Harmonic style as a dramaturgical
device: a study of Zandonai’s
Francesca da Rimini
P. Dunbar - Hall
Research project submitted as partial
requirement for the degree of Master of Music, University of New South Wales
1989 LIBRARY 2 0 MAY 1001
UNIVERSITY OF NSW Table of Contents
Abstract ...... i
List of musical examples ...... ii
List of tables...... v
Chapter 1: Riccardo Zandonai...... 1
Chapter 2: The four harmonic styles of Francesca da Rimini...... 22
Chapter 3: Harmonic devices in Francesca da Rimini . . 54
Chapter 4: How typical is the harmonic style of this opera?...... 7 3
Chater 5: Harmonic style as constructional and dramaturgical device in Francesca da Rimini ...... 88
Appendix I: Francesca da Rimini, Act I, pp.76-82 ... 97
Appendix II: Francesca da Rimini, Act I, pp.47-51 . . 105
Appendix III: Francesca da Rimini, Act I, pp.69-71 . .111
Appendix IV: Francesca da Rimini, Act I, pp.47-55 . . 115
Appendix V: Francesca da Rimini, Act IV, second part, pp.319-322 ...... 125
Appendix VI: ’Notte di Neve’...... 130
Bibliography 133 Abstract
An analysis of the harmonic language of Zandonai’s 1914 opera, Francesca da Rimini, shows the use of four separate harmonic styles, tonal, chromatic, modal, and wholetone. Each one is used discretely. Study of the dramatic construction of the opera reveals that these four styles are used in conjunction with the presence on stage of certain characters, the creation of historical atmosphere, and the creation of moments of action or stasis in the plot.
The conclusion to be drawn from this and consideration of other operas by Zandonai and his contemporaries, is that types of harmonic language were used in the verismo period as a dramaturgical device. ii
List of musical examples
Ex 1 Francesca da Rimini P • 4 7 , bars 1-5 24 ff Ex 2 P-73, bars 1-12 25 ff Ex 3 p. 109 , bars 6 & 7 26 ff Ex 4 p. 3 , bars 8 & 9 27 ff Ex 5 p. 10 , bars 4-7 27 ff Ex 6 P • 21, bars 2-6 28 ff Ex 7 P-81, bars 4-6 31 ff Ex 8 p. 81 , bars 1-4 32 ff Ex 9 P-47, bars 1-3 34 ff Ex 10 p. 50 , bars 1-2 35 ff Ex 11 reduction of chord progression, p.51, bars 1-5 35
Ex 12 ff P-70, bars 5-9 37 ff Ex 13 p.293 , bars 18-23 41 ff Ex 14 p.265 , bar 5 43 ff Ex 15 p. 151 , bars 4-5 44 ff Ex 16 accompanying chords, p.47, bars 2-5 45 ff Ex 17 p. 50 , bars 1-2 45 ff Ex 18 p. 51 , bar 2 46 ff Ex 19 ostinato pattern, p.275 48
Ex 20 ff p. 161 , bars 5-6 50 ff Ex 21 p.275 , bars 5-6 50 ff Ex 22 P 83 , bar 10 51
Ex 23 ff p.287 , bar 1 52
Ex 24 ff perfect cadence with augmented chord 55
Ex 25 cadence of parallel chords 55 - i i i -
26 Francesca da Rimini ’dorian’ plagal cadence 56
27 p.217 , bars 1-4 57
28 »! 57
29 p.24, bars 3-4 (reduction) 58
30 " p.54, bars 3-4 61
31 " p . 3 2 7 f 62
32 " p.1, bars 3-4 62
33 " p.324, bars 5-7 63
34 " p.4 7, bar 6 66
35 " p.52, bars 4-5 66
36 " p.54, bars 1-6 67
37 p . 110 , bars 3-4 69
38 " p.110, bars 7-8 69
39 p . 331 , bars 5-8 71
40 Serenata Medioevale reduction of opening bars 73
41 " bars 1-49 74
42 " bars 49f, cello part 74
43 Giuletta e Romeo opening bars 75
44 Catalani: La Wally, p.218 77
45 Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur, p.37 79
46 " p.39, bar 8 80
47 " p.188 81
48 Puccini: La Fanciulla del West, p.l 82
49 Mascagni: Isabeau, p.23, bars 2-3 83
50 " p.24, bars 6-8 84
51 wholetone chord progression outline, p.239, bars 3-6 85
52 Francesca da Rimini, augmented fourth cadence 91
53 p.331 92 iv
Ex 5 4 t? chord progression from Act I 93
Ex 5 5 ♦ » p . 327 , bars 1-2 93 V
List of tables
Table 1 : scheme of harmonic sections, Act I , pp.37-46 40
Table 2: overlapping key systems, Act I finale 60
Table 3 : harmonic styles in Francesca da Rimini 88-89
Table 4 : harmonic style in relation to events, characters, etc. 90 Chapter 1: Riccardo Zandonai
Italian composer Riccardo Zandonai-*- (1883-1944) is chiefly remembered as the composer of ten operas, of which the fourth, Francesca da Rimini, is the best known. It was first performed in Turin at the Teatro Regio in 1914, and is representative of Zandonai’s operatic and general musical style, also showing his position in relation to Italian and European musical trends. This opera demonstrates Zandonai’s harmonic vocabulary and how it is used as a dramaturgical device.
Despite revivals and a number of recordings of this opera, Zandonai is little known, although since the centenary of his birth in 1983, an amount of research and writings about him have developed, especially emanating from his birthplace, Sacco di Rovereto in the Italian Trentino. Performances of his operas in Italy, England, America, and South America in the first half of the twentieth century attest to his initial fame and success^. These place Zandonai
1 Although considered an Italian, Zandonai was technically an Austrian, being born in the Italian Trentino region when it was under Austrian rule . 2 See B. Cagnoli, Riccardo Zandonai, Trento, 1978, for performance chronologies. 2 in the Italian opera tradition which extends through Verdi, Puccini, and many lesser composers, into the mid twentieth century.
That Zandonai was seen as a member, perhaps the most important, of the post-Puccini group of composers continuing this tradition is shown by references to him, both during his lifetime and since. R. Rosselini describes his opera output as,
’ direttamente discendente da quello verdiano... per i suoi valori drammatici, per la profondita dei sentimenti, per 1 ’alta tematica e le supreme
aspirazioni dei personaggi.’°
(directly descended from that of Verdi . . . for its dramatic values, the profundity of its sentiments, its thematic level and the supreme aspirations of its characters.)^
The Verdian qualities of his style are also commented on by G. Bastianelli, especially in reference to musical characterisation in Francesca da Rimini, where the wronged husband of the plot, Gianciotto,
^ R. Rosselini, ’Zandonai’, Polemico Musicale, Milan, 1962, p.130. 4 My translation. All translations are the author’s unless otherwise indicated. 3 is described as having the ’forza di certi cupi personaggi verdiani. ’^ (the power of certain dark Verdian characters.)
As well as these, more general descriptions see
Zandonai as a ’verist’ , that is in the tradition of early Mascagni and Puccini. The use of the terms ’verist’ and ’verismo’, as J. Nicolaisen points out, is vague. Originally, in music they describe operas such as Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana (1890) and Puccini’s La Boheme (1896) in which plot material was provided by the ’shocking’ lives and passions of the lower contemporary classes. As Nicolaisen goes on to explain, the verismo ideals soon gave way to a reversion to plots based on history, myth, and the exotic, in the manner of pre-verismo works. But the term ’verismo’ is still used to refer to a whole body of works such as Tosca, Madama Butterfly. Isabeau, Andrea Chenier, Fedora, and Francesca da Rimini.
What verismo refers to in works such as these is a musical and dramatic style, not the source of plot material. In this way the specific devices of
^ G. Bastianelli, ’Riccardo Zandonai’, Nuova Rivista Musciale Italiana, July-Sept., 1972, p. 416. 6 See J. Nicolaisen, Italian Opera in Transition. 1871-1893, UMI Research Press, 1980, p. 53f. 4
sviolinata, arioso style with the interspersion of short intense ’arias’, a type of symphonic orchestral accompaniment (sometimes attributed to Puccini and remarked
H on as typical of Zandonai') and a particular dramatic treatment of male voices developed from the Verdi baritone style, are the hallmarks of verismo style. It is these
things which classify Zandonai as a verist and justify his
position in this tradition.
To G. Salvetti, Zandonai is one of the ’epigoni del
verismo, ’^ (epigones of verismo). N. Slonimsky describes him as a ’minor master of Italian verismo’ while E. Pluta makes a deeper distinction by labelling him a member of the ’zweiten Veristen-generationen,’^ (second generation of verismo). This last description is probably the best as it recognises the different phases of the verismo movement which had its first successes with early operas of Mascagni and Puccini, its mannerist period with those of Cilea, Catalani , and Giordano, and its later second generation of Zandonai and Montemezzi. It is important to remember, though, that all these composers
^ For example by F. Nicolodi, in ’Riccardo Zandonai e la musica italiana del primo novecento’, Quaderni Zandonaiani, Padua, 1987, p.17. ® G.Salvetti, Storia della musica. Turin, 1977, p.171. 0 N. Slonimsky, Music since 1900, NY, 1971, p. 605. E. Pluta, ’Die Italienische Oper des Fin de Siecle’, Qpernwelt, Mar. 1983, p. 55. 5
overlapped each other biographically, and that the verismo style existed in varying forms at the same time.
Zandonai’s position in the verismo movement is also discussed by E. Paratore, who groups him with Montemezzi, Alfano, and Rocca and describes his operas as between ’ il verismo e una tendenza radicalmente.’^
(verismo and a radical tendency.)
The predominance of Puccini and Mascagni in post-Verdi Italian music resulted in Zandonai being referred to as similar to both composers. To Tito Ricordi II (1865-1933) of the prestigious Milanese publishing house, Zandonai was to be the successor to Puccini, as Salvetti explains,
* II destino dell ’epigono tocca anche a Riccardo Zandonai . . . con il quale Tito Ricordi nutriva grandi speranze di rinnovare la serie dei successi pucciniani. ’ ^ (the destiny of the epigone falls also to Riccardo Zandonai . . . with whom Tito Ricordi held great hopes of recreating the series of successes of Puccini.)
Ricordi, on the strength of Zandonai’s first opera, 11 Grillo nel Focolare (1908), arranged for him to set Pierre Louys’ novel La Femme et le Pantin under the title
H E. Paratore, ’Zandonai nei miei ricordi,’ Quaderni Zandonaiani, supra, p.37. 12 Salvetti, op. cit. p. 172. 6
Conchita. even sending him to Spain to absorb local colour for the composition.
References to Ricordi’s approval and taking-up of Zandonai always sound impressive and may be calculated to imply a potential he didn’t really have. Certainly his popularity has declined. Closer reading of the situation shows that
Ricordi had secured the rights to Louys’ novel for Puccini, who had rejected it (in 1907). 13 Did Ricordi then offer it
to Zandonai so as not to waste a valuable commodity? We must remember that this was during a period in Puccini’s career between Madama Butterfly (1904) and La Fanciulla del West (1910) when a number of projects were mooted for Puccini but he had trouble deciding on suitable libretti. Was Zandonai a convenient ’successor’ whom Ricordi wanted waiting in the wings?
Puccini’s attitude to Zandonai was not friendly; he was
’amareggiato dal successo della Francesca da Rimini’ (bitter over the success of Francesca da Rimini). writing about it,
’ II poeta porta male al teatro lirico: passa in
rassegna e vedrai che ho ragione. Vi manca sempre
il vero e spoglio e semplice senso umano. Tutto sempre e parossismo, corda tirata, espressione ultra
eccesiva. La parola bella e varia che in musica non
The situation is described in S. Jackson, Monsieur Butterfly: the story of Puccini, London, 1974, p.166. 7
si sente lascia via libera al drama, a questo . . . e quello che non deve essere.’1^
(The poet translates poorly to the lyric stage: review the opera and you will see that I am correct. It completely lacks truth, selectivity, and a simple humane sense. It is all paroxysm, shambled chords, overdone expression. The beautiful and varied words that can’t be heard in the music, are disconnected from the drama, and this ... is not how it should have been.)
Zandonai’s thoughts about Puccini were not charitable either. He described his reaction to Puccini in the following way,
’Puccini io lo tengo in conto di mercante di terz’ordine perche spaccia dell’arte bottegaia.’15
(Puccini, I consider him third rate because he churns out cheap tricks.)
Despite the enmity between Zandonai and Puccini, their styles were seen as similar enough by Toscanini to suggest Zandonai as the composer to finish Puccini’s Turandot, left incomplete at the composer’s death in 1924 and subsequently finished by his pupil, Alfano.l®
1^ R. Tedeschi, D’Annunzioe la musica. Florence, 1988, p.5 3. Nicolodi, op. cit.,’p. 20. 15 See H. Sachs, Toscanini. New York, 1978, p. 177. 8
References to Zandonai’s style often also mention similarities to Mascagni, who was from 1898 to 1901 Zandonai’s teacher in Pesaro. So Tedeschi describes
Zandonai as ’dell 1 eredita mascagnana’,17 (of the heritage of Mascagni), Nicolodi discusses his style of vocal writing
as ’mascagnano,’1® and C. Orselli mentions the tenor writing in Francesca da Rimini as ’ tipica del tenore
mascagnano, ’1^ (of the type of the Mascagni tenor). Bastianelli also acknowledges Zandonai’s debt to Mascagni by describing him as ’ semimascagnano' .20 Barblan
reinforces the links to Mascagni’s style by rightly distinguishing between the lyrical Puccini/Massenet style and the more dramatic Mascagni/Bizet one, placing Zandonai in the later,
flo Zandonai si confesso temperamente piu volto al
drammatico che al lirico; e la sua genealogia
piu che nel binomo Massenet-Puccini e da rintracciarsi
nell ’accostamento Bizet-Mascagni’ .21
(Zandonai belongs temperamentlly more often to the dramatic than the lyric; and his genealogy is less than expressed
17 Tedeschi, op. cit., p. 106. 1® Nicolodi, op. cit., p. 27. 10 C. Orselli, ’Paneggi medievali per la donna decadente - Parisina e Francesca’, Chigiana, Vol. XXXVII, 1980, p. 148. 20 Bastianelli, op. cit., p. 414. 21 G. Barblan, ’Riccardo Zandonai e la fede nel melodrama’, Ricordiana. Nov., 1956, p. 422. 9
by the Massenet-Puccini coupling and approaching that of Bizet-Mascagni. )
What these opinions all show is that, whatever his style, Zandonai was accepted in his lifetime as a representative of the current climate of Italian opera, that one most often associated with Puccini and Mascagni. His position in this climate is also shown by his inclusion in various convenient historical groupings of composers. These
groupings are of two sorts - named groups, and arbitrary groupings by similarity of style.
Groupings of composers are a convenient, though not infallibe way, of indicating general style characteristics. One of the most often mentioned in the literature about Italian music of the immediate post-Verdi period is the generazione del 1 ’ottanta, a loose bracketing of Italian composers born in the decade around 1880. The term is ascribed to the critic Massimio Mila and includes Alfredo Casella (1883-1947), Gianfrancesco Malipiero (1882-1973), Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968), Ottorino Respighi (1870- 1936), Franco Alfano (1876-1934), and Zandonai (1883— 1944).22 Some of the members of this lega have common
traits, the preference for operatic composition, and a
fondness for modality, for instance. Arbitrarily linking
22 See H. Sachs, Music in Fascist Italy. London, 1987, p. 7. 10
Zandonai to other composers, Tedeschi puts him with Mascagni and Montemezzi as representatives of the ’tradizione melodrammatica italiana', ^3 (Italian operatic
tradition), while Nicolodi groups him with Mascagni and Pizzetti.^4 Pluta classifies Zandonai with Montemezzi, ^ while Paratore includes him in a group with Alfano and
O Montemezzi.
These references show that within an Italian context
Zandonai is seen as a member of a group of composers in the late verismo style, that within this he is aligned both with the Puccini style, because of specific techniques, and the Mascagni style, because of his overall dramatic style and type of tenor writing. At the same time he is linked to other composers in the same tradition: Pizzetti, Montemezzi, and Alfano.
What this also introduces is a central quandary in discussing his musical eclecticism. All the references to Zandonai*s music are viable; he does use techniques, such as ’sviolinata,’ like Puccini; his tenor writing in Francesca da Rimini, for example Paolo’s ’Nemica ebbi la luce’ in Act III, has the forced dramatic quality associated with Turridu’s ’Mamma, quel vino e generoso’
from Cavelleria Rusticana; he uses modality as an alternative ’tonality’ like Respighi and Pizzetti. These
Tedeschi, op. cit. , P- 54. Nicolodi, op. c i t. , P* 1 7f Pluta, op,, c i t . , p. 55 , Paratore, op. cit. , P- 37. 11
may be the qualities that lead to descriptions of him as ’superficial’,^^ and explain why he was excluded by Pizzetti, Malipiero, Respighi, Bossi, and Bastianelli from their lega , i Cinque. The reason given was that he was
’affarista furbo', that is, a ’sly profiteer.’28
This criticism is borne out not only by his readiness to take up a libretto discarded by Puccini (Conchita), but also by his musical style which changes from opera to opera. He himself described the eponymous heroine of
Conchita as ’ una sorella’29 of Carmen. The opera utilises Spanish elements. Both Francesca da Rimini and Giulietta e Romeo use modality to create a medieval atmosphere, and I Cavallieri d’Ekebu is Wagnerian in style.
This changing of styles is remarked on in conjunction with Zandonai’s similarities of style with other more famous European contemporaries - most often Debussy and Richard
Strauss. Also underlying his music, and demonstrable in Francesca da Rimini, is a strong Wagnerian influence.
That Zandonai knew, and admired, the music of Debussy is shown in one of the letters to his first teacher, the
Bolognese composer and teacher Vincenzo Gianferrari (1859 -
27 For example by J. Waterhouse in the entry ’Zandonai’ in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, London, 1980, pp 637-638. 2® Nicolodi, op. cit., p. 19. 29 R. Zandonai, Epistolario, 1897 - 1944. Rovereto, 1983, p. 105 . 12
1939). The letter, dated 25/1/1909, says,
'Ho ricevuto . . . il Preludio di Debussy ... Mi sembra uno dei lavori piu chiari e piu ispirati del maestro francese' ,30
(I have received . . . the Prelude by Debussy . . . to me it seems one of the clearest and most inspired works of the French master) and many writers specifically mention Debussy as a reference for his music, though only Orselli is specific, mentioning,
’inflessioni modali . . . intervali alterati le trasparenze orchestrali francese' ,31
(modal inflections . . . altered intervals . . . the French orchestral transparency) as similarities to Debussy’s style.
Richard Strauss is also often cited. The specific qualities mentioned are Zandonai’s use of 'declamato di
o O sapore straussiano'°c (Straussian-flavoured declamation), his ’cromatismo wagneriano e straussiano in Francesca da Rimini’3 3 (Wagnerian and Straussian chromaticism in
30 Zandonai, op. cit., pp 240-241. 31 Orselli, op. cit., p. 147. 33 Nicolodi, op. cit.,’p. 29. 33 r. Chiesa (ed), Riccardo Zandonai, Milan, 1984, p. 110. 13
Francesca da Rimini), and his orchestral technique, especially in Francesca da Rimini, -
’le . . acquisizioni del teatro di Strauss, percepibili a livello di tinte strumentali (piu che di struttura) in Francesca’.^4
(the . . . acquisitions from the theatre of Strauss perceptible in the levels of instrumental colours, more than in the structure.)
The musical depiction of shocking events in Zandonai’s operas may be responsible for the view of him as similar to Strauss. Scenes such as Conchita’s making love to another man in front of her lover, and Malestino’s beheading a prisoner especially for Francesca, as well as the musical depictions of these events, could easily cause listeners to classify Zandonai’s operas as in the same vein as Salome (1905, first Italian performance at Milan in 1906) and Elektra (1909, 1909).
The influence of Wagner can be readily seen in Francesca da Rimini in devices including the use of a system of leitmotivs, the through-composed style of the opera, and the importance of the orchestra and its use in a quasi- symphonic style. As well as these musical traits, Francesca da Rimini has other links to Wagnerism through
34 Nicolodi, op. cit., p.23. 14
its use of a libretto by D’Annunzio.
Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863-1938) is possibly the most important Italian writer of his time. He is famous not only for his literary output, but also for his extravagant lifestyle, his political activities, and his well- publicised affairs, the best known of which was with the
Italian actress Eleanora Duse (1859-1924), for whom the play Francesca da Rimini was written.
As a provider of plots for musical works D’Annunzio is the writer responsible for Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien (1911), Pizzetti’s Fedra (1915), Mascagni’s Parisina (1914), Franchetti’s La Figlia di Iorio (1906), Malipiero’s II sogno d’una mattina di primavera (1914) and Montemezzi’s La nave (1918). Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini uses the first part of a trilogy, I Malatesti, the other plays in it being Parisina, used by Mascagni (supra), and Sigismondo e Isotta. Cutting the orinally overlong play down into an operatically viable length was undertaken by Tito Ricordi himself. The cutting is of four types. First, large amounts of dialogue concerning the political background of the Guelph/Ghibelline struggle of the twelfth century were removed. Second, various characters were excised - Francesca’s young brother, a merchant, and an astrologer. These two types of cuts simply reduce the length of the play and make it more dramatically direct. The third type of cut was the removal of large sections of the part of Francesca. As 15
mentioned above, the part was written for D’Annunzio’s current mistress, la Duse, and as would be expected the author gave her a large part with many opportunities for her acting talents. By cutting this part down, Ricordi brought the roles of the two main characters, Francesca and Paolo, into some sort of balance, though Francesca still dominates. As well as these specific cuts there was a general tidying of repetitious and inconsequential dialogue. Surprisingly, one of the most dramatic and potentially operatic scenes, that in which the three brothers, Paolo, Gianciotto, and Malatestino confront each other’s positions concerning Francesca (Act IV, sc. iv in the play) was removed.
As well as cutting the play, Zandonai and Ricordi asked D’Annunzio to add to it. To comply with this the writer added Paolo’s ’aria’ in Act III, ’Nemica ebbi la luce’, which serves to flesh out the character of Paolo dramaticaly and give him a stronger musical profile- after all he doesn’t even sing in the first Act.
D’Annunzio’s literary style is a mixture of Symbolism, fin-de-siecle decadence, quasi-medievalism, and Wagnerism.
His ’debt’ to the Belgian Maeterlinck was noted by critics who saw Francesca da Rimini as an imitation of Pelleas et Melisande.^^ The similarities are easy to see: both use
35 See G. Gullace, Gabriele D’Annunzio in France. Syracuse, 1966, Introduction, p. xi. 16
a generalised medieval atmosphere, gloomy castles, a familial love triangle with a hint of incest, and heavy- handed symbolic language and imagery. As a Wagnerian,
D’Annunzio not only sprinkled allusions to Wagner’s works throughout this play, but wrote articles on Wagner, and has Wagner as a central character in one of his novels (II Fuoco) . In Francesca da Rimini there are clear likenesses to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde; Paolo is sent as his brother’s messenger to collect Francesca (as Tristan is for King Mark); Smaragdi, Francesca’s maid, gives Francesca a love potion (and is accused by Francesca of being like Isolde:’s Brangane) > and the f inal outcome, in which the lovers die and the husband is left alive, resembles Wagner’ s opera. To add to this , the stage settings include references to the romance of Tristan, pictures of it being around the walls of Francesca’s bedroom. This is described in the stage directions for
Act III,
’Appare una camea adorna, vagamente scompartita da formelle che portano istoriette del romanzo di
Tristano.’36
(A decorated room, partitioned by panels that show the incidents from the romance of Tristan).
36 Stage direction, Francesca da Rimini. Act III, p. 171. 17
Zandonai was aware of all this. In a letter to his lifelong friend and correspondent, Lino Leonardi, he commented (about Francesca ) ,
’Chissa che non nasca un Tristano italiano? ’ 0 '
(Who knows that I haven’t produced an Italian Tristan and Isolde? )
Certainly some of the Wagnerian elements of the play are echoed in Zandonai’s music, with its system of leitmotivs and its symphonic style, not to mention the main point of this discussion of Zandonai’s style, the use of differing harmonic systems for different characters and situations, something which contributes greatly to the dramatic effect of Wagner’s music-dramas and can be readily seen in the contrast between the chromatic world of Tristan and Isolde, and the tonal world of King Mark.
Zandonai seems to have tackled the task of composition head on and in sequence. From references to his letters this process was quite quick: Act I from September to October, 1912, Act II December to February, 1913, Act III Spring -
June, 1913, and Act IV, late July 1913.®® His mention of the composition process is very matter of fact, and he
rarely describes much of the music except to say that it is
Zandonai, op. cit., p. 132. 38 See Zandonai, op. cit., p. 190, note 215. 18
O Q good, 3 and that Act I is ’un piccolo gioello di colore, di freschezza, di chiarezza, ’ (a little jewel of colour, freshness, and brightness. ) ^ This last comment stands despite his attempt to discard the finale to the first Act, perhaps the most famous passage of the score, and certainly
one of its musical highpoints and dramatically effective
passages.
Apart from the dates of composition and these few remarks, Zandonai’s only other comments about this opera are his initial expression of happiness to Leonardi at securing the rights to the libretto,
’ ti communico con gioia che finalmente la Francesca e mi a!’^ ^
(I tell you with happiness that finally Francesca is mine!)
and his charting of subsequent performances and revivals.
In addition to Zandonai’s position in both Italian and European music, he should be seen in another perspective, that of the development of opera in the twentieth century.
This is commented on by Rosselini who regards Zandonai as
exercising a decisive influence
39 For example in his letter to Leonardi of 21st June, 1913, in which he says that Act III is ’molto bene.’ Ibid., p. 139. 40 Ibid., p. 131. 41 Ibid., p. 130, letter of 14th May, 1912. 19
’ sul gusto e le ideali di taluni importanti compositori contemporanei, ed e conquista alteranto certa, il linguaggio dei nostri giorni. ’^2
(on the flavour and ideals of some important contemporary composers, and certainly as having altered the language of our times.)
He sees Zandonai’s style and sentiment as the precursors of Britten’s Peter Grimes and Walton’s Troilus and Cressida, in this way according Zandonai an important position in the development of twentieth century opera style, one bridging the late nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth.
That Zandonai himself kept up with operatic developments is shown in his letters to both Leonardi and Gianferrari. His enthusiasms included Russian operas and the works of Italians of his own time, as well as Wagner. He mentions Elektra, as something that ’mi interessa molto’^3 (interests me greatly), Die Walkure, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Catalini’s La Wally. Louise, Montemezzi’s Hellera, Snegeroutchka, Boris Godunov, Per Rosenkavalier, La Fanciulla del West, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Pshovitana, which he described as ’ un lavoro interessante nel suo squilibrio formale,’44 (a WOrk interesting in its formal
42 Rosselini, op. cit., p. 130. 43 Zandonai, op. cit., p. 242. 44 Ibid., p. 262. 20
balance.)
The opera Francesca da Rimini demonstrates Zandonai’s position in these three fields - Italian, European, and operatic. It represents a composer of the late verismo, typical of his time in the use of plot source and certain musical devices, for example modality, and one who prefigures the style of opera that would become the norm
for composers that followed him. This opera, appearing as it did in 1914, also shows an interesting mixture of harmonic styles, and therefore can be seen as representative of methods of harmonic thinking in the early twentieth century. This is the period of post-Wagnerian chromaticism, Impressionist alternative scales, the use of modes and synthetic scales, the developments of the second Viennese school, the use of chord types that challenge tertial ideas, and the replacement of functional harmonic ideas by others, such as the division of the octave into two equal parts outlined by an augmented fourth.
Zandonai was not an innovator in this field. His harmonic ideas can be found in the works of turn-of-the-century composers such as Debussy, Skriabin and Szymanovski. His method is to use different harmonic styles, combining and contrasting them for dramatic effect and to create an overall formal structure within works. In Francesca da Rimini there are four distinct harmonic styles: a general chromatic style, a modal one, sections based on wholetone 21
scales, and others of straight tonality. Each of these is used for its own purpose in delineating characters, setting an atmosphere, creating dramatic movement, highlighting actions, and indicating conventional operatic events. In short this opera represents a composer who specialises in harmonic style and uses it for a number of reasons structural and dramaturgical. 22
Chapter 2: The Four Harmonic Styles of Francesca da Rimini
To define and discuss the harmonic language used by Zandonai in Francesca da Rimini is actually to discuss some of the developments of tonality in European music between the death of Wagner (and birth of Zandonai) in 1883 and the first World War (the year of the premiere of Francesca) . Problems involved in this discussion are reaching an adequate description of music that combines a number of
different devices, and formulating a definition of a style that is sometimes not tonal, but not yet atonal. Nicolodi lists the following as devices typically found in the Italian music of this period,
’arcaismi, folclorismi, impasti polifonici, mutuati dal sinfonismo tardo-ottocentesco . . . linee cromatiche . . . ascetismi modali.’45
(archaisms, folkloristic effects, polyphonic combinations, mutations of the late 19th century symphonic style .
chromatic lines . . . modal asceticisms.)
Persichetti^^ maintains that the style of the first half of the twentieth century can be defined, and does so by reference to its separate characteristics, such as scale
forms and types of harmony, while Salzman discusses music
Nicolodi, op. cit., p.17. V. Persichetti, Twentieth Century Harmony - creative aspects and practice, New York, 1961. 23
of this time as using a
’generalised tonal sense, which seems to linger in the more spare and dissonant character.1^
All three agree on the mixture of past and present that can be seen, for example, in Debussy’s use of modal, organum
and wholetone styles, a mixture that Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini also exemplifies.
It is not only the use of contrasting harmonic styles that marks Zandonai as an harmonic composer, by which is meant that the use of harmony becomes, in his music, the most important element. This view of Zandonai is backed up by the fact that harmony is used as a type of leitmotiv, that it delineates the formal units of the individual acts of the opera, and that it embodies the main interest of his music. Certainly he is not principally a lyrical composer (as, for instance Puccini could be described). His vocal lines seem to evolve out of the underlying harmonic progressions rather than merely rest on the harmony for support. This causes a type of melodic writing which often gravitates around one note while the harmony moves underneath it, a device often found in Francesca da Rimini,
4 7 E. Salzman, Twentieth Century Music: an introduction. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1967, p. 46. 24
for example, 48
Ex 1 , p.47, bars 1-5
Andnntc giusto 4? SAMARITANA (con mmo «r-om#nto Improvrtao at rtngaadost alia .oralla)
Fran.ce . sea,... do.vean. Jggj Andante giuato » « s»
SaMARITANA quasi rail. a Tempo
- dra a Tempo Chi mi ti quasi rail.
PP yrrrl mdyri
SAMARITANA a Tempo
FRANCESCA
tu mi sve . gli a Tempo
SAMARITANA
di-mi: restaan.co . racon me! Re.staconme, do. vena
H6450
48 All musical quotes for this opera are from R. Zandonai, Francesca da Rimini, Ricordi, Milan, 1945. 25
or to vocal lines which follow typical Zandonaian chord progressions,
Ex 2, p.73, bars 5-10
or outline important harmonic motivs, here the augmented 26
fourth (see below)
Ex 3, p. 109, bars 6 & 7
PAOLoRitenut° un poco nprendendo il tew no.
Ec . co l'el . met. toch’iovi
|o jj Ritenuto on poco riprendendo il tempo__
a Tempo
Pa. .o.lol . o.lo! '»*!• il oorm* til* tom. L* too toot* ebloMi* u J'rueoaoo fittoto il dooo,lo Lnaoff-no ohluBondoi
a Tempo
The four harmonic styles in this opera are used discretely so the overall effect is one of a musical patchwork. This 27
occurs for a number of reasons. Zandonai’s method of act construction is to compose short, complete sections of score, each one based on one of the styles mentioned above, and using two or three musical ideas. This can be noted in the first section of Act I (pp. 3-24), in which Francesca’s women chatter about her coming betrothal while they are entertained by a minstrel (who, to help in the creation of medieval atmosphere, is singing about King Arthur and
Morgana). This section of the score uses three musical ideas, a semiquaver accompaniment figure,
Ex 4, p.3, bars 8 & 9
a short motiv in the bass (notice the importance of the augmented fourth in this)
Ex 5, p.10, bars 4-7 ALTICHIARA
M& che vnoi tu con que.sto tuo scar. IL OICLIARC
. lat . 28
ADONILLA
ALTICHIAKA (f " ? M . lat . to ?
plus the minstrel’s ricercata which has already appeared in the short introduction to the Act.
Ex 6, p.21, bars 2-6
(Lp ilotinw .liumo iu »»colto. tl siulluro a Tempo fa uat ricorcatu su la viola • canto) IL GtVLLAR* Plu lento J=44
mor - te. n
a Tempo
Each section of the score uses its identifiable style related to which characters are present, what is happening 29
in the plot, whether the action is moving forwards or has reached either a point of stasis or a climax, and whether
Zandonai i s indulging in the creation of musical atmosphere. In this way Zandonai uses harmonic style for dramatic effect as well as for a means of creating formal structure in the opera as a whole.^9
The descripton of Zandonai’s style as a ’patchwork’ could easily give the impression that this opera lacks any unifying features. However a sense of unity is given to it by Zandonai’s employment of a number of devices which are used within all four styles. These are,
i) a fondness for alternating unrelated chords
ii ) specific cadence types
iii) Zandonai’s own brand of chord progressions
iv) harmonic variation
v) enharmony
vi ) his use of harmonic rhythm
vii ) types of modulatory outlines
viii ) chords connected by a common tone, and
ix) part-writing strongly characterised by voice
leading.
These are discussed in Chapter 3
4 9 See pp. 88ff, infra. 30
The four styles
a) tonal b) modal
c) wholetone d) chromatic
a) Tonal
In Francesca da Rimini a ’tonal’ section is a section of the score which is in an identifiable key, may modulate to any other key, but returns to the original key. However, even within this definition there are three types of tonality:
i) ’straight’ tonality ii) tonality with heavy chromaticism iii) tonality with other inflexions.
The end of Act I is an example of Zandonai ’ s ’straight’ tonal style. This is the scene in which Paolo appears for the first time; it is a scene which Zandonai tried to excise from the opera during composition, but which his
friend Leonardi ’rescued’, (pp. 76-82, fig 53 to the end of Act I, Appendix I.)
This section is in D major with typical Zandonaian traits: the use of chord IV with an added flattened seventh (which gives it a mixolydian shadow), and an overall key plan that moves from D major to A*3 and back to D (notice again the prominence of the augmented fourth here, as the outline of 31
the modulatory process). To achieve this movement between keys Zandonai uses the device of enharmony, d# in a B major chord being equated with eb in one of Eb. The ’modulations’ are effected through two types of cadences, standard ones, and Zandonai’s own augmented fourth cadence. This can be seen in
Ex 7, p.81, bars 4-6
where the chord (the farthest point away from D major in the key plan of this section) is approached from an E*3 chord (= Perfect cadence), and then becomes the first chord of a cadence (A'3 to D) using chords an augmented fourth apart.
This being an example of the most straightforward type of tonality in this opera, the added notes used in chords are 32
the least dissonant available, i.e. sixths and seconds (= ninths ) .
This section also has a logic in its key movement. Though the key structure looks unworkable it is based on relationships which are strengthened by linking the chords in two ways: by semitone voice leading, and through conventional functional harmony. The progression B major -
C diminished - E*3 major, (see previous example, first bar), works because the f# held through B major and C dimished moves by semitone to g in the E*3 major chord, while the d# of B major becomes, enharmonically, e*3 in the C diminished and E*3 chords. Functional movement can be seen in progressions such as
Ex 8, p.81, bars 1-4
81
tret f__ 33
(D major - E major - F# major - B major) where the first and last chords are related, B major being the tonic major of the relative minor of D major. This four-chord progression shows Zandonai’s fondness for the use of parallel chords as a component of chord progressions (E major to F# major).
The tonal but heavily chromatic style appears in a section
of the first Act, the dialogue between Francesca and Smaritana (pp. 47-51, Appendix II). Again this is a discrete section of the score. It starts ’around’ D minor and its related keys, returning to D later, but this time to D major. What makes this section more complex than the tonal section that finished Act I is not only the higher degree of chromaticism, but the use of a faster harmonic rhythm and Zandonai’s process of harmonic variation. Through its cadences and phrase structure, however, this section maintains a sense of key, thus fitting into the tonal definition.
The characteristic musical idea of this section is a chord
sequence using parallel chords 34
Ex 9, p.47, bars 1-3
AndAnte glusto J » 54 H SAMARITANA (con uno «r-om«nto improTTtao strlngandoat alia, toralla)
Fran_ce . sea,... do.ve an. jggj Andante giusto J « r>\
samaritajja a Tempo
a Tempo quasi rail.
a typical Zandonai trait, here mixed with the augmented fourth cadence, use of enharmony, and the use of a common note above a changing chord pattern, the ’a’ above D minor,
C major, and B flat major, which changes its role within each chord, being the dominant in the first chord, then becoming an added sixth, and last an added seventh.
Important signposts in passing modulations are the A major chord on page 48 and the end of a sub-section on E major
(by an augmented 4th cadence) on the bottom of the same page. The second sub-section of this section (p. 49) starts in A, moving through F# major to C major (again notice the augmented fourth outline). 35
This section of the score demonstrates one of Zandonai’s compositional devices, the use of harmonic variation, achieved by repeating a section of melody with changed harmony. Here this can be seen on p.50, where the original idea of this section, a held note above a changing chord progression (see ex 9) returns, but the chords have been
replaced by others based on the notes of a wholetone scale,
Ex 10, p.50, bars 1-2
•”>0 a Tempo >A MAUI 1 ;\ *> A
dal two re 1351 a Tempo
The return to D major on page 51 is achieved by a series of chords related by Zandonaian traits, shown in the following
reduction,
Ex 11, reduction of chord progression, p.51, bars 1 5
D - D7+ - A flat - G - E flat - D, 36
that is by augmented 4th, by semitone, by third, by semitone, all typical chord relationships in Zandonai’s music. Again, we should notice the use of the augmented fourth as not only a component of the chord sequence (D -
A*3) , but also as the overall outline of the progression
(D - Ab - D).
The third type of tonal section is illustrated by
Francesca’s ’aria’, Portami nella stanza (Act I, pp. 69-71,
Appendix III). Here, while still remaining within the starting and finishing points of one keycentre, and using justifiable key relationships that define C# as the key,
Zandonai introduces elements of bitonality, as well as a high degree of chromaticism.
The hints of bitonality are achieved by having the bass line under a chord progression seemingly independent of the overlying chords, although aligning with the chords sometimes, notably at the beginnings of bars, and then having chromatic notes included which give the bass line its own key, contradicting that of the upper parts. Here the bass notes that occur under the sounding of a chord could be considered higher added notes of the chord in inversions, but the bass line is independent of the harmony above it. 37
Ex 12, p.70, bars 5-9
Pin mosao on poco FRANCESCA
e fa ta . ce re que - sts gri
Pin mosao on poco 38
Here the bass part under the cadence in bar 5 seems to imply A major, though the upper parts appear to favour a C# minor effect. In the following bars the bass part, though fitting the chords, follows its own sequential pattern which cannot be justified by reference to the upper chords.
The movement in this section, as so often in Zandonai’s method of composition in this opera, is to establish a key centre, move away from it, and then return. Here the initial C# of the opening bars gives way to this bitonal effect, which is replaced by a return to C#.
In this section the chromaticism is used to create musical movement, but Zandonai manipulates the bass line to provide coherence. Notice that it often moves by semitone, that it uses sequences, and outlines strong functional devices, for example, the cadentially formulaic outline in bar 5. The movement around a key centre in this section, and the final return to the original key fulfil the definition of a tonal section, but the tonality is of a different type to that discussed in the two previous sections. b) Modal
There are three major occurrences of modal inflection in Francesca da Rimini. These constitute extended use of a mode, not the isolated use of one or two chords which may imply a modal feeling, such as the use of a chord of G major with an added minor seventh in a D major section, so 39
giving it a mixolydian flavour.^ The three occurrences are in Act I (pp. 37-46) which is repeated at the opening of Act IV, Sc. ii (pp. 293-298 & 303-304), and a short passage of nineteen bars in Act III (p. 173).
The third of these is uncomplicated. It is in ’G minor’ with a flattened 7th and major 6th, that is, in dorian mode on G. Its justification in the context of the opera is that it is used during Francesca’s reading of a passage from the romance of Galahad. As in the other modal sections, the harmonic rhythm is slow, usually one chord every bar or every two bars; and the chordal vocabulary is simple, making these sections stand out from their neighbours.
The other two modal sections use the same material, a song for Francesca’s maids, Oime, oim^. into which she interjects short phrases.^ These are separate sections of the score delineated by the use of an harmonic style and their own musical ideas. These sections are mainly but not exclusively modal, mixing modal with tonal elements. The first modal section, Act I, pp. 37-46, has the following plan of modal, ’tonal’, and chromatic sub-sections,
5^ See pages 24-25, supra. 51 The medieval effect of modes is added to by the use of ’medieval’ instruments, a lute and a viola pomposa. See C. Orselli, ’Paneggi medievali per la donna decadente - Parisina e Francesca’ in Chigiana, Vol. XXXVII, No 17, 1980, p. 135f. 40
Table 1: scheme of harmonic sections, Act I, pp. 37 - 46
1 - 11 modal 12 - 24 chromatic 25 - 66 modal 67 - 72 chromatic 73 - 90 modal 91 - 101 chromatic
102 - 127 modal
The use of modality helps define the formal structure of this section, being used when the chorus sings. The mode used is dorian on d, but within it there is freedom of chromatic inflection, so that sometimes sections end with a D major chord, or an A major chord is used where the mode would require A minor. This later is used only briefly so it does not negate the modal effect, especially the use of the flattened seventh degree of the scale. This is why these sections are best referred to as sections of modal inflection, rather than as purely modal ones .
There is no doubting the modal intention of this section and its use to create a medieval atmosphere, but Zandonai’s harmonic style rarely allows adherence to a system without continual small variation. Here this can be found in the fluctuation between major and minor chords (that is, D major instead of D minor), the movement in and out of a sense of a relative tonality (for example at bar
5 on p. 41, the use of , justified as the relative major 41
of D minor and of the dorian mode on ’d’, and the development of Francesca’s first intervention (three bars on page 42) into a whole page by harmonic variation and extension.
This section stands out from its surrounding ones not only because of its use of such a distinctive harmonic colouring, but also for other noticeable differences - the chord types used are simple triads, not the complex chord types found throughout the rest of the opera; there is the use as well of open quartal chords to add to the medieval effect, and of ostinato-1ike figures. There is also the factor of slower harmonic rhythm.
When the music of this section from the first Act returns in the last scene of the opera, it is played first by the orchestra as an introduction, and again has the effect of dorian modality with some chromatic bars added for contrast,
Ex 13, p. 293, bars 18 - 23 293 ATTO QUARTO PARTE SECONDA
Riappare camera adorn*, eon tl lotto lneorttn*to,con 1* trtbnna dai mualei, col legglo cba regge il libro ehiuao. Quattro torchl dl ear* ardono au uno dal eandellari di ferro; due doppierl ardono sul deschetto. La vatrata della finestra sono aparta alia aotta larana. Sul davaniala a il teato del basi- lico; e accanto a un piatto dorato, piano di grappoll d’uva novella.
m - Allegretto 42
a Tempo
Sometimes the expected b natural needed to make this completely dorian is missing, and a occurs harmonised by a chord of B*3 major. This is a perfect example of Zandonai’s harmonic style: there are small variations, sideways moves, for instance in this case to a scale of D natural minor, and at other times to D major. What this shows is that Zandonai is using D as a central idea but can move either to a modal scale based on d, a major scale, or a minor one, all based on the same final note.
The same chord types and repeated accompanying figures are used in this section as in Act I, and also in the brief reference to this music that is used to close the first section of Act IV, Sc. ii (pp. 303-304). Expected page number 43 to 46 are not in the original print copy. Another logical reason for the use of so many chords from wholetone scales throughout the opera is that such chords can be used to accompany occurrences of a melodic augmented fourth, which, being one of the important motivs of the opera are very frequent. d) Chromatic
The modal and tonal styles are used for the lyrical parts of the score, and the wholetone scale is exploited as a linking device and for other specific functions. For the working out of plot action, especially concerning Paolo’s brothers, Giovanni (called Gianciotto) and Malatestino, Zandonai uses a free chromatic style. This style employs tonal rudiments such as triads, standard chord types, and tonicization, as well as wholetone ideas. Pedal notes and ostinatos play a large part in these sections of the score, though usually their key implication is not linked to the harmony. In short, these sections use tonal ideas but are not tonal. At the same time, because tonal centres can be identified, they are not atonal, (though the tonal centres are not placed in a hierarchy), and no specific tonal centre is allowed to assume the role of a tonic.
As with the rest of the opera, these sections can be divided into smaller sub-sections by the use of musical ideas. An example of one of these sections is the scene between Gianciotto and Malatestino in which the latter 48
alerts the former to the relationship between Paolo and
Francesca (Act IV, sc. iii, p. 271).
This scene can be divided into five sections delineated by the use of motivs and styles, though the rhythm
^ ( \ associated with Malatestino appears throughout the whole scene.
In the first sub-section (pp. 271 - 273), wholetone and augmented chords are used and pedal notes of both b*5 and c appear. The b*3 which occurs throughout these bars as both pedal and inverted pedal acts as a ’dominant’ for the next section which starts in E*3 minor and uses e*3 as a pedal, often in the ostinato pattern,
Ex 19, ostinato pattern, p.275
—fi--Tre—r----- i1 7f 7' kT >1 t
This tonic-to-dominant type of ostinato implies an E13 tonality, but is not related to the overlying chords.
The third section (p. 277ff) uses b natural as a pedal, again with little or no relation to the overlying harmony, leading back to the fourth section which has an eD pedal but freely chromatic harmony. For the fifth section the pedal note moves to c. Notice that, in this style, pedal 49
notes are used to give sub-sections some form of unifying character; as well, there are repeated motivs. Another overall pattern can be discerned if the pedal notes are listed in order,
b^ - c/ e^ / b natural / e^ / c, namely that the b natural section is the middle of a mirror pattern. Is this a method Zandonai uses to give such a section an underlying plan?
As with the sections in other styles of harmony, this one uses a similar set of devices: alternating chords, progressions that move by semitone, augmented fourth, and third, and chords connected by strong voice-leading.
The importance of the bass line is shown in the chromatic sections, where it is used to provide some unifying feature. Zandonai’s bass lines are always strong, employing standard functional movement, outlining triads or other chord types, supporting Zandonai’s own brand of chord progressions, or his own cadence formulas, such as the augmented fourth cadence. Movement by thirds is another favourite device, as is the division of the octave into two equal halves by the augmented fourth.
Devices such as these are used within the chromatic sections, for example the bass outlining a chord with 50
independent harmonies above, eg.
Ex 20, p.161, bars 5-6
where the bass moves up the notes of a diminished chord underneath a series of augmented triads. So while no tonality is established, tonal devices are manipulated to give musical logic.
The second sub-section of this section is built on an :stinato,
Ex 21 - ostinato pattern - p.275, bars 5-6
which implies e*3, but the chords above, when an identifiable key is present, suggest a'3 major/minor, especially at bar 11 of this page. These bars show another trait of Zandonai’s chromatic style, the 51
combination of two keys at once. While the bass has its ’e^’ ostinato, the upper parts continually use a b natural and chords of A^ creating a mixture of key senses. (Notice again that this figure,
Ex 22, p.283, bar 10
outlines an augmented fourth).
While the chromatic movement of these sections seems unmanaged, it actually embodies strong organisation. The importance of the bass line has already been mentioned. As well there is the overall pedal note plan, the use of the expected wholetone chords to move between sections, and an overlying key sense. This last can be found in this section.
Up to the end of the fourth section the keys used, when a key can be identified, have been flat keys; at the end of the fourth section Zandonai moves by an augmented fourth
(F - B) into a B major area. What makes the shift in key area so noticeable is that it arrives with dramatic changes in rhythm, motivs, speed and style.
Another characteristic is shown in this final section: the use of contrasting chords which, by coming from 52
different harmonic styles, wholetone, major/minor, etc, negate each other, yet are held in some sort of relationship by the presence of the pedal notes underneath, by semitone links, or by common tones. There is also the unity conferred by the use of the repetitive rhythm, and the motiv, i f t' \ f Ex 23, p.287, bar 1
If throughout the whole chromatic section key centres are established, this may be a means of defining this style.
Brief tonicizations are used but, to achieve a sense of drama or action, Zandonai moves quickly from one to the other, at the same time employing pedal notes, which imply a key, underneath highly chromatic chords which don’t match the bass lines. In this way a key centre is established by one element and at the same time negated by another. Overall patterns can be seen in the relationships between pedal notes, for instance, and in the shift of key areas.
What this particular style shows above the other three is
Zandonai’s reliance on specific ’tricks’, for instance a palette of chord types (augmented, major, minor, wholetone, etc.) which can be contrasted and juxtaposed. 53
In the same way there is a set of bass movements which recur, the habit of alternating two unrelated chords, and hints of bitonality. Nowhere is Zandonai’s sectionalism more evident than in this style, perhaps here emphasised by the lack of one key centre. 54
Chapter 3: Harmonic Devices in Francesca da Rimini
What makes Zandonai’s music distinctive is not only its alternation and contrasting of different harmonic styles, but within those styles certain harmonic devices, for example chord progressions and cadences. As these devices concern the area of harmony and tonality, they are another reason for classifying Zandonai as a composer for whom harmony is a prominent element. The devices to be discussed are
i) cadences ii) types of chord progression iii) harmonic variation and extension iv) harmonic rhythm v) uses of the augmented fourth i) Cadences
Zandonai matches his unusual mixture of harmonic styles with his own cadence formulas. These are of two types: variations to standard cadences, and cadences peculiar to
Zandonai.
The use of augmented triads or chords derived from wholetone scales has already been discussed (supra 33f).
One of the main applications of this type of chord is as the first chord of a perfect cadence, 55
Ex 24, perfect cadence with augmented chord
IV /v______C>______J.------—im--- Tro a------.— Tl It"J ------ri----- cr— J c,^ c
which is common throughout this opera. The use of the
augmented triad allows the composer to use a standard
cadence without its full tonal implications. It also allows semitonal voice leading in the upper parts, while retaining the functional character of the bass line.
Another cadence which can be seen as a variation to a standard type is one which uses two parallel chords,
Ex 25, cadence of parallel chords
This is a development from a perfect cadence by means of tritone substitution: that is, the first chord of the
cadence has been replaced by one an augmented fourth away.
Here a chord of F# has been replaced by one of C major.
This is possible because the third of the ’original’ chord, ’a#’ becomes the seventh (’b^’) of the substituted one, and vice versa. 56
This type of cadence would especially appeal to Zandonai in the context of this opera, relying as it does on the relationship of the augmented fourth, considering the importance of this interval throughout this opera harmonically, melodically, and motivically. It also gives scope for Zandonai to link the two chords by means of semitonal voice leading, and to exploit contrary motion between parts. These are examples of ways in which
Zandonai constructs chord progressions.
In the modally inflected sections there are cadences based on the mode in use: that is cadences which give prominence to the characteristics of the mode. For example, in the dorian sections, the cadence that uses chord IV to chord i,
Ex 26, ’dorian’ plagal cadence
1 2 ° (f V, j u a J
reinforces the flavour of his mode expressed in its major 6th (as the mediant of the G major chord) and minor 3rd
(as the mediant of d minor).
By far the most common type of cadence in this opera is one in which the chords are an augmented fourth apart. This cadence type permeates the opera and could be a reason for the likening of Zandonai ’ s music to that of 57
composers contemporary with him or immediately preceding him - for example, Wagner. It also links Zandonai to other composers who favoured the augmented fourth as a means of equally dividing the octave: Skriabin, Liszt, and Szymanowski.
Ex 27, p.216, bars 1-4
216 KUANCEFCA a Tempo m 50
Pa. o.lo. da. tc . mi pa . ce.' E dol.ce Larj^o rail:__ a Tempo ^ r 50 M6//0 leguto t dole•
PI* itileitsimo
■»- #T-----
Throughout this opera, this cadence has strong motivic implications. When it uses an added minor seventh in its first chord, it allows Zandonai to employ one of his ’tricks’, that of maintaining a common tone over different chords,
Ex 28
J -----§—if Q______— {r.v % 1-*^ -----
%
(eg in G7 the ’f’ = e# in C#)
Another cadence peculiar to Zandonai is one that ends with an augmented or whole tone chord, 58
Ex 29, p.24, bars 3-4 (reduction)
This cadence is used to finish a section of music without implying a full close, and, as mentioned, often occurs at the changeover from one style of harmony to another. In this example the chords are organised so as to exploit a repeated bass note, a common tone (’d*3’), and semitone voice leading, all traits recognisable as Zandonaian. ii) Types of chord progression
Francesca da Rimini is constructed at an act level of sections of contrasting harmony. Within these sections there are smaller formal divisions based on recurring melodies and motivs. These sub-sections, as would be expected, are themselves made up of phrases which rely on
c o chord progressions as they move between cadence points. c
Zandonai has a number of ways of linking chords to make a chord progression. These are
a) by alternating chords
b) using consecutive chords
52 The term ’chord progression’ implies that a series of chords has a direction, that is, it goes somewhere. This is different to a chord sequence which is only a group of chords. 59
c) by chords a third apart d) by passing chord, and e) with chords an augmented fourth distant.
The passage starting with Smaritana’s Francesca. dove andrai ? (Act I, pp. 47 - 55, Appendix IV) demonstrates a number of these methods. The first eight bars use a parallel chord progression with an augmented fourth cadence at the end of the first and second phrases (bars 3
& 5 ) . The parallel chord idea is developed within these eight bars in two ways: it is extended (bars 6-8), and its rhythm is altered from (bar 2) to (bars 7-8). Above the parallel chords can be seen Zandonai’s linking method of a common note, and within the harmony the use of semitonal voice leading.
The second page of this excerpt uses the same musical idea but to avoid an exact repetition Zandonai introduces minor variations. This is a standard procedure, i.e. immediate repetition with variations, usually of an harmonic nature. In the first bar of the second page the consecutive harmony is present, but roots of the chords are no longer providing the bass line which, through movement of fourths and fifths, assumes the character of a conventional functional bass. Other small variations on the second page include the extension of the original three chord progression (bar 4), and the replacement of the augmented fourth cadence by a perfect one (bars 4-5). 60
The next repetition of the parallel chord idea is on the fourth page of this section but here the chords have been exchanged for chords based on wholetone scales (bars 1 -
2 ) .
A mixture of chord relations provides the chord progression from bars 7 & 8 of page 4 to the first bar of the next page. The chords (D major - Eb major - A major - A° major - D major) show movement by semitone, augmented fourth, semitone, and augmented fourth. Notice a number of Zandonai’s favourite methods: the types of chord relations, the overall outline of an augmented fourth, movement by semitone within the progression, and the overlapping of two key systems,
Table 2: overlapping key systems, Act I finale
D major - A major - D major
major - A^ major two perfect cadences in keys an augmented fourth apart. What seems like a standard chord progression actually works on a number of levels relying on some functional ideas but managing to contrast two keys through linking chords by traits which appear throughout this opera. We should also be aware that this three-bar phrase is a telescoped version of the whole section that finishes the first Act (pp. 76 - 82). 61
Another type of chord progression, or component of one, is movement by thirds. This occurs in this section on page 54 (bars 3 - 5) where the harmony moves between D major and B*3 major. What this offers Zandonai is the contrast between two tonal areas, one sharp, one flat, and the chance to use semitone voice leading in contrary motion.
Ex 30, p.54, bars 3-4
SAMARITAWA
* ‘M * r
The addition of a passing note in the bass linking the roots of the two chords is typical of Zandonai*s attention to the bass line as a strengthening device.
This type of chord relationship is immediately repeated in the next few bars (p. 55, bars 1 & 2) between A^ major and
C major, acting as a harmonic sequence and being the extreme point of movement away from and back to D major.
One of the methods used by Zandonai to link chords is by the use of a repeated common tone. This is nowhere better 62
shown than in the final pages of the opera (Act IV, pp. 327ff). This is the climax of both the action and music, and so combines a number of important musical ideas. The note ’ e’ is used as a common tone above a chord progression,
Ex 31, reduction of chord progression, p.327f
- E major - F#^ - E^ - C major - F#
which has movement by consecutive chords, by chords a third apart, and by augmented fourth.
Another method of linking chords is by alternation of two chords, often unrelated in key or type. The opera opens with this idea, Ex 32, p.l, bars 3-4
a wholetone chord alternating with an added seventh chord.
Notice how this is achieved by the movement of one note.
This idea of contrasting chord types also opens Act IV (p. 237) where a wholetone chord interchanges with one including a semitone, and is found on many occasions throughout the opera, sometimes as the basis for whole 63
sub-sections, eg pp. 243ff where alternating consecutive chords of E*3 minor and F major provide the accompaniment.
Passing chords are another important device used by Zandonai in constructing chord progressions. A good example of this can be found on p. 324,
Ex 33, p.324, bars 5-7
3^4
paolo Piu calmo e meno mosso
Piu calmo e meno mosso 64
where the G + chord links G major and E minor. Notice that the chromatic alteration of the G major chord and added minor seventh gives this chord wholetone implications, and that the linking of chords is done through stepwise motion between parts.
What helps greatly in many of Zandonai ’ s chord progressions is the use of enharmony, a means to common tone linking, and the fact that many times throughout the opera a key plan movement to and from keys an augmented fourth apart is outlined. This acts in the same way as a melodic idea, becoming a unifying feature of the whole work.
Some sections, and sub-sections, of Francesca da Rimini are based around one type of chord progression, while others combine all the types mentioned. The final duet (Act IV, pp. 319 - 322, Appendix V) includes
i) a progression linked by common tone g# with the chords E major, C+, E half diminished, replaced by
a common tone series with ’e’ then ’d’
ii) chords a third apart (p. 320) iii) consecutive chords
iv) chords a semitone apart
v) chords an augmented fourth apart 65
vi) as a final gesture to this section, an ascending ornamented diminished seventh followed by a wholetone section (p.322, bars 12 - 14) to provide a link to the next section.
Enharmony and added notes which either cloud the functions or identities of chords and provide common tones are widespread.
iii ) Repetition with variation and extension
One of Zandonai’s most common methods of sectional construction is the use of repetition with variation and/or extension. The variations are harmonic and an example has already been discussed (see p.45 supra) in which whole-tone chords are used instead of an original series of chords. Extension occurs when a chord progression is lengthened by the addition of extra chords.
The repetition of small units within sub-sections is used as a means of establishing formal structure in the same way that whole acts are constructed by contrasting harmonic languages. The use of variation and extension is
important and constitutes types of development. Notice that they rely on harmony. iv) Harmonic rhythm
Musical sections of Francesca da Rimini use diverse harmonic styles, and within these there are various harmonic rhythms. In the final section of Act I (pp. 76 - 66
82, Appendix I ) harmonic rhythm is linked to the key outline. It is slow at first, sometimes four bars per chord, while the music is in D major, then quickens to a chord per crotchet as the music moves through major, and back to a number of bars per chord with the re establishment of D major.
Another example (pp 47 - 54 ) shows the harmonic rhythm changing from one chord per crotchet beat,
Ex 34, p.47, par 6
0 so - rel.la, so.rel.la,
to one chord per minim,
Ex 35, p.52, bars 4-5 32 FRANCESCA
e mai piii nel . l’al - . ba il mio 67
FRANCESCA
t’u . dra cor .
FRANCESCA . a Tempo
mai pm ti ve.dra bian.ca a pie.di nu - a Tempo
FRANCESCA Pin mosso
cor . ver.so la fi . ne Pin mosso
and then to one chord per bar,
Ex 36, p.54, bars 1 - 6
.',4
SAMARITANA 68
SAMARITANA
.via! e il tempo fuggi.ra, fug-gi - ra sem . . pre!
FRANCESCA _____
fug-gi - ra sem . . - pre!
3' 3^ 'T' 'T 'T 1'
In this example the differing harmonic rhythms are used in conjunction with specific chord patterns, areas of tonality, and an overall formal design. They also contrast with those in the following section.
In scenes of violence and action, rapid harmonic rhythms are used; for example for much of Act II, in which the harmonies change on the beat or on quaver beats.
Another aspect of harmonic rhythm is the use of augmentation. A section from Act II demonstrates this.
In this excerpt Francesca’s ’Paolo, Paolo’ is sung over chords that change every minim, 69
Ex 37, p.110, bars 3-4
FRANCESCA
. 0 .lo! -o .lo!
when these words return a few bars later the harmonic
rhythm has become,
Ex 38, p.110, bars 7-8
FRANCESCA
. 0.
ores. molla„
that is, one chord per bar.
In the sections which create a medieval atmosphere,
Zandonai employs harmonic rhythm of one chord per bar regularly, while for the climax of the opera, the final
duet between Francesco and Paolo, he uses contrasting
rates of harmonic change. 70
v ) The augmented fourth
Much mention has been made so far of the augmented fourth in this opera. In fact it is used in so many ways and with so many functions that it would be quite correct to say that the whole opera is based on this interval. It occurs in cadences, chord substitutions, and as a modulatory outline, as well as an important melodic leitmotiv.^ ^
In cadences, the use of a cadence formula peculiar to Zandonai, the augmented fourth cadence, has already been discussed, also the use of a chord substitution at the augmented fourth which results in a cadence made up of parallel chords.
As a modulatory outline, the augmented fourth occurs many times in this work, both as the design for whole sections:
L for example, the final section of Act I (D major to A° major and back again), as well as phrases within sub sections .
The other use of this interval is as a leitmotiv associated with Francesca’s love for Paolo. This can be seen in such melodic examples as Exx 37 & 38, and the final bars of the opera,
53 It is important to differentiate in this opera between melodic mo'tivs and harmonic ones. 71
Ex 39, p.331, bars 5 8
331 Folle di do loro • di furore, vibra al fiauro dal frutello mi
(Lo Sclancato *1 curra in ailanxio,pia- grx. con pana uno da'rinoechl; an I’aJtro ;pezza lo atoeco aan^ulnoao) TELA
iir ■. :o 72
where Francesca’s ’Ah Paolo!’ combines the melodic use of the interval with its appearance as the bass line and the occurrence of harmonies an augmented fourth apart, a good example of the use of this interval as not only a melodic motiv but also an harmonic one.
As well as these specifically discussed devices of cadence, chord progression, types of harmonic repetition and variation, harmonic rhythm, and the use of the augmented fourth, Zandonai’s harmonic lauguage in this opera also includes the use of ostinatos, pedal and inverted pedal notes, touches of bitonality, chord substitution, common tones between chords and semitonal voice leading. As indications of Zandonai’s overall musical style these imply harmonic prominence, not only for its intrinsic musical quality, but also as a means of creating formal structure, as a method of constructing the small units of composition into which not only acts but also sections and sub-sections within the acts break down, as a motivic device, and as part of the dramaturgical profile of the whole work. 73
Chapter 4: How typical is the harmonic style of
Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini?
The question must inevitably be asked as to how typical
this style and use of harmony are in relation to Zandonai’s other music, and the music of the composers to whom he is linked historically.
It would seem that the harmonic ideas characteristic of
Francesca da Rimini were used by Zandonai from his earliest works. His Serenata Medioevale for Cello, Horns, Harp and Strings (1909) shows a fondness for alternating distinct harmonic types, for example, the opening bars,
Ex 40, Serenata Medioevale. reduction of opening bars, 1-45
! bay's: l - ^ 10 - lb l|- 21 24-31 £ * JQ. TT % H % vl ^ ft H-W 3}- 4'Vvt-l
contrast wholetone chords (bars 1-9, 17 - 21, & 32 - 36)
with tonal ones (10 - 16, 22 - 31, & 37 - 45 ). Later in
the same work the whole range of Zandonai’s traits is used: the fondness for the augmented fourth between key centres, ’modulation’ to a key a third away, semitonal voice leading, specific types of chord progression, 74
extension of a phrase by addition of extra harmony, and the outlining of a chord as the bass part,
Ex 41, Serenata Medioevale, bars 1 - 45, bass outline
the notes of a diminished seventh chord, ending on a b*3 so it can lead to a chord of E minor an augmented fourth away. 54
Being ’medieval’, this Serenata uses modal inflection, seen in the solo cello’s opening melody,
Ex 42, Serenata Medioevale. bars 49f, cello part
54 This is a reduction of the bass line, to show the chord outline. 75
and the title indicates Zandonai’s predilection for the medieval, something also seen in Francesca da Rimini, in his early setting of an Ave Maria to words by Dante, the opera L’Uccelino d’Oro (1907) based on a medieval fable, and the musical setting of parts of his 1921 opera,
Giuliette e Romeo.
In this opera the medieval atmosphere, as in Francesca. is achieved by the use of ’medieval’ instruments and modal inflection, here in the opening pages,
Ex 43, Giulietta e Romeo, opening bars
(Ota aaraUor* in—nt«11«ln appare mi
ponta,aoata praeao l'oataria U ncina^fnarda dal e»tr1,quladl attrvaraa la piasza • ai farm* motto U portico
(□ oaraJJar* ifn d’lgprorrWo U porU di qaaU’oatarla. Ua’ onda dl loco roa. aaatra lo llhimiaa. BaU’latamo ai ■»«. draaao da* fkmifU oolla teat* ralla taaoia,amoonau.m mn aooooeiaa 76
the use of the Dorian mode on ’d’ . The accompaniment figure is also very similar to that f ound in the Oime, oime modal section of Act I of Francesca, and recurs in Romeo’s serenade to Juliet later in Act I. These opening bars also show the alternation of different styles of harmony, the initial wholetone chords giving way to the modal music of the internal orchestra.
Modal inflection is also used in the opera Conchita (1911) and, importantly for our study of Zandonai ’ s uses of harmony, in connection with the appearance on stage of one person, the mother superior of a convent,^ showing that Zandonai linked the specific use of harmonic type to characters, or events. Conchita also uses different types of harmony in discrete sections just as occurs in Francesca, and has the use of wholetone chords as pivots between sections of differing harmonic styles.
Zandonai’s songs for voice and piano, the Sei Liriche and those collectively called Melodie per canto e pianoforte show, as has been suggested from Francesca da Rimini, a composer more interested in the harmonic workings of the accompaniment than the lyricism of the voice part. The 25-bar ’Notte di neve’ serves as an example of this style. The main interest lies in the piano accompaniment, while the voice part is derived by following the harmonic
55 R. Zandonai, Conchita, Milan, 1944, p. 74. 77
changes (See Appendix VI ) .
Study of the operas of Zandonai ’ s contemporaries to whom he is likened and linked shows that the use of a number of harmonic devices was prevalent, but that Zandonai’s method of employing them differed from that of other composers. These musicians are the verists, that loose grouping of
Italian composers from the end of the nineteenth century and the first few decades of the twentieth; and the finding of a common harmonic language, and in some cases the uses of that language, may represent one way of defining their association, even the style perhaps, which is usually approached through a description of plot choice, not of musical style.
The first of these operas to be considered, La Wally (1892) by Alfredo Catalani (1854 - 1893), shows what could be considered a cliche of the verismo style, the use of wholetone/augmented chords at moments of climax or horror,
Ex 44, Catalani, La Wally, p.218^6
(racceglle da Um H baatoae ferrato,e s'lncammiaa a Untool fra la lactrteaae della otbbla a 1'tmper. to Kara delln/ayaao)
56 A. Catalani, La Wally. Ricordi, Milan, n.d. 78
something which permeates also the score of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West, and is remarked on in Francesca. This extract also shows a prominence given to the augmented fourth (bars 9 - 15).
The use of wholetone/augmented triads can also be seen in
Adriana Lecouvreur (1902) by Francesco Cilea (1866 1950), though in this opera it is used, as in Zandonai ’ s music, as a passing chord linking two other chords by voice leading, 79
57 Ex 45, Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur, P 37
(Maunxio, a/s exnfacker Offixier geklexdet, offset die erste TVr rechts.die/dr die KiisstUr reservtert usL. J (Maurmo ,in costum* di sampllc* ufTIciala, apr* il pnmo ascio di dasira riscrvato affli artisti:
{ or r • umj of*r » ADRIARA (alxaado8i,coo tbbrtum) J
( sckwnngnoU) MAURIZK) (con slancio)
G» . lieb . tes Le.bcn!
ADFIAWA
aua? bier? iMAURIZIO
uni______iuuw... Ve.do la, u.na sea.la... Vo*l iono opporal.. Ok!______sollte icknock war.ten? Ich tn/dek-kt die Trrp.pe... man uu/mtek kinder* ... animando
57 F. Cilea, Adriana Lecouvreur, Sonzogno, Milan, 1903 80
or, again like Zandonai, as the first chord of a perfect cadence,
Ex 46, Adriana Lecouvreur, p.39, bar 8 39
MAURIZIO rail.
l’a. u . ra ri . be . vo, che___ m'a - pri la men . te... wo einstmei. ne Am . gen die er. tie Sckonkeit at . ken...
MAURIZIO
del - la Olo . ria, pro. men. saal vinci .tor. winit dee Sie . get er . kab‘. net Di. a . dew! stent
However, while Zandonai uses this cadence formula as a
final close, Cilea uses it to forestall a final, correct
perfect cadence as a type of false ending, 81
Ex 47, Adriana Lecouvreur. p.188
188
affrett
The same effect is an important part of Puccini *s harmonic vocabulary, especially in his later operas; in 82
La Fanciulla del West (1910), for example, the prelude to the first Act opens with augmented triads, which, as in Francesca da Rimini, then contrast with bars of tonal music.
Ex 48, Puccini, La Fanciulla del West, p.l^®
J=4«0 Allegro non troppo
j at.*. | 1 (______O * Jri *
;§ v IV------■Vj 1 * ‘SSbi
n . n r * ^
^ --- ■ mf------j ye1 ^ f p r
It is also found in the music of Zandonai’s second teacher, Mascagni. His Isabeau (1910) uses the augmented triad idea in a cadence situation,
58 G. Puccini, La Fanciulla del West. Ricordi, Milan, 1963 83
Ex 49, Mascagni, Isabeau, p.23, bars 2 - 3^
23 dolce
R8 RAIMOWDO
Re di vir.tu I
pi . ol Re fattoper la per 1’*.
mi . o! Re fat. to pa . dre r r r *r r-rti Ma so.prat .tut.to
59 P. Mascagni, Isabeau. Sonzogno, Milan, 1910. 84
and, like Catalini and Zandonai, exploits the augmented fourth, here between chords in the progression,
Ex 50, Isabeau, p.24, bars 6-8
*1 fwmfUtta
Rel E soocaiYQr . "frifris it ___
rail___ a tempo/'
cot canto pp
Movendo un poco (J : i 85
A more conclusive use of the wholetone scale can also be seen in La Wally. In the final pages the following chord progression appears,
Ex 51, La Wally, p.239, bars 3-6, wholetone chord progression outline
which consists of a harmonised descending wholetone scale.
Another conspicuous device which links Zandonai to his contemporaries is the use of parallel chords (discussed as part of Zandonai’s method of chord progression construction, p. x supra). This is very common in the music of Puccini, an example being the accompaniment to the tenor aria, Ch’ella mi creda in Act III of La Fanciulla del West (pp 304 - 306) which consists of nothing but progressions of parallel chords. This device also appears in Mascagni’s Isabeau.
The use of modes or modal inflection is common among
Italian composers of this period, and can be seen in works such as Respighi’s Concerto Gregoriano. as well as in the works of operatic composers. Examples of this, apart from Zandonai, appear in L’Amore dei tre Re (1913) by Italo Montemezzi (1875 - 1952), where a modal effect is used to create a religious atmosphere in the final Act, and in the 86
final scene of Adriana Lecouvreur for Adriana’s mournful Poveri fior. Having a ’modal’ lament sung by the heroine early in the final scene of an opera in both Cilea’s and Zandonai’s works must pose the question as to whether this could be seen as a cliche in the light of Desdemona’s Salce, salce from Act IV of Verdi’s Otello.
While these devices can be listed as similarities between Zandonai and his operatic contemporaries, there are two points that separate him from them in the use of these strategies: first, the imposition of a link between ’tonic’ centres, and second, the discrete nature of his uses of different harmonic idioms.
In the first act of Francesca da Rimini there is a tendency on Zandonai ’ s part to favour the key of D. The act ends with a firmly tonal section in D major, the section between Francesca and her maid, Smaritana, (pp. 47 - 55) centres around D minor, and the modal section (pp. 37 - 46) is based on the Dorian mode on ’d’; that is, ’d’ is emphasised as a tonic in three different types of scale. The same effect has been mentioned in other instances (supra), leading to the assumption that Zandonai uses a tonic as the centre of different harmonic types and in this way can create musical coherence in a style that otherwise could be seen as untenable.
The second characteristic which separates Zandonai from his contemporaries is his use of different types of harmony as separate entities, not integrated into a 87
continuous musical flow. This is made more obvious by the method of act construction, each one being made up of a number of definable musical sections with its own musical material. The role of the harmonic styles in this is that they change in accordance with the character of a section. It is interesting to note that of the other composers studied, only Mascagni employs this same system of opera construction, and in his Isabeau there is the added similarity of distinct changes in harmonic style allied to changes of sections within Acts (for example, the first Act of Isabeau has a tonal section followed by Isabeau’s chromatic ’aria’, Mio padre, e Re, which is succeeded by a return to tonality).
Comparison of Francesca da Rimini to Zandonai’s other works, and to operas by his contemporaries, shows that his personal style has identifiable features, most often in the area of harmony, and that some of these are also the hallmarks of other Italian opera composers. While the manner these are put to use in the area of operatic act construction can be seen to have similarities to the style of Mascagni, the method in which Zandonai uses them as a dramaturgical device isolates him from his contemporaries. 88
Chapter 5: Harmonic style as constructional and dramaturgical device in Francesca da Rimini.
As has been mentioned, the acts of Francesca da Rimini can be divided into musically definable sections, not only by reference to melody and rhythm, but principally by harmonic style. This gives each act, and the opera as a whole, a formal design which can be expressed in the following way,
Table 3: Harmonic styles in Francesca da Rimini
Act pages style
Act I 1 _ 37 chromatic
37 - 46 modal
47 - 55 tonal
55 - 68 chromatic
69 - 71 tonal
71 - 76 chromatic
76 - 82 tonal
Act II 83 - 93 chromatic
94 - 102 tonal
103 - 170 chromatic
Act III 171 - 172 chromatic
173 modal
174 - 193 chromatic
193 — 209 tonal 89
209 - 226 chromatic
226 - 236 tonal
Act IV
Scene i 237 - 292 chromatic
Scene ii 293 - 298 tonal
299 - 303 chromatic
303 - 304 modal
305 - 310 tonal
310 - 311 modal
312 - 314 chromatic
315 - 327 tonal
328 - 331 chromatic
This constructive use of different harmonic types has dramaturgical significance on a number of levels; the creation of historical atmosphere, the depiction of horrific events, the setting up of factions within the characters, the illustration of certain events surrounding the plot, the demarcation of plot events, the indication of points of movement or stasis in the plot, and the distinction between declamatory style and lyrical, as
Table 4 demonstrates, 90
Table 4; Harmonic style in relation to events, characters etc
Act pages style events, etc.
I 1 - 20 chromatic Francesca’s maids chattering
21 modal inflection minstrel’s ricercare
22 - 37 chromatic Francesca’s father plotting her marriage
37 - 46 modal chorus of Francesca’s maids
47 - 75 chromatic Francesca & the maids prepare for Paolo’s arrival
76 - 82 tonal Paolo’s arrival
II 83 - 91 chromatic Francesca awaiting Paolo’s return
92 - 102 tonal duet for Francesca & Paolo
103 - 170 chromatic battle scene
III 171 - 172 chromatic introduction to Act III
173 modal inflection Francesca reading a medieval tale
174 - 192 chromatic Francesca & Smoragdi discuss Francesca’s position
193 - 208 tonal Francesca’s maids sing for her
209 - 236 tonal duet for Francesca & Paolo
237 - 258 chromatic scene between Francesca & Malatestino
258 - 271 chromatic scene between Francesca & Gianciotto
271 - 292 chromatic Gianciotto & 91
Malatestino plot against Francesca &. Paolo
293 - 304 modal with some introduction to last chromatic scene
305 - 312 tonal Francesca waiting for Paolo
312 - 328 tonal Francesca & Paolo’s final duet
328 - 331 chromatic death of the lovers.
Throughout, there is the use of harmonic progressions as types of leitmotivs. While this opera, like so many others in the post-Wagner period, uses the idea of melodic leitmotivs, it also exploits types of harmony, and actual chord progressions in the same way.
The harmonic leitmotiv can be seen in the augmented fourth cadence. Melodically the augmented fourth is linked to
Francesca’s love for Paolo, evidenced for instance in Exx
37 & 38, which becomes harmonised as
Ex 52, augmented fourth cadence
and is used throughout the opera also as part of chord progressions. It appears in the final bars of the last
Act, both melodically and harmonically: 92
Ex 5 3, p.3 31
331 Folle di dolore e di furore, vibra al fiunco del fratello uti t FRANCESCA ______LciltO_
^ a. ^ _ Lento col canto
(I duo corpl allaeclati vnellli.no icctnnando dl FRANCESCA cadoro; non duno us fomlto; mu» ocloffller- a Tempo li, plombaoo aul pavlraeato'i
(Lo Sclancato il cum in ilUnilo, pl«- g:i con pena uno dl’cinocchl; «u I’<ro •pezzi lo itocco unfuiaoto) TELA
Another example is the use of the chord progression, 93
Ex 54, chord progression from Act I i Tg fv IS^ e?r . &
which appears when Paolo first appears to Francesca and is associated with them through the opera, appearing at the musical and dramatic climax of the end of Act IV as
Ex 55, p.327, bars 1-2
Ritcuuto solcunc FRANCESCA /)« 4 f -
Dam . la boc PAOLO
Dam la boc Ritenuto solenne
In a step of compositional practice and dramatic symbolism, Zandonai uses this same chord progression, but in its minor form (G minor - C minor - G minor) in the prelude to Act I and as part of the minstrel’s song about how Tristan and Isolde (= Paolo and Francesca) will fall in love despite King Mark (= Gianciotto) and meet a single death, thus using a musical device to equate the 94
characters of this opera with an existing legend and indicate the outcome of the plot.
To create historical, specifically medieval, atmosphere,
Zandonai includes modal sections in Acts I, III, and IV.
To reinforce the medievalism he asks for quasi-medieval instruments in the accompaniment, and uses the modal style for a ’ballad’ sung by Francesca’s women and to accompany her reading of the story of Galahad. The return of the modal music from Act I in Act IV also appears as a musical framing device.
In common with other composers of his time, Zandonai uses wholetone music to depict horrific events on stage: in this opera the beheading of a prisoner whose cries upset
Francesca. As well as this, Zandonai’s habit of using wholetone chords as pivots between the different styles of harmony has already been discussed.
Another device of harmonic style is the creation of the dramatic grouping of characters within the opera, thus of the underlying plot situation. The plot of D’Annunzio’s play, on which Zandonai based his opera, concerns the love between Francesca and Paolo, the brother of the man to whom Francesca has been married by her family. What complicates the situation is that to convince Francesca to marry Gianciotto, a baritone with a hunchback, Paolo has been sent to collect her in the knowledge that she will assume that he, a tenor and handsome, is actually her husband. 95
To emphasise the love between Francesca and Paolo, their duets and other music associated with them are the tonal sections of the score. The music that appears whenever Gianciotto and his younger brother Malatestino (who is blind in one eye) are on stage is chromatic. Notice that in this way chromatic assumes an implication of association with deformity, as both of these brothers are physically handicapped in some way.
Gianciotto, Malatestino and Paolo are involved during the course of the opera in a battle as part of the Guelph/Ghibelline struggle of the 12th century (they are of the Malatesta family, part of the Guelph faction). Zandonai uses his most chromatic style, and one involving rapid harmonic rhythm, in the scene of the battle (Act II, pp. 103 -170), creating contrast between scenes of action (battle = chromatic) and scenes of repose (love scenes = tonal). Linked to this, the style of vocal writing alters as well, the chromatic scenes using declamatory style, the love scenes Zandonai’s closest to lyric style. What strengthens this exploitation of harmonic style is its linking not only to vocal style but to harmonic rhythm as well. For example, the final section of Act I, a tonal section in which Francesca sees Paolo for the first time, has harmonic rhythm which is very slow (individual harmonies lasting for a number of bars at a time). Another difference between these scenes is that the chromatic ones involve much action, the tonal ones do not 96
that is, that harmonic style is used to delineate moments of movement or stasis in the plot.
This brings us to the realisation that each section of the opera embodies a step in the action, and as each section is set to one of the contrasting styles of harmony, then harmonic language is being used not only as a signifier of where characters stand in the story, of what is happening in the action, but also as a means of advancing the plot from step to step in an integrated musico - dramatic way - that in other words the drama is moulded by the musical structure defined by harmonic style. This can be noted by reference to Table 4.
For this to be viable the styles must be identified in relation to what they represent (person, event, etcetera), be used consistently, and recur in order that an analysable system can be perceived. This is what happens in Francesca da Rimini. The presence on stage of certain people and their actions are mirrored in the choice and use of harmonic style, making each style an indication of part of the dramatic makeup of the opera. This supports the assertion that, in this opera, Zandonai uses harmonic style not only as a structural device but, possibly more importantly, as a dramaturgical device, a means to creating the drama through musical language. 97
Appendix I: Francesca da Rimini, Act I, pp. 76 - 82
(see pp. 30 33,65-66) 98
(Sospinta dal la sorella, Francesca fa per satire la scala, ina ecco ch'ella vede da presso,di la della cliiu . sura, apparlre Paolo Malatesta. Ella rimane immobile ed egli si ferina tra glk arbustl;e stanno IV no di contro l’altro, divisl dal oancello,guardandosi senza parola e senza gesto. 1 sonatori su i loro struiuentl intonano. Le donne scendono nella corte e si dispongono in corona dietro a Francesca)
l53l Lar»°J. it'ii frrVfrrrffrfffrfffrffrrrllircl&rrflf PP 99 NNK TH (Lluto) (Piffero sulla nc 100 ena) l rar.ca.dore ’ ai-ca.dore Per Per
la la
ter.ra ter-
ingual in
ra
gual
di di
. - 101
a Tempo
a Tempo
sentito
A con.vi . to sel .
A con.vi to sel
in con.tra . da Ion .
in con.tra . da Ion 102
80 ere#
_ ta _ u . no cor si do - man -
. ta . u . no cor si do . man -
rail. a Tempo (Francesca
man
a Tempo CPIffero)
si separa dalla sorella a va lentamente verso I’area. Coglle una grande rosa vermlglla, pol si rl. volge; e, dl sopra alia chiusura, la offre a Paolo Malatesta. Samaritana a capo chlno se ne va su per la scala plangendo. Le donne Inghlr laudate seguono 11 canto.)
i 115480 j 103
81
(Plffero)
Un poco piu lento
In contra. da Ion-ta .
In contra - da lon.ta . na,
(Lluto)
[|^q| Un poco pin lento
W I * 104
82
11MKO 105
Appendix II: Francesca da Rimini, Act I, pp. 47 - 51
(see pp. 33 - 36 ) 106
Andante giusto J - 54 SAMARITANA (con uno sgomento improvvlso strlngendosl alia sorella)
Fran.ce . sea, do.ve an. |Andante gtnsto J = 54 . /^. _ 3
samaritana quasi rail. a Tempo
- dra a Tempo Chi mi ti quasi rail
SAMARITANA a Tempo
PRANCESCA
tu mi sve . gli a Tempo
SAMARITANA
o . di.mi: resta an.co . racon me! Re.staconme do . ve na_ 107
\s SAMARITANA
- seem . . mo! Non te n’an.da . re! Non m’ab.ban.do _
SAMARITANA
Ch’io fac-ciaan- co-railmio pio.co.lo let-to ac.can.to al
SAMARITANA
che la not.te io ti sen
FRANCESCA Ritenuto un poco
E-gli e ve Rite mi to un poco 108
a Tempo un po* agitnndosi samaritana Ritenuto
Chir... Chi mi ti to . _ glier FRANCESCA
a Tempo un po* agitandosi Ritenuto
FRANCESCA
- rel .
samaritana Un poco agitato
E senza nome e senza vol _ to Ma . i non Un poco agitato ______
FRANCESCA Pin lento
For . se io lo vi . Pin lento 109
50 a Tempo SAMARITAN A
Tur Quan.do? Non mi sonmai di . vi - sadate daltuo re - [35l a Tempo
S A MARITANA impo’ rail:.
La mia vi_ta non s’eb.be che i tuoi ______nn po* rails......
SAMARITAN A a Tempo
oc . chi Do . ve po.te _ sti tu ve . der - lo sen.za di a Tempo
SAMARITANA Pill enhno
me ?. FRANCESCA
. ra, pic-co - la co. Piu calmo 110
FRANCESCA 51 a Tempo
- lom _ . ba! Per.che sei tan.to sbi. got a Tempo
FRANCESCA a Tempo
a Tempo
FnANCESCA
Ver . in bre.ve an.che il tuo
P e Holer
FRANCESCA
te n’an.drai dal no . stro
11M60 Ill
Appendix III: Francesca da Rimini, Act I, pp. 69 - 71
(see pp. 36 - 38) 112
69 Lo stesso tempo-calmo FRANCESCA pp doiciimuna ____
Por _ ta.mi nel (Celesta)
|49lL° stesso tcmpo-calmo
115450 113
Piu mosso an poco FRANCESCA
e fa rc que - sts gri
Piu mosso on poco
7 115450 9 114
FRANCHjSCA ,r»f ^gy re queste gri - da e il tu - mul . to chehoncl.
ff rail:.
FRANCESCA ‘ con anima
con anima
Piu mosso Jz88 OARSENDA (Irrompendo sa la. loggia preclpitoaamente) 115
Appendix IV: Francesca da Rimini, Act I, pp. 47 - 55
(see pp. 59- 61, 66 - 68) 116
Andante giusto J * 54 SAMARITANA (con uno sgomonto improvvtso strlngendoal alia, sorella)
Fran.ce . sea, do.ve an. | Andante gtusto J * 54
SAMARITANA quasi rail a Tempo
a Tempo Chi mi ti quasi rail,
SAMARITANA a Tempo
FRANCESCA
tn mi sve . gli a Tempo
SAMARITANA
o _ di-mi: resta an.co ra con me! Re „ sta con me do . ve na .
116150 117
SAMARITANA
Ch’io fac-ciaan- co-railmio pic.co-lo let.to ac.can.to al
SAMARITANA
che la not-te io ti sen
FRANCESCA A Rite unto un poco
E-gli e ve - tol Hiteunto un poco 118
a Tempo un po* agitnndosi SAHTARITANA Ritenuto
Chir... Chi mi ti to . . glier FRANCESCA
a Tempo un po* agitandosi E ve.nu.to Ritenuto
FRANCESCA
. rel .
SAMARITANA Un poco agitato
E senza nome e senza vol . to Ma . i non lo vedem . mo. Un poco agitato ______
FRANCESCA Pin lento
For . se io lo vi . . di. Pin lento
115150 j 119
"0 a Tempo SA 'IAK11A.NA
dal tuo re [35l a Tempo
SAMARITANA
La mia vi.ta non s’eb.be che i tuoi ^ ______—- un po* rails......
f i > SAMARITAN A a Tempo
oc . chi Do . ve po.te - sti tu ve . der - lo sen . za di a Tempo
SAMARITANA Ptil cnlmo
me?. ANCESCA rail:.
pic-co - la co. Piii cnlmo 120
FrAXCESCA 51 a Tempo
- loin . . ba! Per.che sei tan.to sbi.got - a Tempo
FRANCESCA a Tempo
-ti . dat.ti a Tempo
FRANCESCA
Ver - in bre.ve an.che il tuo
P e Holer
FRANCESCA
te n’an.drai dal no . stro
UM50 121
FRANCESCA a Tempo
. ne -• st mai pm ti ve.dra bian.ca a pie . di mi - a Tempo
FRANCESCA Pin VIOSSO rail:.
cor - ver.so la fi stra, o pic - co _ la co - Pin mosso rail:. 122
FRANCESCA a Tempo (conun fUo dl voce)
. lom . ba, e di.re non t’u . dra piu ma Frnn- _ —y? a Tempo
sf^ggite le FRANCESCA ultimo due
.ce - sea, e na.ta la stel.la dia e van-no.se - ne
(Blancoflore,Garaenda,Adonella e Al. FRANCESCA a Tempo
. nel - a Tempo 8------
tichiara eicono dalle atanxo e at arreatano sulla loggia lumlnoaa guardando II glardino che si atende dl la, In atto dl aptare) FRANCESCA 123
r,$ SAMARITANA Largo cantab ilo
E si vivra, oi-me, vivra tut - ta. .
FRANCESCA
. ra, oime,.... mor . ra tut . ta.vi - a! e il tempo fuggi - Largo cantabllo
SAMARITANA
-via! e il tempo fuggi.ra, fug-gi - ra sem . FRANCESCA
fug-gi - ra sem - . - pre!
sa 1 ^^ k 1 i . 1 1 _ - _ Tra -----vi / ^ ------•------■ ■ M ^ F/T* L 1 i —r~ i i 'jLiz._ilm____ . rrr.. m m ‘ w s m m k - . - / (
/
/ 'ir '7' ' 3^ 5s 'T' '7' ' u l 1 *1 (,-< J- ____ * 1.-“- *
—-yf! •?«•»
* to. * ‘to. .7 11B4RO j 124
SAMARITANA
6 Fra n _
Poco pm mosso SAMARITANA
_ce-sca^mi fai dolere il cuo_re e tutta, g*uar _ da, mi faitremare di spa_ Poco piu mosso
SAMARITANA
Allegro brillunte e deciso J = so
BIANCOPIORE
Ma _don_na Fran_ ce _ 125
Appendix V: Francesca da Rimini, Act IV, second part pp. 319 - 322 (see pp. 64 - 65 ) 126
FRANCESCA
_ce! Ri ia ra’ _ be.
115450 127
Poco mono FRANCESCA a Tempo
da ogni an _ go. _scia. rail:. Poco meno a Tempos-
FRANCESCA rail, molto
E non e rail, molto.
I? Tempo HKANCESCA
stel . le nontra _ mon_ta.no sul l58l I? Tempo
FRANCESCA
e la non e
A 115450 A 128
321 r It ANCESCA rite nu to un j/oco e sole/me
mor_ _ta; sel ritenuto un poco e solenne
FRANCESCA
il > lit!
FRANCESCA
1'iprendenJo il tempo di prim a FRANCksua
gio. - -la riprendendo il tempo di prima 129
322 FRANCESCA
Poco piu mosso e agitato FRANCESCA (L'amante la baclq t
[59]Poco piu mosso e agitato
ribacia lnsaziablle)
I? Tempo
A 1164 60 A 130
Appendix VI: Notte di Neve
(see pp. 76 - 77) 131
Notte di neve
T«r« 4i G Pasooli (dal Myricae) R.Zandonai, Adagio jfey J J> ^ P ma lonta.na ma fio . ea Li on mar . mo.reo ei-mi-te . ro ¥ f i /Tv U :z y “TV i I £ 132 a* - to un 0lia.ro. re am.pioofa. gi ee. cretc Pi_ oe, pa.00, pa. 00, pa-00, B0 la kiamoa o#«ari. \ a tempo 133 Bibliography a) Primary sources Catalini, A., La Wally Milan: Ricordi, n.d. Cilea, F., Adriana Lecouvreur Milan: Sonzogno, 1903 D’Annunzio, G., I Malatesti: Francesca da Rimini Milan: Fratelli, Treves, 1928 Mascagni, P., Isabeau Milan: Sonzogno, 1910 Montemezzi, I., L’Amore dei tre Re Milan: Ricordi, 1913 Puccini, G., La Fanciulla del West Milan: Ricordi, 1910, 1963 Riccardo Zandonai Handwritten biographical note, no author, Library of the Museum, Teatro alia Scala, Milan, n.d. Verdi, G., Qtello Milan: Ricordi, n.d. Zandonai, R., Epistolario, 1897 - 1944. con Lino Leonardi e Vicenzo Gianferrari Rovereto: Longo Editore, 1983 Zandonai, R., works, Conchita (lbretto by M. Vaucaire and C. Zangarini) Milan: Ricordi, 1944 Francesca da Rimini (libretto by T. Ricordi after D’Annunzio) Milan: Ricordi, 1942 Giuliano (libretto by A. Rossato) Milan: Ricordi, 1928 Giulietta e Romeo (libretto by A. Rossato after Shakespeare) Milan: Ricordi, 1922 I Cavaliere di Ekebu (libretto by A. Rossato after G. Berling) Milan: Ricordi, 1925 II Grillo nel Focolare (libretto by C. Hanau after Dickens) Milan: Ricordi, 1907 La Via della Finestra (libretto by G. Adami) Milan: Ricordi, 1919 Melenis (libretto by M. Spiritini and C. Zangarini after Bouilhet) Milan: Ricordi, 1912 Melodie per Canto e Piano Milan: Ricordi, 1950 No III - ’I Due Tarli’ No IV - ’Serenata’ 134 No V - ’Lontana’ No VI - ’L’Assiuolo’ Sei Liriche per Canto e Piano Bologna: Bongiovani, n.d. No I - 1Mistero’ No II - ’Notte di Neve’ No III - ’Mistica’ No IV - ’Portamo Via!’ No V - ’Sotto il Ciel’ No VI - ’La Serenata’ Serenata Medioevale Milan: Ricordi, 1926 Una Partitura (libretto by A. Rossato) Milan: Ricordi, 1933 b ) Books Austin, W., ed., New looks at Italian opera: essays in honour of Donald J, Grout Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968 Barthes, R., Image, Music, Text London: Flamingo/Fontana, 1977 Bassi, A., Riccardo Zandonai: tracce di vita Poggibonsi: Antonio Lalli, n.d. Berry, W., Structural Functions of Music Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1976 Cagnoli, B., Riccardo Zandonai Trento: Societa di studi trentini di scienze storiche, 1978 Carner, M., ’Puccini’ in The New Grove Masters of Italian Opera London: Macmillan, 1980 D’Annunzio, G., Francesca da Rimini, trans A. Symons, New York: F. A. Stokes, 1902 Dahlaus, C., Realism in Nineteenth Century Music, trans M. Whittall, London: Cambridge University Press 1985 Dunsby, J., and Whittall, A., Music Analysis in Theory and Practice London: Faber and Faber, 1988 Fink, R., and Ricci, R., The Language of Twentieth Century Music: a dictionary of terms New York: Schirmer, 1975 Griffiths, P., The Thames and Hudson Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Music London: Thames and Hudson, 1986 135 Groos, A., and Parker, R., Reading Opera Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988 Gullace, G., Gabriele D’Annunzio in France Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1966 Harding, B., Age Cannot Wither: the story of Duse and D’Annunzio London: Harrap, 1949 Jackson, S., Monsieur Butterfly: the story of Puccini London: Allen, 1974 Kelkel, M., Naturalisme, Verisme, et Realisme dans 1’Opera Paris: Vrin, 1984 Knelper, H., The Gilded Stage: the years of the great international actresses New York: Morrow, 1968 Large, D., and Weber, W., eds, Wagnerism in European Culture and Politics Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984 La Rue, J., Guidelines for Style Analysis New York: Norton, 1970 Lualdi, A., II Rinnovamento Musicale Italiano Milan: Treves-Treccani-Tumminelli, 1931 Morrden, E., Opera in the Twentieth Century: sacred, profane, Godot New York: Oxford University Press, 1978 Nicolaisen, J., Opera in Transition: 1871 - 1893 UMI Research Press, 1980 Persichetti, V., Twentieth Century Harmony: creative aspects and practice New York: Norton, 1961 Rosselini, R., Polemico Musicale Milan: Ricordi, 1962 Rogoni, L., The Second Vienna School: expressionism and dodecaphony London: John Calder, 1977 Sachs, H., Toscanini New York: Da Capo, 1978 Music in Fascist Italy London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1987 Salzman, E., Twentieth Century Music: an introduction Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1967 Salvetti, G., Storia della Musica Vol. 9, Turin: Edizioni di Torino, 1977 Samson, J., Music in Transition: a study of tonality and atonality London: Dent, 1977 136 Slonimsky, N., Music since 1900 New York: Charles Scribners & Sons, 1971 Smith, P., The Tenth Muse: a study of the opera libretto New York: Schirmer, 1975 Spencer, R., The Aesthetic Movement London: Dutton, 1972 Tedeschi, R., D’Annunzio e la Musica Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1988 Waterhouse, J., ’Riccardo Zandonai’ in The New Grove Dictionary of music and musicians London: Macmillan, 1980 Zandonai Tarquini, T., Via del Paradiso Numero Uno: vicini e lontani Rovereto: Manfrini, 1955 Zilliotto, B., Riccardo Zandonai: ’Francesca da Rimini’: guida attraverso il poesia e la musica Milan: Bottega di Poesia, 1923 c) Journals & Program Notes Barblan, G., ’Riccardo Zandonai e la fede nel melodrama’ Ricordiana, n. s., Anno II no 9, Nov., 1956 Bastianelli, G., ’Riccardo Zandonai’ II Covegno, 11-12, 1921 Cesari, G., ’Giulietta e Romeo di Arturo Rossato e Riccardo Zandonai’ Rivista Musicale Italiana, XXIX, 1922 Cescotti, D., ’Zandonai direttore d’orchestra: I concerti di Roma 1915-1934’ Quaderni Zandonaiani I, 1987 Chiesa, R., ’Commemorazione di Riccardo Zandonai e Gabriele D’Annunzio’ program note, Teatro Communale Riccardo Zandonai, Rovereto, 1963 ’Perche Zandonai?’ Quaderni Zandonaiani I, 1987 ’Le Tentazioni musicali di Gabrielle D’Annunzio’ Musica e Dossier. Anno III no 23, 1988 Gavazzeni, G., ’Introduzione’ Quaderni Zandonaini I, 1987 Nicolodi, F., ’Zandonai e la musica italiana del primo 900’ Quaderni Zandonaiani I, 1987 Orselli, C., ’Paneggi medievali per la donna decadente: Parisina e Francesca’ Chigiani, n.s., XXXVII-no 17, 1980 Paratore, E., ’Zandonai nei miei ricordi’ Quaderni Zandonaiani I, 1987 137 Pluta, E., ’Die italienische Oper des Fin de siecle’ Opernwel1, March, 1983 Santi, P., ’Arcaismi e folclorismi nella musica italiana del primo novecento’ Chigiana, n.s., XXXVII no 17, 1980 Zandonai, M., ’Zandonai e la letteratura francese’ Quaderni Zandonaini I, 1987