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WMU Music Graduate Entrance Exams
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Music History Review
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Musical Form
Early Classic ("Pre-Classic" while the late Baroque is still happening c1730s)
John Gay: "My Heart Was So Free" from The Beggar's Opera [ballad opera] (1729)
--[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Gay_Beggars_Opera_My_Heart_Was_So_Free.mp4
Performance Notes:
The Beggar's Opera is an English ballad opera featuring common characters telling a story through SPOKEN street dialect interspersed with a few dozen popular English songs set to new words. This work with it simpler, more direct approach, is one of the earliest reflections of Classic style, and became so popular that it soon made the ornate late Baroque operatic style of Handel obsolete in England and eventually in Europe.
The main characters of this opera are street people (common thieves), who are just doing what they must in their struggle to survive as lower-class citizens. The story centers around their organizer (Mr. Peachum), his common-law wife (Mrs. Peachum), and their still-virgin teenaged daughter (Polly), who they hope will be able to marry a wealthier man. Instead, the parents discover Polly has fallen in love and secretly married the head thief ("Captain" MacHeath). One of the funnier moments in this opera is the moment Mrs. Peachum sings "Our Polly Is a Sad Slut", saying that she is a pig because she married for love--not money.
MacHeath sings "My Heart Was So Free" as he professes his youthful undying true love for Polly during a brief secret rendezvous with her. From the score excerpt and the video excerpt, it can be seen that there is spoken dialogue between Polly and MacHeath, followed at 1:20 of this video clip with this short "Air" (English term for a light "aria"), which is simple in nature and features just the singer with basso continuo in a short, two-verse ditty.
[Text to "My Heart Was So Free"]
My heart was so free, it roved like a bee, 'til Polly my passion requited.
I sipt each flower, I changed ev'ry hour,
but here ev'ry flower is united.
Come fair one be kind, you never shall find a fellow so fit for a lover.
The world shall view my passion for you
but never your passion discover.
_____________________
Giovanni Pergolesi: "Stizzoso mio stizzoso" from La serva padrona ("The Maid as Mistress") [intermezzo] (1732)--[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Pergolesi_La_Serva_Padrona.mp4
Main characters in this scene:
Uberto (a well-to-do bachelor)/bass
Serpina (his maid)/soprano
Vespone (his valet)/a "mute" actor
Operatic Scenario:
La serva padrona ("The Maid as Mistress") is a comedy about a wealthy old aristocratic man (Uberto) and his maid (Serpina) who entirely runs his household and plots to be his wife. A third character (Vespone--Uberto's valet) is completely mute in this role (neither speaks nor sings; he is just there to add silliness at critical moments).
In Serpina's aria from Act I, "Stizzozo, mio stizzoso" ("Oh hot-headed one..."), Uberto is angry that he has been waiting over three hours for Serpina to bring him his daily chocolate, so he decides to go out and get it himself. When Uberto calls for his hat, wig and coat, Serpina sings this aria and forbids him to leave the house, adding he needs to be quiet and obey her orders from now on because she is the real mistress of the household.
Performance Notes:
La serva padrona is an intermezzo that uses common characters and simple plots (similar to ballad opera), but is still sung throughout in Italian (recitatives and arias, like opera seria, but the story is not serious). This work was originally performed in front of the curtain between the acts of an opera seria, so it has just two singing characters who are accompanied by a small string ensemble and harpsichord.
In the score excerpt and the video clip, it can be seen that the vocal style is hilariously crazy at times, matching Serpina's boldness/quick wit and Uberto's growing frustration and ultimate admission of his love for her. Though comic and simpler than opera seria, it has still has sung recitatives (not spoken dialogue), and a fuller chordally-conceived accompaniment than English ballad opera.
The intermezzo tradition soon led to stand-alone Italian comic operas (opera buffa), which are fully staged with more intricate comic plots and more characters, who sing throughout in Italian with recitatives and real orchestrally-accompanied arias (some humorous, some beautiful)
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "J'ay perdu tout mon bonheur" from Le devin du village ("The Village Fortune-teller") [1-act intermede/opera comique] (1752)
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Rousseau_Le_Devin_du_Village.mp4
Main characters in this scene:
Colin (high tenor)
Colette (soprano)
The Fortune-teller (baritone/bass)
Operatic Scenario:
Colin and Colette love one another, yet they suspect each other of being unfaithful—in Colin's case, with the lady of the manor, and in Colette's with a courtier. They each seek the advice and support of the village soothsayer in order to reinforce their love. After a series of deceptions, Colin and Colette reconcile and are happily married.
Performance Notes:
This opera is full of light, memorable tunes In Colette's first aria from Act I ("J'ay perdu tout mon bonheur") is simple yet elegant, without the flashy ornaments and intensity of late Baroque opera. At certain points, however, it does include sections of orchestrally-accompanied recitative, which makes it more dramatic than English ballad opera.
[Translation]
I've lost all my happiness; I've lost my devotee--Colin forsakes me!
Alas it could change! I don't want to keep thinking about this.
He used to care about me, which now is my misfortune.
But who is this that he prefers now? She is quite charming!
Imprudent Shepherdess, don't you fear the evils that I test in this day?
I could change Colin, but you can have your turn.
It's what I used to unceasingly dream of.
Nothing me can cure my love, and all this only increases my unhappiness.
I've lost all my happiness; I've lost my devotee--Colin forsakes me!
I hate this...I must. Perhaps he still loves me, but why does he flee from me
When he used to pursue me? Here is Fortune-teller's home...
He knows it all..he knows the fate of my love.
He will tell me and
set things straight today.
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Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in D major, K. 119 [sonata] (c1740)--[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/DScarlatti_Sonata_K119.mp4
Performance Notes:
Domenico Scarlatti was the son of the mid-Baroque Italian opera composer Alessandro Scarlatti. He did not get along with his father (wanting to write new keyboard music instead of Baroque opera), so he moved away and spent his career working as a composer for the royal families in Portugal and Spain.
Domenico is best known for writing 555 one-movement keyboard sonatas that put great expression and harmonic ingenuity into a single movement, as seen in the Sonata in D major (K. 119.)
As seen in the score excerpt and the video clip, this work is homophonic (single melody with chordal accompaniment). It is in binary form:
[A] section is repeated
- 1st idea: D major (begins with clearly repeated D chord for 6 measures)
- transition: modulates to V7 of v [E7] then has a quick descending flourish and pause
- 2nd idea: A minor [!]--then halfway through suddenly shifts to A major
[B] section is repeated
- 2nd idea: further explores A minor, then moves to a repeated-note figure in A major
- 1st idea returns: D major (this melodic return of "A" within a binary form creates a "rounded binary form")
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Johann Stamitz: Symphony in E-flat [early symphony] (mid 1750s)
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Stamitz_Symphony.mp4
Performance Notes:
This small early symphony by Stamitz was written in Mannheim, Germany. It is for eight instruments: (2 horns, 2 oboes, Violin, viola, cello, double bass). This video example is of the first movement, which has a very basic sonata form design with an abbreviated development section.
It has many features that later became part of the standardized sonata form (1st theme in home key, 2nd theme in "V", harmonically-restless Development section, All material appears in the home key in the Recapitulation):
Exposition
- Theme 1: home key (E-flat major)
-transition: (modulates to new key, "Mannheim rocket" crescendos)
- Themes 2a and 2b: in V (B-flat major)
Development (abbreviated)
- Goes quickly through several related keys, then Theme 1 material is used
as a retransition to prepare for the Recapitulation
[this is different than the later mature sonata form model]
Recapitulation
- (Theme 1: not played in recapitulation--was already used as a retransition at the
end of the Development section)
- Theme 2a and 2b: E-flat major (transposed to the home key)
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CPE Bach: 2nd movement from Sonata in A major [sonata] 1765--[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/CPEBach_Sonata.mp4
Performance Notes:
JS Bach has 20 children (only 12 survived infancy), and he trained them so well musically that several of his sons earned better positions than their father. The highest position was gained by his second-oldest son, Carl Phillip Emmanuel, who worked in Berlin as the court composer for King Frederick the Great.
There, CPE Bach wrote highly-expressive symphonies and keyboard sonatas that reflect the German Empfindsam style of the 1700s. The Sonata in A major (Wq. 55/4) was written for the clavichord keyboard instrument with great expressive possibilities.
As seen in the score excerpt and the video clip, this 2nd movement (Poco adagio)
is an intensely-emotional chromatic movement set in F# minor [an unusual key for this time in history]. It features sudden changes in harmony, dynamics, texture and other elements, making use of the unexpected as a powerful means to express emotion.
Above the upper line are occasional symbols for expressive ornamentation. The melodic lines in both hands are more contrapuntally-conceived than chordal (compare to Domenico Scarlatti's sonata).
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Christoph Glück: "Che farò senza Euridice" from Orfeo ed Euridice ("Orpheus and Euridice") [Reform opera](1762)
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Gluck_Orfeo.mp4
Main characters in this scene:
Orfeo (castrato)
Amore ["Cupid"] (soprano)
Euridice (soprano)
(also chorus and dancers)
Operatic Scenario:
This is an adaptation of the ancient Greek mythological story of Orpheus (the mortal son of the sun-god Apollo), who marries his childhood sweetheart Euridice, only to have her die from a snake bite during their wedding reception. Orpheus vows to go after Euridice and bring her back from the land of the dead, but in this version of the story he does not follow Amore's ("Cupid's") strict instructions, and ends up losing Euridice for eternity.
Performance Notes:
Glück's reform opera style blended Italian, French and German traits, and laid the groundwork for Mozart's early opera style:
- Simplified operatic structure in order to make the music subservient to the dramatic plot
- Focused more on the chorus, dancing and orchestra, while restraining the vocal improvisations of soloists
- Returned to Greek story models
Orpheus sings "Che farò senza Euridice" ("What Will I Do Without Euridice?") near the very end of the opera when he loses Euridice by not following Cupid's instructions. This aria is in simple 5-part rondo form (ABACA), and is an elegant, balanced, yet a very expressive rendering of Orfeo's grief. The role of Orpheus was written for a castrato—today is either sung by male in falsetto (which would not be as strong of a voice as a castrato) or by a mezzo-soprano (vocally strong in this register, but a female has to act the part of a man in a so-called "pants role.")
[Translation]
What will I do without Euridice?
Where will I go without my beloved?
Euridice, oh God, answer me!
Yet I still belong to you faithfully.
Euridice! Ah, no help comes to me anymore,
No hope anymore,
Neither from this world, nor from heaven
What will I do without Euridice?
Where will I go without my beloved?
Euridice, oh God, answer me!
Yet I still belong to you faithfully.
______________
Johann Christian Bach: 1st movement from Keyboard Concerto in E-flat [concerto] (1770)--[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/JCBach_Concerto.mp4
Performance Notes:
JS Bach had 20 children (only 12 survived infancy), and he trained them so well musically that several of his sons earned better positions than their father. His youngest son was Johann Christian, who was only 15 years old when his father died, so there are few similarities in their styles. JC Bach
had a successful careers in Italy and England, writing many well-received concertos that had a strong influence on the concerto writing of WA Mozart (who JC Bach met when Mozart traveled to London as an 8-year old child).
The Keyboard Concerto in E-flat (Op. 7 No. 5) was written so it could be played on a variety of keyboard instruments that were current in the later 1700s, including the recently invented early piano. It has three movements:
1. Fast in E-flat major
2. Slow in C minor
3. Very fast in E-flat major).
As seen in the score excerpt and the video clip, this 1st movement (Allegro di molto)
is a charming and expressive movement in concerto-sonata form, has a nice interplay between the piano soloist and the small string orchestra (only violins, violas, cellos), and sounds surprisingly like the style of Mozart's pre-teen years.
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Mainstream Classic Composers ("The Viennese Classic School")
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 1st movement from Piano Concerto in C minor, K. 491 [concerto] (1786)
--[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Mozart_PianoConcerto_No24_mvt1.mp4
Performance Notes:
Mozart was a virtuoso pianist, and he wrote many works for that instrument, including 27 piano concertos.
The Piano Concerto in C minor, K. 491 was written in 1786, as one of 8 that he wrote in just 13 months in 1785-86.
This concerto has three movements:
1. Allegro: Fast in C minor (Sonata form)
2. Larghetto: Slow in E-flat major (5-part Rondo form)
3. Allegro: Very fast in C minor (Theme and Variations form)
As seen in the score excerpt and the video clip, this 1st movement (Allegro)
is a tragically dramatic and beautiful movement in concerto-sonata form. It expresses a wide range of emotions, within and between movements, and has lovely passages for the soloist as well as the orchestra--especially the woodwinds.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Final scene from Don Giovanni ("Don Juan") [Dramma giocoso] (1787)
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Mozart_Don_Giovanni_Finale.mp4
Main characters in this scene:
Don Giovanni: An abusive, out-of-control aristocrat (baritone)
Commendatore: An old, retired beloved former military commander (bass)
Leporello: Don Giovanni's disgusted servant (baritone)
(later, dancers--as the demons from Hell)
Operatic Scenario:
In Classic literature, Don Juan embodies all of the very worst traits of the aristocracy: He is self-centered, power-hungry, greedy, abusive, and intent on enjoying the suffering of others for his own entertainment--he also cannot change. At the start of this opera, Don Giovanni has just forced himself upon the daughter (Donna Anna) of a retired military commander (Commendatore) after escorting her home from a masked costume ball. Giovanni has left his servant (Leporello) outside to be a lookout and to write down Donna Anna's name/nationality/hair color/age/size/weight into a catalog he keeps updated about all the women he has "had." (Don Giovanni is an abuser of women--not a lover or "ladies' man as he his so often incorrectly assumed to be). When the Commendatore hears his daughter's screams in the night, he tries to defend her--though unarmed. Giovanni is rushing out and orders the Commendatore to step aside and let him leave, but when he refuses, Giovanni kills him with his sword. For the remainder of the opera, the dead Commendatore's soul cannot rest until Don Giovanni is brought to justice.
Performance Notes:
When the authorities come looking for them, Don Giovanni and Leporello go to their usual hiding place in a cemetery. There, they see the Commendatore's grave--now with a larger-than-life marble statue of him erected as a gravestone in his honor. Giovanni mocks the statue, but Leporello sees it start to come to life when its eyes light up in the darkness as the Commendatore's restless soul takes possession of it. When Leporello turns away in fear, Giovanni mocks him and tells him to invite the statue to dinner. In the final scene of this two-act opera, the Commendatore shows up!
In the video excerpt, the man commenting from time to time is Antonio Salieri--Mozart's greatest musical rival.
The three-way dialogue in this finale can be summarized as follows:
- Commendatore: I am not here to eat (I do not eat of THIS world)--I am here for one purpose--to ask you to repent!
- Don Giovanni: (after ordering his servant Leporello to make a meal for the Commendatore)--No! No! I won't repent!
- Leporellio: I am scared to death! Master, please do as he says.
Even when Don Giovanni feels the Commendatore's cold, hard "handshake from beyond the grave", he refuses to repent, saying "I CANNOT change" (a reference to the fact the real-world aristocracy cannot change until it is destroyed by the lower classes). Given no choice, the Commendatore unleashes the fire-furies who symbolically drag Giovanni to Hell.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: "Papagena! Papageno" from Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute") [Singspiel](1791)
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Mozart_Die_Zauberflote_PapagenoPapagena.mp4
Main characters in this scene:
Papageno: A silly common birdcatcher (baritone)
Papagena: The perfect woman for him! (soprano)--she appeared as if by magic, when he rang his bells
Operatic Scenario:
Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute") is a Singspiel--traditionally, low-level comic theater with spoken German dialogue and some cute little German songs. Mozart raised the musical standards of this type of theatre to rival the heights of the most serious opera. "The Magic Flute" is a story of love, vengeance, doubt, trust, and ultimate redemption thoroughpersonal virtue tested and proven through difficulty.
"The Magic Flute" tells a charming, fantastic story that includes a bird catcher (Papageno), a captured princess (Pamina), a prince who wants to rescue her (Tamino), an evil "Queen of the Night", an all-powerful High Priest (Zorastro), and, of course, a magic flute that can protect Tamino from harm as he and Papageno take a vow of silence and risk everything to rescue Pamina. The plot is complicated but very engaging, and the music is beautiful and memorable. At the end of the opera Tamino and Pamina have passed the high priest Zorastro's "virtue test" test and they are joined in marriage. But, Papageno (the silly birdcatcher) is still all alone. Earlier, for just a moment, he caught a glimpse of a woman named Papagena who is is perfect mate, but she disappeared. In this final scene, he begs for her to appear, even falsely offers to hang himself if she doesn't, and then he is reminded by three boys to ring his magic bells! The moment he does, Papagena appears and they sing together about their love for each other and their future together.
[Translation of this scene]
Papageno & Papagena: Pa-pa-pa, pa-pa-pa. papageno pa-pa-pa-, pa-pa-pa,- papagena, etc.
Papagano: Have you now yielded to me?
Papagena: Now I have yielded to you.
Papageno: Now, then be my dear little wife!
Papagena: Now, then be the dove of my heart, The dove of my heart!
Papageno & Papagena: If the Gods think of us, And give us children of our love, Such dear little children, little children....
Papageno: First a little Papageno,
Papagena: Then a little Papagena,
Papageno: Then again a Papageno,
Papagena: Then again a Papagena
(Papageno, Papagena, Papageno, etc. Papageno, Papagena, Papageno, etc.)
Papageno & Papagena: It is the highest of feelings if many of them will be in the care of their parents
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Franz Josef Haydn: 1st movement from String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 [string quartet] 1796-97--[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Haydn_Quartet_Op76No3_mvt1.mp4
Performance Notes:
Haydn lived a long life (87 years), and wrote 86 string quartets, 104 symphonies, and 52 piano sonatas in which he helped establish the standards of Classic style and structure. His late string quartets (of which Op. 76 is a model), gives melodic interest to each of the instruments, and shows the crystal-clear elegance of Haydn's late style. An opus number such as "Op. 76 No. 3" means that this Opus 76 publication was a multi-work collection that had at least three individual complete works in it (Haydn's Op. 76 was a set of six individual string quartets).
The String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 is a four-movement work:
1. Allegro (Fast, home key [C major], Sonata form)
2. Poco adagio (Slow, in V [G major], Theme and Variations Form)
3. Menuetto (Moderate,home key [C major], Minuet and Trio Form)
4. Finale-Presto (Very fast, home key [C major], Sonata form)
As seen in the score excerpt and the video clip, this 2nd movement (Poco adagio)
is a lovely and ingenious Theme and Variations form. Each variation is special, and in the course of the movement each of the instruments gets its chance to shine. The writing is elegant, contrapuntal, yet harmonically daring and expressive. The main theme of this movement is so well-loved, it became the national anthem
of Germany.
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Ludwig van Beethoven: 3rd movement from Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 13 ("Pathétique) [sonata] 1798 --[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/mus-history/gradex/Beethoven_Sonata_Op13_mvt3.mp4
Performance Notes:
Beethoven was an amazing virtuoso pianist until he started losing his hearing around age 30. He wrote 32 beautiful, sometime intensely-powerful piano sonatas, as well as 16 string quartets and 9 symphonies that redefined the Classic/early Romantic standards.
The Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 13 (written when he was 27) is a three-movement work:
1. Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio (slow sinister introduction, then Fast 1st movement, home key [C minor], Sonata form)
2. Adagio cantabile (Slow but songful, in VI [A-flat major], 5-part Rondo Form ABACA)
3. Rondo-Allegro (Very fast, home key [C minor], 7-part Rondo Form ABACABA)
As seen in the score excerpt and the video clip, this 3rd movement (Allegro)
is a breathtaking and dramatic rondo form movement that keeps intensifying and unifying at the same time. Its themes are derived from material from movements 1 and 2, thereby unifying the three movements as a whole. The final section of this final movement synergistically unites all of the main key centers of the entire work (C minor, E-flat major, Ab-major, C major) by refocusing on them each one at a time and resolving it to the home key:
[A] Rondo Theme (C minor)
[B] Episode 1 (restless as it begins, but ends in E-flat)
[A] Rondo Theme returns (C minor)
[C] Episode 2 (A-flat) [Developmental]
[A] Rondo Theme returns (C minor)
[B] Episode 1 return transposed (starts in C major, then goes to E-flat major, and finally to G7 [V7] setting up final rondo statement)
[A] Rondo Theme returns (C minor)
[Coda] at the very end he makes a dramatically-surprising detour to A-flat major before cadencing with G7 [V7] - C minor
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Ludwig van Beethoven: 1st movement from Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 [symphony] 1803-4--[click here to see score excerpt]
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Beethoven_SymphonyNo3_mvt1Th1.mp4
Performance Notes:
Beethoven wrote piano sonatas, 16 string quartets and 9 symphonies that redefined the Classic/early Romantic standards.
The Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 is a four-movement work:
1. Allegro con brio (Fast heroic 1st movement, home key [E-flat major], Sonata form)
2. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai (Slow and tragic, [C minor], March with Trio Form--same structure as a "Minuet and Trio" form)
3. Scherzo-Allegro vivace (Very fast, home key [C minor], Scherzo and Trio form)
4. Finale-Allegro molto (Relatively fast, home key [C minor], Theme and Variations Form)
Beethoven, who was German-born but worked in Vienna, intended to dedicate this work to Napoleon Bonaparte, who he saw as a French hero intent on freeing the common man. This is why the first movement is so heroic-sounding, and why this work is nicknamed "Eroica" (Italian for "heroic"). As Beethoven was in the final stages of completing this symphony, he received word that Napoleon had turned his back on humanity by crowning himself Emperor of France, and setting his sights on controlling all of Europe. Enraged by this news, Beethoven obliterated Napoleon's name from the manuscript's cover page, and instead said "I dedicate it to the memory of a great man." He then transformed the second movement of this symphony into a programmatic funeral march [!], symbolically showing his grief and burying his hero (though Napoleon the emperor was very much alive and moving his troops into Vienna to take control of the capital of the Austrian Empire).
As seen in the score excerpt and the video clip, this 1st movement (Allegro con brio)
is an heroic sonata form movement starting with two "fateful knocks" pounding on the door of history, and then a whirlwind movement depicting the awe of Napoleon's power. Notice the sforzando [sf] markings and syncopated rhythms in the score, and also that it features a larger orchestra (woodwinds at the top
--flutes, oboes, clarinets,and bassoons; brass in the middle--horns and trumpets; timpani below the brass; and full string section at the bottom of the score). Here is an outline of the 1st movement's sonata form structure:
Exposition
- Theme 1: home key (E-flat major)
- Themes 2a and 2b: in V (B-flat major)
Development (to keep the listener on edge, he goes through many distant keys and even introduces a new theme)
Recapitulation
- Theme 1: returns in home key (E-flat major)
- Theme 2a and 2b: E-flat major (transposed to the home key)
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Transition to early Romantic Style--while mainstream Classicism is still occurring)
Giocchino Rossini: "Largo al factotum" from Il Barbieri di Siviglia ("The Barber of Sevile") [Opera buffa](1816)
https://www.wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/Rossini_Barber_Largo.mp4
Main Character in this scene:
- Figaro: A common barber (baritone)
Operatic Scenario:
Il Barbieri di Siviglia ("The Barber of Seville) is one of the most famous and beloved comic operas of all time. It tells the hilarious story of a cunning town barber (Figaro), who is hired by Count Almaviva to trick an over-the-hill physician (Dr. Bartolo) so he can win the hand of his ward (Rosina). The scheme that Figaro plots requires the Count to impersonate a commoner (Lindoro), creating crazy scenes of mistaken identity, mistrust, and mischief.
Performance Notes:
Rossini was a prolific composer who wrote 38 operas in a 19-year span (1810-29). Around 1815, Rossini's flamboyant new style of bel canto opera began to take Europe by storm, focusing on great singers, memorable melodies, exciting orchestral accompaniment, colorful costuming and staging, with intricate story lines. Il Barbieri di Siviglia ("The Barber of Sevile") is one of Rossini's earliest, yet most popular operas. It was written in 1816, when the mature Classic style was still in full swing in Beethoven's heyday
As seen in the score excerpt and the video clip, "Largo al factotum" ("Make way for the Do-everything Guy") is a lively, virtuosic aria from the first act, accompanied by a large, colorful orchestra. It requires great vocal skill, agility, and control. Most performances include improvised ornaments showcasing the singer's individual talents. This aria gets faster and faster, louder and louder,which is a hallmark of Rossini's musical style that made his works so popular. In this monologue, Figaro introduces himself directly to the audience, making sure they know how important this town barber really is in the scheme of things. He congratulates himself for being constantly in demand--saying he gives the best haircuts, and whenever anyone needs anything else taken care
of, he's the one they constantly call:.
[Translation of this aria]
Ah, bravo Figaro...Bravo, bravissimo! A most fortunate man indeed!
Ready to do everything night and day...Always on the move.
A cushier fate for a barber--a more noble life is not to be had.
Razors and combs, lancets and scissors, at my command
Everything's there. Here are the tools of my trade
With the ladies...with the gentlemen...
Everyone asks for me, everyone wants me,
Ladies, young lads, old men, young girls:
Here is the wig...the beard is ready...
Here are the leeches...the note is ready...
Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!, etc.
Ah, what frenzy! Ah, what a crowd!
One at a time, please!
"Hey, Figaro!"...(exasperated) I'm here...
Figaro here, Figaro there,
Figaro up, Figaro down,
Swifter and swifter, I'm like a thunderbolt:
I'm the jack-of-all-trades of the city.
Ah, bravo Figaro! Bravo, bravissimo,
You'll never lack for luck!
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iii
