MUSIC FOR THE THEATRE

Musicology Essay

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15/03/2016
Yr 11 T Music (1.0)
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Composers use music for characterisation in operas. A few examples of composers who use

music for characterisation in operas are Giuseppe Verdi in the recitative Pari Siamo from

Rigoletto, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the aria O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn from The

Magic Flute and Giacomo Puccini in the aria Mi Chiamano Mimi from La bohème. These

composers use various musical devices such as chords, dynamics, motifs, key signatures,

melisma, modulation, accompaniment and rhythm to successfully use music to characterise

in operas.

Giuseppe Verdi uses music for characterisation in the recitative, Pari Siamo, featured in the

opera Rigoletto. As shown in video 1, it is sung by Rigoletto, when he’s thinking about his

curse (Wikipedia, 2016). As shown in Ex. 1, Verdi uses the jarring sound of dissonant chords

to characterise Rigoletto. The recitative opens with a series of dissonant chords played by

the accompaniment, which are played at a pianissimo dynamic level. This creates a

brooding, mysterious atmosphere around Rigoletto’s character.

Video. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr1CD_tGTmY (Butts, 2010)

Ex. 1 (Verdi, n.d.)

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Rigoletto sings at a pianissimo dynamic level when he enters using a repeated note. The

vibrato in his voice conveys intensity of his emotion. As shown in Ex. 2, Verdi uses a motif to

set Rigoletto’s mood. He recalls Monterone’s curse which was featured in the opera

opening (Newark, 2004). By using the curse motif in the recitative it brings back the negative

emotions associated with it, showing despair.

Ex. 2 (Verdi, n.d.)

The recitative begins in a D♭ Minor with Rigoletto alone on stage. Minor keys are often

associated with negative feelings and the B♭♭ in the scale demonstrates Rigoletto’s misery.

As shown in Ex. 3, Verdi then uses a solo cello to introduce the character Sparafucile. The

melody the solo cello plays is in a major key, and it consists of small leaps and stepwise

movement. The movement of the melody and the major key tonality suggests that

Sparafucile will be a charming and likeable character (Mitchell, 2007).

Ex. 3 (Verdi, n.d.)

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There is a definite contrast between Rigoletto and Sparafucile’s characters, which is

established by the tonality of their entrances. Rigoletto has always been a popular opera

because of the successful use of music to create authentic characterization.

Mozart uses music for characterization in the aria O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn featured in

the opera The Magic Flute. As shown in video 2, the aria is sung by the Queen of the Night

when she is demanding Tamino, to rescue her kidnapped daughter (Wikipedia, 2016). The

Queen attempts to make herself seem firm and powerful, but the music reveals that she is

not actually in control. As shown in Ex. 4, Mozart uses the expressive technique of melisma

to illustrate her authentic character. The long melisma on “So sei sie dann…” suggests that

the Queen is slightly ludicrous. The word “dann” (“Then”) is logically not the key word in the

aria and it does not deserve much emphasis. A more plausible word to emphasise would be

“Aufewig” (“Forever”) Mozart’s choice to place the long embellishment tells the audience

that The Queen has not thought the situation through and that her mask is slipping

(Howard, 2013).

Video. 2: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkA65PLEdac>. (Chan, 2013)

Ex. 4 (Mozart, 2007)

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Mozart uses tempo changes and modulations throughout the aria for characterization. The

aria begins in an Allegro Maestoso (fast, dignified and majestic) tempo marking in the key of

B♭Major. As shown in Ex. 5, The Queen enters while the violin section is playing an

ascending B♭ Major triad (www.mahaliastamford.wordpress.com, 2013). This gives the

audience a sense that the Queen is a regal character.

Ex. 5 (www.mahaliastamford.wordpress.com, 2013).

Allegro Maestoso

The first tempo change occurs when the Queen is expressing her (false) sorrow about her

daughter’s kidnapping. As shown in Ex. 6, the tempo slows down to Andante (moderately

slow) and it modulates to G Minor, which is shown through the F#’s in the passage

(www.mahaliastamford.wordpress.com, 2013). This minor modulation makes the Queen

sound convincingly sad about her daughter’s kidnapping.

Ex. 6 (Mozart, 2006)

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Another tempo change occurs when the Queen commands Tamino again to rescue her

daughter and promises him her daughter’s hand. As shown in Ex. 7, the tempo quickly

changes into an Allegro Moderato (Moderately fast) and it modulates back to B♭ Major,

which is shown by the lack of accidentals (www.mahaliastamford.wordpress.com, 2013).

This makes the Queen seem convincingly confident, regal and steady in her offerings, trying

to convince Tamino to comply with her demands.

Ex. 7 (Mozart, 2006)

The Queen’s ability to be a cunning character is portrayed through the music. Mozart

compiled all these elements together to create one of his most famous characters in opera.

Giacomo Puccini uses music for characterisation in the aria Mi Chiamano Mimi featured in

the opera La bohème. As shown in video 3, the aria is sung by Mimi, when she is telling her

romantic interest, Rodolfo, about herself (Kobbe, 1987). Puccini uses dynamics to

characterise Mimi. Her dynamic level is not constant during the aria. The frequent use of

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quick crescendos and decrescendos shows the audience there are two sides of Mimi. The

decrescendos expresses Mimi’s timid nature, while the crescendos expresses Mimi’s desire

to reveal herself to Rodolfo (Salazar, 2014). The instrumentation of the accompaniment also

contributes, to revealing Mimi’s two sides. As shown in Ex. 8, while Mimi is singing about

her dream of love, her vocal line is accompanied by the orchestra, particularly the violin and

viola section (Edwards & Edwards, 2001). The thick texture provided by the orchestra

increases the intensity of her vocal line, and captures her passion and longing.

Video 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgaN3vIqJUY (Callas, 2008)

Ex. 8 (Puccini, n.d.)

As shown in Ex. 9, while Mimi is flirting innocently to Rodolfo about how she lives alone, her

vocal line is only accompanied by the pizzicatos of the violin and cello sections. This thin

texture makes Mimi seem less intense in contrast to how she was before, and makes her

more playful, capturing the coy side of her personality.

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Ex. 9 (Puccini, n.d.)

Puccini uses the rhythm in the vocal line to convey how Mimi is feeling. The vocal line is rhythmically

loose and there is no sense of beat, conveying to the audience the intensity of Mimi’s emotions, and

how enticed she is by Rodolfo. To emphasise the passionate and confident side of Mimi, Puccini

delays resolution in the phrases by using minor chord vii as shown in Ex. 10, allowing Mimi to reach a

complex emotional high point in her story (Müller, 2014). This definitely contrasts to the simplicity of

her conversational monotone phrases as shown in Ex. 11, which emphasises Mimi’s timid nature

(Kamien, 2011) (Brody, 1970).

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Ex. 10 (Puccini, n.d.)

Ex. 11 (Puccini, n.d.)

Puccini compiled all these elements together to characterise and create one of his most

famous arias of La bohème.

The composers Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giacomo Puccini have been

successful in using music for characterisation in operas by using various musical devices

such as chords, dynamics, motifs, key signatures, melisma, modulation, accompaniment and

rhythm.

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