Thomas Ranieri

Professor Baker
Music of The Nineteenth Century
6 October 2014
Spectacle, Spectacle and More Spectacle
Chapter 16 talks about three very progressive composers of the nineteenth
century. Meyerbeer, Cherubini and Auber all gave the people who saw their operas and
concerts leaving with a melody in their head. The Opra in Rue Le Peletier was
becoming the most prestigious performance venue in the world thanks to new director
Veron. More people of wealth began to find their ways into the theater thanks to
Verons involvement and exclusive taste and wealth. A new style of great dramatic
tenors was taking over with men like Duprez who could belt a high C in his chest voice.
This was a symbol of the sweeping force of money and power throughout Europe that
transcended through music.
Giacomo Meyerbeer became one of the most proclaimed composers of all time
through his success in Paris after being born in Berlin and working his way up to the
Opra becoming a contracted composer after being discovered by Veron. Meyerbeers
operas were very free and used the new star power throughout his scores. The only
criticism people had of him was that he took way too much time to write his pieces,
with years in between most of them. Never had a composer been so popular, even
more than Rossini.
Cherubini was known to be the most textbook composer of his time, everything
in his music had to be entirely correct and to the T when creating his pieces. Cherubini
was an Italian who made his career working in France. He is characterized with

determination and power. He was seen as too rigid and composers like Beethoven
criticize him for that because he was a consummate technician in his music as well.
Auber was one of a handful of composers that wrote operas that competed with
Meyerbeer throughout the 30s and 40s. He was the dominating force of his time at the
Opera-Comique. He wrote forty-four operas from 1805 to 1869. He also was active head
of the Conservatoire. His operas were known to have more grace and sophistication
than Meyerbeers operas filled with spectacles and big orchestral sounds. Yet a balance
of their influence would bring what would be the key to the perfect opera of their time.