In the opera Orfeo, how does Gonzaga achieve the effect of music obeying the lyrics through the "second practice" composition?
Monteverdi's opera Orfeo was commissioned by Vincenzo Gonzaga's eldest son and premiered on February 24, 1607, based on the story of Orfio, son of the sun god Apollo, in Greek mythology.
This is a musical myth that narrates the triumph of emotion over reason, full of drama, and the script emphasizes the prominence of emotions, in line with the Renaissance people's pursuit of true emotional expression.
Today, Xiao Zhang will tell you how in the opera "Orfeo", Gonzaga uses the "second practice" composition method to achieve the effect of music obeying the lyrics.
In the creation of Streebridge, the image of Orfeo is more emotional, he is full of enthusiasm and rejoices when he is with his beloved, but he suffers from the accident.
Monteverdi endowed the characters with a rational presence through music, deepening and dramatizing the narrative style.
On the other hand, Monteverdi's use of the "Second Practice" broke through the composition rules of the time, capturing the details of emotional changes through strong discordant factors, and the dramatic conflict and lyric emotions in the opera were fully displayed.
Monteverdi was inspired by Plato's Republic, where he mentioned that the nature of human voice takes on different ranges of high, medium, and low, corresponding to the emotions (anger, mildness, humility) of the human mind.
In musical styles, this is embodied in the three musical terms of exciting, moderate and soft.
In previous music compositions, the overall style was relatively moderate and soft, but Monteverdi created a unique musical style through the use of "second practice", making it more in line with the needs of dramatic conflict and emotional expression.
Monteverdi tried to embody the "agitation style" through the "second practice" in order to achieve the expression of musical styles such as "exciting, moderate, and soft".
The difference between the "first practice and the second practice" lies mainly in the difference in the concept of composition, both practices are dedicated to using music to express the meaning of the lyric text.
However, "First Practice" focuses more on acoustic harmony, putting the importance of music first, while lyrics are relatively secondary.
The "second practice" pays more attention to the expression of lyrics, emphasizing the importance of words, especially when expressing intense emotions, putting dramatic expression first.
Compared to the "first practice", Monteverdi's "second practice" is more adept at using musical language to show the dramatic conflict of opera. He constantly changes the key in his melodic descriptions, meticulously capturing every small change in the emotions of the characters.
In Orfeo, Monteverdi uses tonal shifts to demonstrate the characteristics of the "second practice."
In the opera's opening remarks, the melody of the goddess of music undergoes a noticeable tonal shift in just 10 bars, this tonal inconsistency, and the use of dissonance to highlight the meaning of the word.
The opening remarks start in a minor key, last 4 bars and then turn to a major key, then 3 bars on a major key, and then turn back to a minor key again until the end. This change in tone sets off the lyrics' praise of the heroes of the banks of the Mesos.
The whole piece is based on A minor, with the middle turning to the relevant C major, the beginning enters in a vague D minor, and the chords continue to swim in the subordinate direction. This design achieves consistency in lyrics on the basis of unified rhyme.
Through the use of "Second Practice", Monteverdi presents his unique musical style in Orfeo, combining the excitement of the plot with moderate, soft musical elements to create dramatic musical works.
Under the premise of ensuring that the lyrics are clear, Monteverdi arranges according to the development of the plot through the main key music, but the main key occupies a larger proportion, and the opera attracts the audience's hearts with dramatic conflicts and empathizes with the audience through emotional outpouring.
For example, in the episode of Orfeo's journey to Hades in Act III, due to the goddess's inability to accompany him and the obstruction of the boatman Charon, Orfeo tells his story and expresses his inner emotions through singing and musical interaction.
Here, the composer uses a large number of ornate ornaments in both singing and instrumental performance, showing Monteverdi's ingenious compositional skills.
In terms of sound, this part is the most simple and ethereal part of the whole piece, the accompaniment part lasts a bar of chord progression, the singing part is only Orfeo alone, and the instrumental dialogue is only some strings or winds, and the main key is very strong.
This creates contrasts, manifested in the ornamentation of the singing and in a series of fast-paced note runs, the ornamental notes with polysyllables very ornate, the flow of small notes, the many appendages and syncopated rhythms, no longer square church chants as in the Middle Ages.
Orfeo's singing is long and stretching, with long notes as the main melody, each note contains dense small notes, and the bleak scene contrasts with the protagonist's inner anxiety.
