosic than polyphonic song

 The camerata were principally concerned with reforming the excessive use of
ornamentation (think back to the English madrigals) and bringing about a more beautiful
and expressive style of singing

Stile Rappresentativo

e.g. Giulio Caccini, 'Amarilli mia bella'

3 elements in order of importance:

1) text (the words take priority over the harmony and melody)
2) accurate rhythmic declamation of the words
3) an appropriate melody

Therefore, EXPRESSIVENESS was more important than compositional logic

(How does this differ from English madrigals, for instance?)

Try thinking about how later opera composers reflected / contradicted the aims of the
Florentine Camerata...

I would suggest that you think about...

Monteverdi, L'Orfeo

Purcell, Dido and Aeneas (remember the use of the GROUND BASS, a repeating bass
pattern, that predetermines much of the music – the Camerata would have preferred to
start with the text, and then carefully think about how to set each word to the music)

any of Handel's operas (here we have highly ornate music, where the virtuosity of the
performer is far more evident than any text / storyline; opera-goers had to be amazed by
the performing prowess of the singers)

Mozart, Don Giovanni or Marriage of Figaro (comic opera, or opera buffa – plots are the
complete opposite of Greek mythology; Mozart also believed that music should take priority
over the words)

Puccini, Tosca (music, not text, is the main dramatic agent)

What was Wagner's approach to writing opera?

 Theatre design
- no boxes on the side of the opera house: Wagner wanted the audience to be
immersed in the drama
- orchestra pit: orchestra is completely hidden from view (nothing must detract from
the drama)

 Wagner used a very large orchestra in his operas (lots of brass instruments, including the
specially-invented Wagner tuba)

 Many of Wagner's operas use stories from Germanic, Celtic, Norse and Christian myths
and legends (rather than ancient Greece / Rome)

 Use of DISSONANCE (Up until Wagner, dissonant clashes of notes were always resolved to
end up on comfortable, well-rounded chords with no clashes)
- in Tristan und Isolde Wagner allows dissonances to sit there without properly
resolving, or resolving in unorthodox ways

 Wagner wrote everything for his operas, as well as the music, including the libretto
(essentially, like a script)
 GESAMTKUNSTWERK
(complete art work)

- a synthesis of the arts

- music, theatre and visual arts combined into a single complete artwork allows each
individual component to be at its most expressive
- Wagner devised the words, music, stage action, scenery, and even the opera house (i.e.
Bayreuth)

 Similar in many ways to the Florentine Camerata, BUT:

- Wagner was in control of it all (the Camerata collaborated on their operas)

In reality, Wagner completely contradicted his ideal:

- music is more important than the text, but not more important than the drama
- dramatic content is delivered primarily through the music
- leitmotifs (which hold the key to the drama) are nearly always played by the
orchestra

 It is also worth noting the continuous melody found in Wagner's operas, especially the
Ring Cycle
- you never get a sense of finishing up one thing before the next section starts (no
time for the audience to clap after an aria)
- Wagner makes the music entirely seamless

You should be able to refer to specific examples of Wagner's operas that we've looked at

I would suggest, definitely:

Tristan und Isolde (to describe Wagner's innovative use of dissonance by way of the Tristan
chord)
The Flying Dutchman (you can use this to discuss the idea of the LEITMOTIF - we've looked
at the 'Dutchman's curse' and 'Redemption through love' motives)
Ring Cycle (for its sheer, epic scale and length - in particular the use of continuous melody)

You may also want to consider the Mastersingers of Nuremberg for its German nationalistic
portrayals (nationalism in music was a very important component of much nineteenth-
century music)