The Story of Opera 1590-1650

Paper Summary:

This paper explores and examines the development of Opera during the Renaissance in Europe. The author describes the desire of Renaissance artists to emulate classical Greece and Rome, and how this influenced music of this time. The author discusses several composers and the impact of their works. The evolution of singing style is also addressed. The author concludes by acknowledging the new genre that these musicians created at the end of the Renaissance period.

From the Paper:

"The first composers of opera - in the period 1590 to 1650 - were faced, therefore, with the difficulties of "reconstructing" a lost art. As they had little to work from save for theories, it was inevitable that their creations should proceed in different directions. Though all agreed that operas should be entirely sung, composers faced the problem of connecting actual songs, or arias, with the sung dialogue of the recitative. The striving to achieve a seamless linkage between the powerful sentiments expressed by the aria, and the need to fill in the "back story" through use of recitative was emblematic of a basic philosophical goal of the Renaissance period. "It reflects the paradigmatic views of its time--in particular, views of the mind/body relation. Early opera had no unconscious; it was not yet dualistic. Philosophers looked for ways to make soul and substance one." For many composers of opera, however, this presented an interesting dilemma i.e. if opera was essentially a performance of song, was not the quality of the singing the most important feature? Giulio Caccini discourse at length on the beauty of the voice, and on the idea that only the solo voice can attain to true virtue. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chua, Daniel K. L. Absolute Music and the Construction of Meaning. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
• Harness, Kelley. "Le Tre Euridici: Characterization and Allegory in the Euridici of Peri and, 9,1, 2003. URL: http://sscm-jscm.press.uiuc.edu/jscm/v9/no1/Harness.html.
• Maniates, Maria Rika. Caccini." Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music. Society for Seventeenth-Century Music Mannerism in Italian Music and Culture, 1530-1630. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
• Marco, Guy A. Opera: A Research and Information Guide. New York: Garland, 2001.
• Sternfeld, F. W. The Birth of Opera. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

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