Opera, Composers, and Musical Forms: A Concise Summary

Classified in Music

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Key Musical Terms and Concepts

  • Arias: Songs for a solo singer and orchestra.
  • Recitative: Sung conversation between characters to advance the story.
  • Opera seria: Serious opera with heroic themes from history and mythology.
  • Opera buffa: Comic opera with contemporary, down-to-earth stories.
  • Verismo: Italian opera style with realistic portrayals of everyday life.
  • Libretto: The text of an opera or musical, including dialogue and lyrics.
  • Sonata: A work in several movements for one or more instruments.

Notable Composers and Their Works

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

The Erlking (Lied for piano and voice, 1815): A father and son ride a horse; the son, ill, imagines scary things and dies. The Erlking is the ghost calling to the son.

Hector Berlioz (1811-1869)

Symphonie fantastique (1830): Inspired by unrequited love, this program symphony expresses intense feelings. Later, Berlioz revised it, adding a dream sequence where the protagonist kills his beloved and is guillotined.

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Pictures at an Exhibition (1874): An instrumental (piano) tone poem inspired by an art exhibition, including "The Great Gate of Kiev".

Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)

The Moldau (1874-1875): A symphonic poem depicting various river tributaries merging into one.

Il barbiere di Siviglia

Gioachino Rossini (born February 29, 1792, died November 13, 1868, in Paris) was a famous Italian composer known for his comic operas. The Barber of Seville is a comic opera in two acts, premiered on February 20, 1816, in Rome. Key characters include:

  • Figaro: The barber
  • Bartolo: A doctor and Rosina's guardian
  • Lindoro: Count Almaviva
  • Basilio: Rosina's music teacher
  • Berta: A servant

The opera's plot revolves around Bartolo being the best barber in Seville.

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