Early Opera

                It is no surprise that the first Florentine operas dealt with the European (and particularly Italian) long-standing obsession with classical Greece and Rome. It was very interesting reading over the sheer number of adaptations of the Orpheus and Euridice story as well as Dafne (the first opera now lost).  Of course, the author goes a great length to make sure we as readers understand that the early opera librettists and composers still felt as though there was some necessary justification for having characters continually sing the plot as opposed to speaking lines. This was acceptable for Gods and folkloric heroes who existed in the world of the poetic and song, after all, it was the Greeks who believed in celestial music (harmony) that kept planets moving and life going.

            The main characters for this part of the chapter are Peri and Rinuccini who, as the author points out “were anxious to associate their endeavors with the classical revival” meaning that there was some attempt to recreate classical Greek drama. But this in fact (according to Carter) was designed to give justification to something that was for the most part very original. Carter derives this from a quote of Peri in his introduction to  the opera Euridice: “And so (even though I would be reluctant to claim that this was the type of song used in Greek and Roman plays), I have thus believed it to be the only type that our music can give us to suit our speech.” I am unable to say whether or not Peri and company were well versed in Greek tragedy, or indeed what archeological research had been done into works on the Acropolis, I have always heard that in the earliest dramas the chorus was the only aspect of the production and twelve or so men stood in a circle and chanted stories for an audience. It wasn’t until the actor Thespis stepped away and became the first “thespian,” but the chorus remained. I find it very curious that the early operas relied so heavily on solo singing rather than chorus when we have always assumed it was part of a Greek revival. In this aspect, the middle ages Liturgical Dramas put on by the likes of Hildegard seem much closer to Greek drama (to me).

            As far as musical characteristics go, it seems as though the Camerata did a lot to further the acceptability of dissonance (which in a roundabout way seemed to support Monteverdi’s madrigal style in the way of freer non-chord-tones).  According to Peri himself; “I held the bass firm through both dissonances and consonances until the voice of the speaker, having run through various notes, arrived at a syllable that, being intoned in ordinary speech, opened the way to a new harmony.” We can contrast that with Monteverdi’s defense of his madrigal style in a reply to Artusi: “…let it be known that I do not do things by chance, and as soon as it is rewritten it will see the light under the title, Second Practice… Some will wonder at this, not believing that there is any other practice than that taught by Zarlino.”  (M. Hanning, P. 178, Concise History of Western Music) The majority of Recitative was also sung over figured bass which lent itself very well to the lute and Theorbo which were then popular instruments. I was unable to find any real information of orchestration for Peri’s music, there is a recording available on Amazon.com in which the sample sound a small ensemble that sounds like lute, bass viol and recorder, although I am not sure if this was done in the original. The recording of L’Orfeo that I own has a small orchestra featuring violins, simple brass, lute, celli and recorders.