Background to Voice Types and Opera Genres
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1 HOW DID WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART ADJUST HIS COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUE WHEN WRITING FOR A MEZZO- SOPRANO EN TRAVESTI? A comparison between the roles of Cherubino and Sesto. Ané Sophia Pretorius PRTANE002 Town A minor dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degreeCape of Masters in Music by Performanceof and Dissertation University Faculty of the Humanities University of Cape Town 2018 Supervisor: Dr. Rebekka Sandmeier [Type here] The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derivedTown from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes Capeonly. of Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University 2 COMPULSORY DECLARATION This work has not been previously submitted in whole, or in part, for the award of any degree. It is my own work. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in, this dissertation from the work, or works, of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced. Signature: Date: 19/02/2018 [Type here] 3 Acknowledgments I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who assisted me in the completion of this thesis. • To the one and only God for giving me this opportunity and upholding me throughout. • To my supervisor Dr Rebekka Sandmeier for her constant professional advice and guidance. • To my parents for their love and support throughout my studies. • To my sister for her guidance and technical assistance in this endeavour. • To those close to me for always acting as a soundboard to my ideas and for their words of encouragement. • To Mrs Sonja Bräsler for her language and technical editing of the thesis. • To the University of Cape Town financial aid department for the scholarship that made this venture a reality. • To everyone who added to the substance of this thesis for their knowledge and expertise. [Type here] 4 ABSTRACT Heroic male operatic roles were not always limited to what is today mainly known as male voices (tenor or baritone/bass). In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries prepubescent boys were often castrated in order to keep their voices within the treble range. Some of these boys were extremely musical and after many years of vigorous training, went on to become renowned singers. The singing castrati were famous for their ethereal vocal abilities as well as ‘angelic’ vocal timbre. During the castrati’s reign, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote what is speculated to be the first operatic prepubescent boy role to be sung by a female en travesti, which set in motion a new opera tradition. Between 1790 and 1825 the convention of castration purely for the sake of voice preservation began to lose strength until the complete demise of these celebrated singers in 1922. From then on theatres began to substitute female singers, falsettists and countertenors into these heroic male roles. The repertoire of mezzo-sopranos today consists mainly of these prepubescent boy and adult heroic male roles. Based on the various physiological differences between the castrato and female body and larynx, this study focused mainly on proving how Mozart wrote idiomatically differently for the castrato and the female voice. The secondary aim was to determine the influence of socio-political climate on the perception of these roles by past and present audiences, as well as to uncover the various difficulties facing contemporary mezzo- sopranos. Recommendations aimed at mezzo-sopranos were formed from a mezzo-soprano’s perspective. [Type here] 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ 5 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY .............................................................................. 8 1.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 8 1.1.1 Aims and Objectives ............................................................................................................... 9 1.1.2 Rationale ............................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Literature review ....................................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................... 14 2.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................ 14 2.2 Research design .......................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Qualitative research .............................................................................................................. 15 2.2.2 Inductive research and Interpretivism................................................................................... 16 2.2.3 Research field ....................................................................................................................... 17 2.2.4 Instruments and data collection ............................................................................................ 18 2.2.5 Data collection ...................................................................................................................... 18 2.2.6 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 19 2.3 Limitations.................................................................................................................................. 19 2.3.1 Limitations for the role of Sesto ........................................................................................... 20 2.4 Validity/ Reliability/ Credibility/ Transferability ................................................................... 21 2.4.1 Musical observations ............................................................................................................ 22 2.4.2 ‘Successful’ portrayal and the period ear ............................................................................. 23 2.5 Ethical considerations ............................................................................................................... 26 2.6 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 3: BACKGROUND TO VOICE TYPES AND OPERA GENRES ................................... 27 3.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................ 27 3.2 The Phenomenon of the Castrato .............................................................................................. 27 3.2.1 The physiology of the singing castrato’s voice .................................................................... 28 3.2.2 Vocal characteristics ............................................................................................................. 32 3.3 The Mezzo-Soprano ................................................................................................................... 33 3.3.1 The physiology of the female mezzo-soprano voice ............................................................ 34 3.3.2 Vocal Characteristics ............................................................................................................ 34 3.4. Comparison – Venn-diagram ............................................................................................ 35 3.5 Opera Seria of, and before the eighteenth century .......................................................... 35 3.6 Opera Buffa of, and before the eighteenth century ................................................................ 38 [Type here] 6 3.7 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 41 4.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................ 41 4.2 Role analysis: La Clemenza di Tito - Sesto ............................................................................... 41 4.2.1 Mozart’s Sesto ...................................................................................................................... 42 4.2.2 Musical observations ............................................................................................................ 44 4.3 Role Analysis: Le Nozze di Figaro – Cherubino ..................................................................... 51 4.3.1 Mozart’s Cherubino .............................................................................................................. 51 4.3.2