Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro, ‘Se vuol ballare’

This aria is a parody of the kind of simple improvised tune an eighteenth-century dancing-master might have conjured up on the violin to
accompany a lesson. It makes use of a simple solfeggio pattern: a run up and down the first five notes of the simple scale, do-re-mi-fa-sol; sol-fa-
mi-re-do. In this lesson, we will learn how to use the pattern to generate similar melodies. (If the syllables seem offputting to students, they can
be replaced with numbers 1-2-3-4-5; these may be more intuitive and perform exactly the same function, although they are not as comfortable to
sing).
The first skill is to shape the scale into musical phrases, using a technique called ‘pure phrasing’ (fraseggio puro – using only syllable-notes
without any embellishment). Try singing the scale up and down to equal note values phrased into pairs: do-re, re-mi, etc. followed by sol-fa, fa-
mi etc. It might also be sung as do-re, mi-fa, sol-fa etc. If you like, you can also try phrasing in three-note units, for instance do-do-re, re-re-mi
etc. or do-mi-re, re-fa-mi etc. Sometimes repetitions and digressions are required to balance the overall phrase. Repetitions of the cadence are
especially common.
The example below exploits static and dynamic patterns of notes. The first phrase repeats do-do to form a static phrase, while the next moves
from re to mi in a more dynamic way. The third-phrase is another static repetition, mi-mi, followed by dynamic motion from fa to sol.
The descent moves more quickly through two dynamic phrases, reaching re after only two steps. Sol-fa is not followed by fa-mi but rather it runs
straight on to mi-re. Continuing immediately onto re-do would leave the melody unbalanced, since the ascent featured four phrases. So the
melody ends with a common feature known as a ‘feigned cadence’ (cadenza finta). An incomplete close answered by a complete close. Re
cadences onto mi, a weak imperfect cadence, then finally onto do. See how this example takes the formula of paired syllables but twists it to
make it more musical. There are many other ways the simple paired syllables could be arranged. In general, there are three main cadential goals
in solfeggio: closing on mi (or la) = an imperfect authentic cadence; closing on re (or sol) = a half cadence; and closing on do (or fa) = a perfect
authentic cadence.
Paired syllables are a basic start to ‘pure phrasing’. To turn this melody into something more meaningful we can apply a rhythm (ritmo). This is
a conventional rhythm usually drawn from syllables in poetry or speech, steps in dance, or other sonic analogs. Here we will add a five-step (or
syllable) rhythm. A quinario. This has an accent on its fourth note. It can drop its fifth note for a more final sounding ending.
Now you are ready to add diminutions, since syllable-notes were rarely sung without ‘accent’. There are countless ways to do this. Try formulaic
lower neighbouring notes then leaps of a third. Formulas were only used in the most basic score reading exercises and melodies seldom kept to a
fixed pattern. They departed from it in learned ways. For us, we need some familiarity with the style to know, for instance, that a formulaic
pattern seldom continued beyond three statements, and usually the third statement introduced some change. To know what sounds ‘right’ in the
galant style requires knowledge of the style. So learners may wish to embellish formulaic patterns of pure phrasing in styles they are more
familiar with, for instance pop or jazz.
In the example below many characteristic ways to pronounce syllables are introduced. They are best learned by singing them. The first phrase
adds lower and upper neighboring notes. The second an upward leap of the third and an appoggiatura, often found at cadences to mark them out.
The melody uses only these two devices, neighboring notes and leaps of the third, until the final cadence, which includes a leap up a fourth.
There are many ways to perform a plain solfeggio. Experiment!
Here is Mozart’s realization of the same basic solfeggio. Note the downward third in m. 4 and m. 8: this is a standard way to make an imperfect
melodic cadence sound a little more final. In. m.14 the upward third leaves the melody open, in need of continuation. In m.9 there is a leap of the
third and an escape note. Mozart uses here a very common device: repetitions of the final cadence. Instead of the conventional re-mi, re-do, he
turns it into a four-phrase unit: re-mi, re-mi; re-mi, re-do. The upward leaps leave the melody sounding open.

Other ways to realize the solfeggio include repetitions, fragmentation, chromaticisms, appoggiaturas, and further lengthening of the last phrase.
As a follow-on exercise, try to phrase the same basic solfeggio, the five-note scale, into a duple meter, maintaing the five-syllable rhythm.
Here is how Mozart re-composed the same solfeggio as a Contredanse, a social leveller that symbollically lowers the Count from his privileged
position. Note the falling gestures involving thirds or fifths at the ends of phrases. Although not classified as ‘cadences’ today, they are exactly
that: gestures of closure that mark out the ends of phrases by falling. Note also the truncated phrase at the end and the lack of complete closure.
This sets up the melody for a more complete closing section, perhaps another descent through the five-note scale and cadential repetitions.