MUMH 6740 Baroque Music Venice and the Rise of Italian Opera UNT – Fall 2010 TR 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm, MUSI 295
Dr. Hendrik Schulze Office: MUS 315 (940) 369-8057 [email protected] Office hours: W 10:00 am – 12:00 am or by appointment
Required Text : Ellen Rosand, Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice. The Creation of a Genre (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991).
Further course material will be made available either online or on reserve in the music library.
Course Summary In 1637, a company of musicians presented Benedetto Ferrari’s and Francesco Manelli’s opera Andromeda at the Teatro di San Cassiano in Venice. This performance marked the beginning of opera as a commercial enterprise; its success led other, rival companies to enter the market as well. The ensuing fierce competition meant that the genre evolved quickly, always turning towards those strategies of dramatic narration that were most appreciated by the public. Within less than ten years, opera as a genre had been completely redefined, and Venetian opera had become the prototype for operatic ventures all over Italy, as well as in the rest of Europe. In this seminar, we will retrace this development and ask what specifically defined success in those early Venetian operas. We will look at the relationship between music and dramatic narration in operas by such composers as Monteverdi, Cavalli, Sacrati and Luigi Rossi and discuss problems of libretto writing and staging.
Objectives 1. To develop a sense for the complex history of early opera and thus an understanding of the genre as a whole. 2. To understand how music may work in a dramatic context. 3. To explore ways of how we today can appropriate comparatively strange cultural phenomena such as Venetian Opera for performance and research by studying the historical context.
Grading NOTE: All due dates are final. Given a good reason, I may choose to accept late work, but since the keeping to schedules is part of your performance, there will be a grade reduction relative to the number of days your assignment is late. For your oral presentation, no delay can be accepted. 2
Grading scale: 100-90% = A, 90-80% = B, 80-70% = C, 70-60% =D, <60% = F. Individual assignments are graded with points according to their relative percentage of the overall grade. For assigned course work, additional letter grades are given as a way of informing you about your performance.
Assignments Assignment Due Date % of grade 1. 4 Short Writing Assignments 9/21, 10/12, 11/9, 11/18 20 2. Term Paper 11/23 40 3. Presentation 11/30, 12/2 or 12/7 15 4. Presentation Evaluation 11/30, 12/2, 12/7 5 5. Opera Performance 9/23, 10/7, 10/21, 11/11, 11/18 10 6. Attendance / Participation Throughout 10
Explanation 1. Short Writing Assignments : small essays of varying lengths, between 1 and 3 pages. Please refer to the list at the end of the syllabus for individual topics and length.
2. Term Paper : Write a 10-page research paper on a topic concerning the opera of your choice (should be same work, but not same topic as in your presentation!) Topics, as well as form and style of your essay should be discussed with me by the end of September . Further information will be given to you during class.
3. Presentation : Conference-style formal presentation no longer than 15 minutes . Please choose from one of the operas given below. As the subject is an entire opera, it follows that it cannot be exhaustively discussed in merely 15 minutes of time; hence you should present “conference- style” papers, i.e., choose a specific topic concerning the work in question, and discuss it thoroughly (topic should be different from the one of your Term Paper, although it should be on the same opera). These topics are to be discussed with me well in advance ; please make sure so see me during my office hours at least 3 weeks before the assignment is due! The presentation will be evaluated both by its contents and by its style of presentation, so make sure that it is well-rehearsed. It is especially advisable to rehearse together with a fellow student. Since at conferences time is of the essence, be sure not to exceed your 15 minutes – I will interrupt you mercilessly!
4. Presentation Evaluation : As part of the feedback process for your presentations, you are requested to fill out an evaluation form for each of your colleagues’ presentation. The ability to fairly and professionally judge a presentation is one of the key skills necessary for any musician, teacher, or musicologist; these evaluations hence will count for a part of your final grade.
5. Opera Performance : On those days marked “ Practice ” below, each student is required to participate in performing (sing!) short excerpts from operas discussed in class. The purpose is to actively explore how such an opera works – as the musicologist Reinhard Strohm has remarked one cannot research Baroque opera on a purely theoretical basis. You will not be judged on the quality of your performance (this is a Musicology class, after all), but on your willingness and ability to apply theoretical knowledge to performance, and vice versa. 3
6. Attendance : In a seminar-style class, your participation is essential. This means that, in addition to being present in each class, you are also required to actively contribute to discussions, as well as to prepare thoroughly for each week’s class by reading the assigned pages and listening to the assigned works. Missing a class, or even late arrival / early departure, will affect your grade! Late arrival or early departure will loose you one point on the Attendance score; missing a class will loose you two. If you miss or partially miss more than 3 classes, you will be dropped from the course with a grade of WF. The university recognizes only two reasons for an absence to be excused: for a religious holiday or a university-sponsored event (please refer to your course catalogues, “Authorized Absence” and “Absence for Religious Holidays”). I may be willing to excuse a student for professional reasons, but you must ask for and receive my permission ahead of time.
The use of cell phones, pagers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) will not be tolerated in class. Laptops may only be used for purposes directly related to the class itself, and only in the sessions specifically designated for laptop use (marked Bring Laptop below).
Academic Honesty Any case of cheating or plagiarism will result in the perpetrator being dropped from the course with a grade of WF and disciplinary action on part of the Dean of Students.
The term “ cheating ” includes, but is not limited to, (1) use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; (2) dependence upon the aid of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; or (3) the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a faculty member or staff of the university. The term “ plagiarism ” includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials. (Source: Code of Conduct and Discipline at the University of North Texas )
Accommodation In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, you should see me until 9/2 if you require any special accommodations due to an established disability.
Schedule of Classes and Assignments
DATE TOPIC ASSIGNMENT DUE
8/26 Thurs Introduction 4
8/31 Tue How Opera came to Venice Reading : Rosand, Introduction; Ch. 1; Ch 2; Tim Carter, “Mask and Illusion: Italian Opera after 1637”, in: Tim Carter and John Butt, eds., The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Music , (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 241-282.
9/2 Thurs Early Court Opera I: Listening : Monteverdi, Orfeo Monteverdi, Orfeo Reading : Tim Carter, Monteverdi’s Musical Theatre (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002), Chs. 4 and 5.
9/7 Tue Early Court Opera II: Listening : Luigi Rossi, Orfeo Luigi Rossi, Orfeo Bring Laptop!
9/9 Thurs Ferrari/Manelli as “Inventors” of Listening : Ferrari, “Chi Non Sà Come Amor” and Commercial Opera “Son Ruinato, Appassionato” Reading : Rosand, Ch. 3
9/14 Tue Cavalli as Operatic Reading : Jane Glover, Cavalli (London: Batsford, Entrepreneur: Cavalli, Le nozze 1978), Ch. 1. Bring Laptop! di Teti e di Peleo
9/16 Thurs Monteverdi’s Late Operas: Il Listening : Monteverdi, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in ritorno d’Ulisse in patria I patria Reading : Mauro Calcagno, “‘Imitar col canto chi parla’: Monteverdi and the Creation of a Language for Musical Theater,” in: Journal of the American Musicological Society , 55 (2002), 383-431.
9/21 Tue Monteverdi’s Late Operas: Il Short Writing Assignment I ritorno d’Ulisse in patria II
9/23 Thurs Practice : Cavalli, Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo ; Monteverdi, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria
9/28 Tue Monteverdi’s Late Operas: Il Reading : Ellen Rosand, Monteverdi’s Last ritorno d’Ulisse in patria III Operas. A Venetian Triology (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 249-294.
9/30 Thurs Reaction to Il ritorno I: Cavalli, Listening : Cavalli, La Didone La Didone Bring Laptop!
10/5 Tue Reaction to Il ritorno II: Sacrati, Reading : Rosand, Ch. 4 La finta pazza
10/7 Thurs Practice : Sacrati, La finta pazza ; Cavalli, La Didone and La virtù de’ strali d’Amore 5
10/12 Tue Reaction to Il ritorno III: Reading : Rosand, Chs. 5-7 Cavalli, La virtù de’ strali Short Writing Assignment II Bring Laptop! d’Amore
10/14 Thurs Monteverdi’s Late Operas: Listening : Monteverdi, L’incoronazione di L’incoronazione di Poppea I Poppea Reading : Carter, Monteverdi’s Musical Theatre , Ch. 10
10/19 Tue Monteverdi’s Late Operas: Reading : Rosand, Ch. 8 L’incoronazione di Poppea II
10/21 Thurs Practice : Monteverdi, L’incoronazione di Poppea
10/26 Tue Performance Practice Reading : Jennifer Williams Brown, “Preface” and “Introduction”, in: Francesco Cavalli, La Calisto , ed. Jennifer Williams Brown (Middleton, WI: AR, 2007), ix -xlviii. Bring Laptop!
10/28 Thurs Sources Reading : Hendrik Schulze, “Cavalli Manuscript Scores and Performance Practice”, in: Dinko Fabris, ed.: Francesco Cavalli. La circolazione dell’opera Veneziana nel Seicento (Naples: Turchini, 2006), 39—58. Bring Laptop!
11/2 Tue Poetry and Libretto Writing Reading : Stephen Botterill, “Italian Versification”, in: Lorenzo Bianconi, Music in the Seventeenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), xi-xii; Tim Carter, Monteverdi’s Musical Theatre , Ch. 3. Bring Laptop!
11/4 Thurs No Class (attending AMS meeting)
11/9 Tue Music and Drama: Cavalli, Il Listening : Cavalli, Il Giasone Giasone Reading : Rosand, Ch. 9-12 Short Writing Assignment III Bring Laptop!
11/11 Thurs Practice : Cavalli, Il Giasone
11/16 Tue Character Development and Reading : Hendrik Schulze, “Plot Structure, Character Depiction: Cavalli, Characters, and Aria Position in Francesco Cavalli/Nicolò Minato’s Artemisia (1657)”, in: Artemisia Musica & Storia 12 (2004), 91—102. Bring Laptop!
11/18 Thurs Practice : Cavalli, Artemisia Short Writing Assignment IV 6
11/23 Tue Venetian Opera’s Decadence? Reading : Rosand, Ch. 13 Sartorio, Orfeo Listening : Sartorio, Orfeo Term Paper
11/25 Thurs THANKSGIVING
11/30 Tue Presentations I
12/2 Thurs Presentations II
12/7 Tue Presentations III
12/9 Thurs Closing Remarks
List of Topics Short Writing Assignments Topic Length Due SWA I Compare recordings of Monteverdi, Orfeo ; Luigi Rossi, 3 pages 9/21 Orfeo ; and Monteverdi, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria SWA II Compare Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with La Didone 2 pages 10/12 (the operas themselves, not the recordings!) SWA III Analyze a section from a libretto that will be distributed 2 pages 11/9 to you on 11/2. SWA IV Short abstract of your presentation, aimed to give an No more than 300 words. 11/18 overview of its topic and argument for your fellow students.
Operas to Choose From for Term Paper and Presentation Composer Opera Material Available Monteverdi, Claudio Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria Edition and Recording; Engl. translation Monteverdi, Claudio L’incoronazione di Poppea Edition and Recording; Engl. translation Cavalli, Francesco La Didone Facsimile Score; Recording; Engl. translation Cavalli, Francesco La virtù de’ strali d’Amore Facsimile Score Cavalli, Francesco Giasone Facsimile Score; Recording; Engl. translation Cavalli, Francesco La Calisto Edition and Recording; Engl. translation Cavalli, Francesco La Statira Facsimile Score; Recording; Engl. translation Cavalli, Francesco Xerse Edition and Recording; Engl. translation Cavalli, Francesco Artemisia Edition; Engl. translation Rossi, Luigi Orfeo Facsimile Score; Recording; Engl. translation Cesti, Antonio Orontea Edition and Recording; Engl. translation Cesti, Antonio Il Tito Edition; Engl. translation Sartorio, Antonio Orfeo Edition and Recording; Engl. translation Sartorio, Antonio Giulio Cesare in Egitto Edition and Recording; Engl. translation
Other operas, as well as comparative topics, are possible upon request.
Be advised : If no recording of the opera is available you should be sure to be able to work with it using the score only. If no edition is available that means you will have to work from a facsimile of the original score and should be able to read c-clefs. If you do not understand Italian, please choose an opera for which there is an English translation available.