DOCSLIB.ORG

Mozart's Orchestral Cantabile Style: Eighteenth-Century Origins Of

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mozart's Orchestral Cantabile Style: Eighteenth-Century Origins Of Mozart’s Orchestral Cantabile Style: Eighteenth-Century Origins of String Performance Practices by David Bowser A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto ©Copyright by David Bowser (2015) Mozart’s Orchestral Cantabile Style: Eighteenth-Century Origins of String Performance Practices David Bowser Doctor of Musical Arts (2015) Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto A stylistic change in mid-eighteenth-century compositions inspired a decidedly lyrical concept of string playing characterized by connected bowing manner, sustained tone and legato phrasing. At the same time, string instruments and particularly bows were adapted to the changing performance style and became standardized. Mozart’s letters and other historical documents suggest that vibrato and portamento were characteristic to some degree of the string performance style of the late eighteenth century. While Roger Norrington contends that vibrato was not a feature of orchestral string performance before the mid-1930s, historical texts, score indications, string teachers and scholars imply that string vibrato saw a longer evolution over centuries. The instrumental cantabile style in Mozart’s music is inspired by the voice and its qualities. Two characteristics have bearing specifically on performance practices of the orchestral string repertoire: the voice possesses an innate sense of connectivity and a natural tendency to vibrate. This study examines compositional style and corresponding performance practices in orchestral string playing in the eighteenth century and traces the evolution of string vibrato into the twentieth century. It explores the stylistic changes during the mid-eighteenth century, tracking the development from old to new styles and the emergence of melody, the origins and development of the High Classical style of Mozart and Haydn, and the implications of this ii stylistic evolution for eighteenth-century performance practices, especially as they relate to compositions of Mozart. Included are an analysis of historical texts and treatises referring to string vibrato, a survey of current scholarly opinion, and a discussion of string vibrato indications in scores composed in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. This study examines research on vocal vibrato by vocal scientists and pedagogues while appraising Mozart’s statement that “the voice trembles naturally” and that “people imitate it…on stringed instruments.” Finally, this research addresses Norrington’s claims and investigates indicators of orchestral string vibrato application revealed in archival footage of Bruno Walter conducting in rehearsal, and in early twentieth-century archival films of German, French and British orchestras. iii Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Mary Ann Parker for sharing her expertise and offering continuous guidance and unwavering support. I am grateful to Dr. Gillian MacKay, Dr. Robin Elliott, Dr. Katharine Rapoport and Maestro Timothy Vernon for their encouragement and interest in this research. I extend my thanks to the very knowledgeable and obliging archivists who assisted me in viewing and reviewing many hours of film footage. In particular I wish to recognize the kind assistance of David Parrett (Deutsches Bundesarchiv), Doris Hartmann (Deutsches Bundesarchiv), Werner Nowak (Landesarchiv Berlin), Günter Krenn (Film Archiv Wien), and Georg Wasner (Österreichisches Filmmuseum) Finally, I wish to thank my family and friends for their love and support. iv Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Eighteenth-Century Style and Mozart’s Cantabile .................................................5 I. Changing Compositional Style in the Mid-Eighteenth Century ...............................................5 German empfindsam aesthetics ............................................................................................5 Sensibility and Empfindsamkeit ...........................................................................................7 Learned and galant styles .....................................................................................................8 “Mozart was not an innovator” ............................................................................................9 II. The Hasse Era ........................................................................................................................12 “Digli ch’io son fedele” ....................................................................................................12 Mozart’s “Se al labbro mio non credi,” K. 295 .................................................................14 III. Graun, “the Father of our Music” ........................................................................................15 Der Tod Jesu ......................................................................................................................16 “Ein Gebet um neue Stärke” ............................................................................................18 Harmonic Expansion ..........................................................................................................21 Periodic Structure...............................................................................................................22 Simplification of Rhythm ..................................................................................................23 IV. Changing Performance Style in the Eighteenth Century .....................................................23 “Ordinary Manner” ...........................................................................................................23 Articulation ........................................................................................................................24 Bowing Techniques ...........................................................................................................25 V. String Instruments in the Eighteenth Century .......................................................................26 Mozart’s Violin ..................................................................................................................26 Tourte Bow ........................................................................................................................27 v VI. Mozart’s Expressive Style and Corresponding Performance Practices ...............................28 Eighteenth-Century Style Categories .................................................................................28 Vocal Works Composed for Aloysia Weber Lange .........................................................30 Doubling the voice: “Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben,” from Zaïde ..................................31 Finale of Act 4 of le Nozze di Figaro: “In tuono suppliche vole.” ....................................32 “Tamino mein! o welch ein Glück! – Pamina meine! o welch ein Glück!” .....................33 “Tenerezza dell'espressione” .............................................................................................33 Cantabile Viola in Così fan tutte ........................................................................................34 Mozart’s Church Music .....................................................................................................34 Elevated Expression in Die Zauberflöte ............................................................................35 Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 ........................................................................36 Andante versus Adagio ......................................................................................................40 Chapter 2: Indicators of Historical Vibrato Applications .......................................................43 I. Current Opinion and Scholarship addressing String Vibrato .................................................43 Ornamental Embellishment in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries ..........................44 Eighteenth-Century Treatises .............................................................................................45 Leopold Mozart’s Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule ..............................................48 Tone and “endless melody” in the Nineteenth Century .....................................................50 Influential Teachers: Joseph Böhm, Louis Spohr, Charles de Bériot, Joseph Joachim .....51 II. Solo versus Ensemble Performance ......................................................................................53 Configuration of the Orchestra ..........................................................................................55 Concert Halls and Expanding Audience ............................................................................55 III. The Science and Nature of the Voice ...................................................................................56 Connectivity and Vibrancy ................................................................................................56 Scientific Evaluation of Vibrato ........................................................................................57 vi Breath and Muscular Antagonism .....................................................................................58 Vibrato Compared to Straight Tone ...................................................................................59
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Register of Music Performed in Concert, Nazareth, Pennsylvania from 1796 to 1845: an Annotated Edition of an American Moravian Document
    A register of music performed in concert, Nazareth, Pennsylvania from 1796 to 1845: an annotated edition of an American Moravian document Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Strauss, Barbara Jo, 1947- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 10/10/2021 23:14:00 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/347995 A REGISTER OF MUSIC PERFORMED IN CONCERT, NAZARETH., PENNSYLVANIA FROM 1796 TO 181+52 AN ANNOTATED EDITION OF AN AMERICAN.MORAVIAN DOCUMENT by Barbara Jo Strauss A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF MUSIC In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC WITH A MAJOR IN MUSIC HISTORY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1 9 7 6 Copyright 1976 Barbara Jo Strauss STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfill­ ment of requirements for an advanced degree at The Univer­ sity of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate ac­ knowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manu­ script in whole or in part may
    [Show full text]
  • Cantabile Hendrik Waelput
    Cantabile for 4 Violas Hendrik Waelput (1845–1885) AVS Publications 018 Preface The Flemish composer and conductor Hendrik Waelput studied music at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and was awarded the Prix de Rome for his cantata Het woud in 1867. Waelput was active as a conductor in several European cities before returning to his home town of Ghent in 1875. There, he conducted various orchestras and taught harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatory in Antwerp. Waelput’s compositions include larger forms (operas, symphonies, and choral music) and chamber music, including a string quintet (viola quintet), a Canzonetta for string quartet, and this Cantabile for four violas. While the impetus behind this particular work is unknown, his use of four identical instruments in a composition is not unique: he also wrote an Andante Cantabile for four trombones and featured four solo cellos in the Andante Cantabile movement of his Flute Concerto. This edition is based on an undated manuscript score and set of parts housed in the Library Conservatorium Ghent, BG. David M. Bynog, editor Cantabile for 4 violas Hendrik Waelput Edited by David M. Bynog Andante Cantabile Viola 1 # œ œ. œ œ > œ œ œ 3 œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ & 4 œ. œ œ œ 3 cresc. p œ Viola 2 œ œ œ œ œ #œ #œ œ > œ B # 3 ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ# ˙ 4 cresc. p Viola 3 # œ bœ B 43 œ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ #œ #œ œ œ nœ œ œ > cresc.
    [Show full text]
  • Rhetorical Concepts and Mozart: Elements of Classical Oratory in His Drammi Per Musica
    Rhetorical Concepts and Mozart: elements of Classical Oratory in his drammi per musica A thesis submitted to the University of Newcastle in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy Heath A. W. Landers, BMus (Hons) School of Creative Arts The University of Newcastle May 2015 The thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to the final version of my thesis being made available worldwide when deposited in the University’s Digital Repository, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Candidate signature: Date: 06/05/2015 In Memory of My Father, Wayne Clive Landers (1944-2013) Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat ei. Acknowledgments Foremost, my sincerest thanks go to Associate Professor Rosalind Halton of the University Of Newcastle Conservatorium Of Music for her support and encouragement of my postgraduate studies over the past four years. I especially thank her for her support of my research, for her advice, for answering my numerous questions and resolving problems that I encountered along the way. I would also like to thank my co-supervisor Conjoint Professor Michael Ewans of the University of Newcastle for his input into the development of this thesis and his abundant knowledge of the subject matter. My most sincere and grateful thanks go to Matthew Hopcroft for his tireless work in preparing the musical examples and finalising the layout of this dissertation.
    [Show full text]
  • Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John Passion from 1725: a Liturgical Interpretation
    Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion from 1725: A Liturgical Interpretation MARKUS RATHEY When we listen to Johann Sebastian Bach’s vocal works today, we do this most of the time in a concert. Bach’s passions and his B minor Mass, his cantatas and songs are an integral part of our canon of concert music. Nothing can be said against this practice. The passions and the Mass have been a part of the Western concert repertoire since the 1830s, and there may not have been a “Bach Revival” in the nineteenth century (and no editions of Bach’s works for that matter) without Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s concert performance of the St. Matthew Passion in the Berlin Singakademie in 1829.1 However, the original sitz im leben of both large-scaled works like his passions, and his smaller cantatas, is the liturgy. Most of his vocal works were composed for use during services in the churches of Leipzig. The pieces unfold their meaning in the context of the liturgy. They engage in a complex intertextual relationship with the liturgical texts that frame them, and with the musical (and theological) practices of the liturgical year of which they are a part. The following essay will outline the liturgical context of the second version of the St. John Passion (BWV 245a) Bach performed on Good Friday 1725 in Leipzig. The piece is a revision of the familiar version of the passion Bach had composed the previous year. The 1725 version of the passion was performed by the Yale Schola Cantorum in 2006, and was accompanied by several lectures I gave in New Haven and New York City.
    [Show full text]
  • December 1934) James Francis Cooke
    Gardner-Webb University Digital Commons @ Gardner-Webb University The tudeE Magazine: 1883-1957 John R. Dover Memorial Library 12-1-1934 Volume 52, Number 12 (December 1934) James Francis Cooke Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/etude Part of the Composition Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, Music Education Commons, Musicology Commons, Music Pedagogy Commons, Music Performance Commons, Music Practice Commons, and the Music Theory Commons Recommended Citation Cooke, James Francis. "Volume 52, Number 12 (December 1934)." , (1934). https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/etude/53 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the John R. Dover Memorial Library at Digital Commons @ Gardner-Webb University. It has been accepted for inclusion in The tudeE Magazine: 1883-1957 by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Gardner-Webb University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ETUDE s CMCusic S&gmim December 1934 Price 25 Cents <Cy/ i/<)/maJ ($v-e vnM, DECEMBER 19,% Page 695 THE ETUDE THE HARCOURT, BRACE MUSIC DEPARTMENT Albert E. Wier, Editor £Magnifying Christmas PRESENTS FOUR NEW AND DISTINCTIVE MUSIC COLLECTIONS PIECES FOR TWO PIANOS—Four Hands THE DAYS OF THE HARPSICHORD If you do any two-piano playing, this collection of This is the first volume of a series to be known as 48 classic, romantic and modem compositions is in¬ “The Pianist’s Music Shelf.” It contains 80 dispensable for recital, study or recreation. There melodic compositions by more than fifty famous Eng¬ is a 200-word note of general musical interest pre¬ lish, French, German and Italian harpsichord com¬ £Musical Joy ceding each composition, also a page of twelve recital posers in the period from 1500 to 1750.
    [Show full text]
  • Performance Practice Bibliography (1995-1996)
    Performance Practice Review Volume 9 Article 11 Number 2 Fall Performance Practice Bibliography (1995-1996) Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/ppr Part of the Music Practice Commons (1996) "Performance Practice Bibliography (1995-1996)," Performance Practice Review: Vol. 9: No. 2, Article 11. DOI: 10.5642/ perfpr.199609.02.11 Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/ppr/vol9/iss2/11 This Bibliography is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Claremont at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in Performance Practice Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PERFORMANCE PRACTICE BIBLIOGRAPHY (1995-1996)* Contents Surveys 212 The Ninth to Thirteenth Century 215 The Sixteenth Century 215 The Seventeenth Century 219 The Early Eighteenth Century 225 The Late Eighteenth Century 229 The Nineteenth Century 232 The Twentieth Century 235 Reflections on Performance Practice 238 SURVEYS Voices 1. Giles, Peter. The History and Technique of the Coun- ter-Tenor: a Study of the Male High Voice Family. Hants (England): Scolar Press, 1994, xxiv-459p. (ISBN 85967 931 4). Considers all high male voice types: falsetto, castrato, countertenor, male alto, male soprano. For Giles the true countertenor is a falsetto male alto who has developed a bright, clear tone. The countertenor head-voice uses the full length of folds and has developed "pharyngeal" singing between the basic and falsetto mechanisms. That "upper falsetto" (to which Caccini and others were averse) is the true falsetto is a misconception. As Rene Jacobs has indicated head- Containing as well a number of earlier citations.
    [Show full text]
  • Amadeus by Peter Shaffer Directed by Paul Mason Barnes CONTENTS 2 the 411 Major Sponsor: 3 A/S/L & Vocab the Mary Ranken Jordan & Ettie A
    2009—2010 SEASON AMADEUS by Peter Shaffer Directed by Paul Mason Barnes CONTENTS 2 The 411 Major Sponsor: 3 A/S/L & Vocab The Mary Ranken Jordan & Ettie A. Jordan 4 FYI Charitable Foundation 5 HTH 6 F2F 9 B4U 12 IRL 13 RBTL 14 SWDYT? At The Rep, we know MIHYAP: Top Ten Ways to that life moves Stay Connected at The Rep fast—okay, really 10. TBA Ushers will seat your school or class as a group, fast. But we also so even if you are dying to mingle with the group from the know that some all girls school that just walked in the door, stick with your things are worth friends until you have been shown your section in the theatre. slowing down for. We believe that live theatre is one of those pit stops worth making and are excited that you 9. SITD The house lights will dim immediately before the performance begins and then go dark. Fight off that oh-so- are going to stop by for a show. To help you get the most immature urge to whisper, giggle like a grade schooler or yell bang for your buck, we have put together WU? @ THE at this time and during any other blackouts in the show. REP—an IM guide that will give you everything you need to know to get at the top of your theatergoing game—fast. 8. SED Before the performance begins, turn off all cell You’ll find character descriptions (A/S/L), a plot summary phones, pagers, beepers and watch alarms.
    [Show full text]
  • Andrè Schuen’S Repertory Ranges from Early Music to Contemporary Music, and He Is Equally Comfortable in the Genres of Oratorio, Lied and Opera
    A NDRÈ S CHUEN - Baritone Born in 1984, he studied at the Mozarteum of Salzburg with Gudrun Volkert, Horiana Branisteanu, Josef Wallnig and Hermann Keckeis (opera), and with Wolfgang Holzmair (Lied and oratorio). He has appeared as soloist of Salzburg Concert Association, Collegium Musicum Salzburg, Salzburg Bach Society, and has already sung with such renowned orchestras as Wiener Philharmoniker, Mozarteum Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg, with such conductor as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philippe Jordan, Simon Rattle, Ivor Bolton, Roger Norrington and Ingo Metzmacher. Andrè Schuen’s repertory ranges from early music to contemporary music, and he is equally comfortable in the genres of oratorio, lied and opera. Concerts, festivals and tv appearances have taken him to Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Zurich, Tokyo, Puebla (Mexico), Buenos Aires and Ushuaia (Argentina). At the Salzburg Festival in 2006, he sang the bass choral solo in Mozart’s Idomeneo under Roger Norrington. During the 2007/08 season, he performed the role of Ein Lakai in Ariadne auf Naxos under Ivor Bolton in a new production of Salzburg State Theater at the Haus für Mozart. He also performed the role of Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at Mozarteum in Salzburg and at various theaters in Germany and Austria. In August of 2009, he sang as Basso I in Luigi Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore at Salzburg Festival, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher. In August of 2009 he was awarded the “Walter-und- Charlotte-Hamel-Stiftung” and the “Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum Salzburg”. In the summer of 2010 he took part in the Young Singers Project at Salzburg Festival.
    [Show full text]
  • Beethoven to Drake Featuring Daniel Bernard Roumain, Composer & Violinist
    125 YEARS Beethoven to Drake Featuring Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer & violinist TEACHER RESOURCE GUIDE 87TH Annual Young People’s Concert William Boughton, Music Director Thank you for taking the NHSO’s musical journey: Beethoven to Drake Dear teachers, Many of us were so lucky to have such dedicated and passionate music teachers growing up that we decided to “take the plunge” ourselves and go into the field. In a time when we must prove how essential the arts are to a child’s growth, the NHSO is committed to supporting the dedication, passion, and excitement that you give to your students on a daily basis. We look forward to traveling down these roads this season with you and your students, and are excited to present the amazing Daniel Bernard Roumain. As a gifted composer and performer who crosses multiple musical genres, DBR inspires audience members with his unique take on Hip Hop, traditional Haitian music, and Classical music. This concert will take you and your students through the history of music - from the masters of several centuries ago up through today’s popular artists. This resource guide is meant to be a starting point for creation of your own lesson plans that you can tailor directly to the needs of your individual classrooms. The information included in each unit is organized in list form to quickly enable you to pick and choose facts and activities that will benefit your students. Each activity supports one or more of the Core Arts standards and each of the writing activities support at least one of the CCSS E/LA anchor standards for writing.
    [Show full text]
  • Online Appendix (4.86
    ONLINE APPENDIX EFFECTS OF COPYRIGHTS ON SCIENCE. EVIDENCE FROM THE WWII BOOK REPUBLICATION PROGRAM BARBARA BIASI, YALE AND NBER PETRA MOSER, NYU AND NBER 11111trdtr 0 APPENDIX A – ADDITIONAL TABLES AND FIGURES TABLE A1 – SUMMARY STATISTICS, BRP BOOKS N Mean St. Dev. Median Min 25 pctile 75 pctile Max All BRP books Original p 271 42.79 179.57 11.15 2.00 6.60 19.15 2000.00 BRP p 283 19.41 41.77 7.50 2.00 3.20 12.50 400.00 Δp 271 24.97 21.33 21.87 -38.89 7.89 40.00 90.00 Chemistry Original p 216 51.18 200.34 11.70 2.00 4.50 22.95 2000.00 BRP p 228 22.43 46.00 8.50 2.00 5.00 15.78 400.00 Δp 216 24.34 21.39 21.76 -38.89 7.52 39.55 90.00 Mathematics Original p 55 9.84 5.77 8.00 3.40 6.00 11.75 32.65 BRP p 55 6.88 4.32 5.75 2.50 3.75 8.75 25.60 Δp 55 27.44 21.11 23.47 0.00 9.72 66.09 74.14 Notes: Means, standard deviations, and median prices for 283 books with German-owned US copyrights that were licensed to US publishers under the 1942 BRP. The variable Δp measures the percentage decline in price, calculated as the difference between the original price and the BRP price, divided by the original price. Price data collected from records of the Alien Property Custodian (1942).
    [Show full text]
  • Der Tod Jesu the Death of Jesus
    Carl Heinrich GRAUN Der Tod Jesu The Death of Jesus Soli (SSTB), Coro (SATB) 2 Flauti, 2 Oboi, 2 Fagotti 2 Violini, Viola, Violoncello/Contrabbasso e Cembalo /Organo herausgegeben von /edited by Herbert Lölkes Klavierauszug /Vocal score Paul Horn C Carus 10.379/03 Vorwort Wer sich mit der evangelischen Passionsvertonung nach Jo- Komponist der friderizianischen Hofoper, des Tod Jesu und hann Sebastian Bach beschäftigt, wird unweigerlich auf ein des Te Deum auf die siegreiche „Prager Schlacht“ vom Mai Werk treffen, das wie kein anderes seiner Gattung noch bis 1757 als eine Art Lokalklassiker galt. Besonders durch die weit in das 19. Jahrhundert hinein ein fester Bestandteil der 1791 von Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch gegründete (und bis musikalischen Praxis war: die am 26. März 1755 in der Ber- heute existierende) Sing-Akademie zu Berlin wurde Grauns liner „Ober- Pfarr- und Domkirche“ im Rahmen eines Pas- Passion weit über ein halbes Jahrhundert mit großer Regel- sionskonzertes uraufgeführte „Cantate“ Der Tod Jesu von mäßigkeit und fast pietätvoller Verehrung aufgeführt. Erst Carl Heinrich Graun (1703 oder 1704–1759) auf ein Li- die wachsende Konkurrenz vornehmlich mit Bachs Mat- bretto Karl Wilhelm Ramlers (1725–1798). Die Kompositi- thäuspassion, die 1829 von der Singakademie und Ge- on war ein Auftragswerk der musikkundigen Prinzessin An- sangssolisten der Berliner königlichen Oper unter der Lei- na Amalia, der jüngsten Schwester Friedrichs II. von tung des 20-jährigen Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy erstmals Preußen, die sich zunächst offenbar mit der Absicht trug, nach fast einem Jahrhundert in der Öffentlichkeit wie- den Text selbst zu vertonen und dies für die beiden ersten deraufgeführt wurde, führte dazu, dass Grauns Passion all- Sätze auch ausführte.
    [Show full text]
  • Gioachino Rossini the Journey to Rheims Ottavio Dantone
    _____________________________________________________________ GIOACHINO ROSSINI THE JOURNEY TO RHEIMS OTTAVIO DANTONE TEATRO ALLA SCALA www.musicom.it THE JOURNEY TO RHEIMS ________________________________________________________________________________ LISTENING GUIDE Philip Gossett We know practically nothing about the events that led to the composition of Il viaggio a Reims, the first and only Italian opera Rossini wrote for Paris. It was a celebratory work, first performed on 19 June 1825, honoring the coronation of Charles X, who had been crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Rheims on 29 May 1825. After the King returned to Paris, his coronation was celebrated in many Parisian theaters, among them the Théâtre Italien. The event offered Rossini a splendid occasion to present himself to the Paris that mattered, especially the political establishment. He had served as the director of the Théatre Italien from November 1824, but thus far he had only reproduced operas originally written for Italian stages, often with new music composed for Paris. For the coronation opera, however, it proved important that the Théâtre Italien had been annexed by the Académie Royale de Musique already in 1818. Rossini therefore had at his disposition the finest instrumentalists in Paris. He took advantage of this opportunity and wrote his opera with those musicians in mind. He also drew on the entire company of the Théâtre Italien, so that he could produce an opera with a large number of remarkable solo parts (ten major roles and another eight minor ones). Plans for multitudinous celebrations for the coronation of Charles X were established by the municipal council of Paris in a decree of 7 February 1825.
    [Show full text]