Wen 丨 Robinson's diary
Edit 丨Robinson's diary
The moment when Desdemona is immersed in happiness is short-lived, and is limited to two places in the opera, one is the love duet with Othello in the back of Act I, and the other is the chorus of the people blessing the wedding of the two in the middle of Act II. The former is the straightforward expression of the parties, and the latter shows the happiness and beauty that love brings to her from the side through the mouth of others. These two pieces of lyrical music express the happiness of the heroine from different angles and ways, which shows Verdi's flexibility and multi-layered characterization.
First, Daisy Demona in the love duet
The first scene, in addition to the deafening stormy scenes and noisy drinking scenes, is the singing of the men in the army, with the portrayal of Yago's dark psychology and the description of Othello's invincible heroism. After a period of noise, the appearance of Desdemona brings unprecedented softness and silence to the opera, which is a buffer zone after the conflict scene in the overall layout of the opera, and is the first major lyrical scene in the whole play.
This duet tells a touching love story, immersing people in the deep love of a pair of lovers, creating an emotional climax full of love for the audience. Verdi gradually reduced the volume and intensity of the band in order to cater to the appearance of Desdemona, and then a cello played a soft ascending scale, and then led to a cello quartet, the music turned to G flat-flat major, and the cello's successive descending seventh chords led people into a soft, beautiful and quiet atmosphere.
This is the only music that is full of tenderness and quiet happiness since the beginning of the opera. Only the appearance of Desdemona can fill the strong and majestic Othello with tenderness, and Othello sings a smooth and soft melody accompanied by soft and continuous strings: "In the middle of the night, all the hustle and bustle of the day has disappeared, and my trembling heart has become calm in your gentle embrace..."
In this duet, Verdi portrays a tender, beautiful, sincere emotion and infinite yearning for love. First of all, Daisy Demona always plays a soft tone, which contrasts sharply with the texture of Othello metal. Secondly, Verdi also paid attention to portraying the gentle and steady character characteristics of Daisy Demona in the creation of melody and the use of dynamics.
She doesn't have many notes in the treble range, the highest note is 'a², and there is only one place, and she sings under very weak control. In the creation of melodies, the combination of homotic repetition and progression is mostly adopted, and the interval relationship is adopted. The homotic repetition of melodies is mostly used as a narrative phrase, see bars 35 to 43 of Spectrum 2, where Desdemona recounts their past love experience.
Basically every note is repeated after it appears, starting from the first note c², except for the 23rd and 28th bars each have a jump interval, the rest are progressive upward climbing and progressive descending melodies, this continuous melody sings Daisy Demona's sincere feelings for Othello and her hard-won exclamation of beautiful love. At the same time, the progressive interval combined with a smooth rhythm and a soft timbre portrays the gentle and steady character of Daisy Demona.
In addition, the dynamics of the entire singing section are relatively weak, and the weakest voice reaches six muted marks PPPPPP, which is one to adapt to the situation at that time - calm after the noise, and the other to cater to the theme of singing love. Desdemona's singing does not have high and strong long notes, and several high-pitched notes that need to be maintained are weakened, such as 'a² in bar 28 of spectrum 3, e² in bars 33 and 34, e² in section 42 of spectrum 2, and g² in bar 103 of spectrum 4, which makes Daisy Demona's voice very soft, showing her gentle, quiet, elegant and noble temperament.
Third, compared to Othello's singing, Daisy Demona's music is a softener for Othello's agitated music, and she always gives the insecure Othello a calm, secure feeling. After the two expressed their love for each other, the strings played a terrifying seven-chord tremolo, and Othello sang excitedly: "Death, you come...... I was afraid, afraid that this boundless joy would turn into sorrow...", and then Desdemona's smooth melody and gentle voice calmed him down: "May we forget our sorrows, and our love will never change".
After a short nine-bar period of tender and sweet music, the band's restless sixteenth notes outline Othello's excitement and happiness once again: "Ah! This passionate emotion vibrates in my heart, and it makes me really excited!" Desdemona only soothed the excitement in his heart with kisses and gentle calls to Othello's name.
In short, the music of Daisy de Mona is in contrast to Othello's, highlighting the characteristics of "soft" and "weak". As analyzed earlier, her highest note in this duet is "a²", and most of the treble is weakened, while Othello's singing has many treble and requires strong sonic tension and a metallic texture, which is very brilliant.
In this lingering love duet, which also describes Othello's past experiences, Verdi uses a narrative approach to Desdemona, and the orchestra also uses harp breaking down chords and gently plucking strings.
The music of Othello describing the war scene is immersive under the background of the orchestra, and the tremolo of percussion, wind music, strings, and the rapid movement of woodwind instruments depict bloody and murderous war scenes, making people feel a tough, heroic Othello.
Othello's bravery shook Desdemona, and the orchestra uses successive sixteen-point chords of strings to express Desdemona's inner excitement, but this excitement is subtle and internal, and on the surface it still feels like a smooth narration of Othello's suffering.
Then the two tell each other that Othello leads to their vow of love: "You love me, for the misfortune I have suffered, I love you, for your sympathy for me...", Desdemona repeats and echoes Othello's melody, forming a Cannon-esque imitation, Othello sings "How much you love me" on a², and Desdemona imitates the following three degrees.
The last verse of the duet is also used in this way, Othello sings "Radiant Love" in the A², and Daisy Demona responds by calling Othello's name on F². This melody creation results in an already strong and bright tenor, and because the pitch is above the soprano, the timbre is more brilliant and powerful.
It can be seen that Verdi is well-intentioned in this duet, he tries to make the music he creates fit the characters in the play, and the musical design of the two reflects not only Othello's strong and dominant position, but also Daistelmona's worship, obedience and dependence status for Othello.
Second, a tribute to Daisy Demona in the chorus
In Act II, Scene 3, Yago stirs up discord and makes Othello suspect that his wife is having an affair with Casio, at which point the island's men, women and children bring flowers and gifts and sing a beautiful lyrical chorus to bless the newlywed Daisy Demona. This choral has a strong local folk music style and is composed of mixed and children's chorus.
The structure is a reproduction syllogist, the first and third sections are mixed choruses of the people in folk style, the melody is vivid and simple: "Anywhere, as long as there is your gaze, the sun is bright and the heart is falling; Anywhere, as long as you walk by, the sky is full of falling stars, and entering this boudoir full of lilies and roses is like walking on the altar. ”
The middle section consists of three parts, the first part of which is composed of children's voices, and the children sing the innocent and simple sound of heaven, like the hymn of the church, and they present flowers to Desdemona.
The second part is the melody of the male voice, who represents the sailors of the island, giving Desdemona pearls, shells, and dye that have been salvaged into the sea.
The third part is the melody of the female voice, which represents the women of the island, spreading colorful petals for the bride. The function of this lyrical chorus in showing the drama of opera is to shape the character from the side, and it can be seen from the attitude of people to Desdemona that she is very loved and respected, and it can also reflect from the side that Desdemona's kind, holy and noble personality charm conquered all the people of the island, and people worshiped and loved her as an angel.
This beautiful chorus also portrays the happy mood of Desdemona immersed in love, love makes her full of vitality and charm, and her heart is full of sunshine, joy and love. At the same time, the viewer is also infected and feels the pleasure.