LESSON GUIDE IN MUSIC 9 (FOURTH QUARTER)

MELC:
 explains the plot, musical and theatrical elements of an opera after watching video samples.
MU9OP-IVa-g-1
 performs themes or melodic fragments of given selected songs. (MU9OP-IVb-h-3)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the Lesson, you are expected to:
 explain the plot, musical and theatrical elements of an opera after watching video samples;
 classify the different ranges of the human voice;
 discuss the life and works of the Opera composers in the romantic period;
 performs themes and melodic fragments of given selected songs of romantic period composers; and
 listen perceptively with the opera works of romantic composers.

Vocal Music of the Romantic Period: Opera

Opera
Vocal music in this period requires singers to perform a greater ranges of tone color, dynamics and
pitch. Because of this, Opera became an important source of musical expressions.
The birth of the opera houses came. It was the place where all the arts converged: not only music,
but poetry, painting, architecture, and the dance as well.
The Golden Age of Opera
Many of the biggest titles and composers in opera are from the Romantic era. Twenty (20) of the
twenty-five (25) most performed operas in the world were Romantic era pieces according to
operabase.com.
Early Romantic Italian opera emphasized a beautiful melody for the soloist, Bel Canto refers to this
vocal emphasis. Bel Canto literally means “beautiful singing”. Orchestra provides simple harmonic support,
Vocal lines are soaring and virtuosic. This vocal emphasis created stars.
Realistic Opera
An attempt to portrays real life, especially the life of the lower classes, on the opera stage. An
outgrowth of the social realties, often unpleasant of the industrial revolution.
Realistic opera seeks to find beauty in the mundane, even gritty, aspect of life. Verismo means
realism. The later Italian version of realistic opera is a similar treatment of gritty, seedy and sometimes
violent subject matter.

MALE
It is important to know the classification of human voice, this will serve as a guide for singers on their
choice of songs and vocal quality expected of a singer or opera characters. One singer sometimes sounds
like several characters by use of different vocal register.
TENOR - The highest male voice
BARITONE - Middle male voice
BASS - Lowest male voice

FEMALE
SOPRANO - The highest female voice
MEZZO-SOPRANO - The strong
middle voice
CONTRALTO - The lowest female
voice
 Opera in the Romantic Period
Opera in the Romantic, like other forms, begins to take on the form of an epic drama, extended in
complexity and length. It is during this time that opera reaches its grandest form and greatest popularity,
and it is this period that produces operas most famous works
What is Art Song?

https://www.cincinnatisong iniative.org/what-is-art-song

An art song is a vocal music composition usually written for one voice with piano
accompaniment. By extension the term “art song” is used to refer to the genre of such
songs. An art song is most often a musical setting of an independent poem or text
intended for the concert repertory as part of a recital or other occasion.
While many pieces of vocal music are easily recognized as art songs, others are
more difficult to categorize. For example, a wordless vocalise written by a classical
composer is sometimes considered an art song and sometimes not.
Other factors help define art songs:
 Songs that are part of a staged work (such as an aria from an opera or a song from a
musical) are not usually considered art songs. However, some Baroque arias that "appear
with great frequency in recital performance" are now included in the art song repertoire.
 Songs with instruments besides piano (e.g., cello and piano) and/or other singers are
referred to as "vocal chamber music", and are usually not considered art songs.
 Songs originally written for voice and orchestra are called "orchestral songs" and are not
usually considered art songs, unless their original version was for solo voice and piano.
 Folk songs and traditional songs are generally not considered art songs, unless they are
art music-style concert arrangements with piano accompaniment written by a specific
composer. Several examples of these songs include Aaron Copland's two volumes of Old
American Songs, the Folksong arrangements by Benjamin Britten, and the Siete
canciones populares españolas (Seven Spanish Folksongs) by Manuel de Falla.
 There is no agreement regarding sacred songs. Many song settings of biblical or sacred
texts were composed for the concert stage and not for religious services; these are widely
known as art songs (for example, the Vier ernste Gesänge by Johannes Brahms). Other
sacred songs may or may not be considered art songs.
 A group of art songs composed to be performed in a group to form a narrative or dramatic
whole is called a song cycle.
What is NOT an Art Song?

https://www.cincinnatisong iniative.org/what-is-art-song
Art song is separate from music for the theater, such as operas or musicals. Folk
songs are a separate genre as well, although many composers arrange such songs with
piano accompaniment for the concert stage.
For example, Aaron Copland’s American Songs, Benjamin Britten’s Folk Song
arrangements, and the Siete conciones populares españolas (Seven Spanish Folk Song)
by Manuel De Falla are all considered art songs because of their intended use for recital
settings.
Additionally, songs set to biblical or sacred texts intended for religious services are
not art songs but those written for the concert stage are. An example is Johannes
Brahms cycle Vier ernste Gesange (Four Serious Songs), which is based on biblical texts
and intended for the concert stage, thus deeming it art song.
OPERA COMPOSERS OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD
FRANZ PETER SCHUBERT
 Schubert was born on the 31st of January, 1797 in Himmelpfortgrund,
Austria.
 The proper name for Schubert word is actually Lieder, which is the
German word for “songs”. He developed lieder so that they had a
powerful dramatic impact on the listener.
 He is considered the last of the classical composers and one of the
first Romantic composer.
 His famous vocal music works/lieder were:
 Gretchen am Spinnrade
 “Erlkonig”
 “Ellen Gesang III (Ave maria)
 “Schwanenge Sang” (Swan Song)
 He also wrote piano pieces, string quartets, operetta and the
Image by Wilhelm August Rieder 1875 Symphony n0.8 in B Minor (“Unfinished Symphony”)
 Schubert died in 1828 in Vienna, Austria at age 31.
GIUSEPPE VERDI
 Verdi was born in Parma, Italy on October 9, 1813.
 He studied in Busseto and later went to Milan where his first
opera “Oberto” was performed in La Scala, the most
important opera at the time.
 Almost all his works are serious love story with unhappy
ending.
 Expressive vocal melody is the soul of Verdi’s opera.
 He completed 25 operas throughout his career, His final
opera ends with ”All the World’s a joke”.
 His famous works are;
 “La Traviata”
 “Rigoletto”,
 “Falstaff”,
 “Otello”
 “Aida”
Image by Giacomo Brogi 1822-1881
 He died in Milan, Italy on January 27, 1901.
Other opera composers of the romantic period are, Giacomo Puccinni, Richard Wagner and
Georges Bizet who composed the famous opera “Carmen” in four act and was based in the
novella “Prosper Merimee”.
GIACOMO PUCCINI
 Giacomo Puccini was born in a poor family on December 22, 1858 in
Lucca, Italy.
 He studied in Milan Conservatory.
 He belonged to a group of composers who stressed Realism, therefore,
he drew material from everyday life, rejecting heroic themes from
mythology and history.
 Puccini famous operas were:
“La Boheme”
“Tosca”
“Madame Butterfly”
“Turandot”
Image by New York 1956
 RICHARD WAGNER
 Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany on
May 22, 1813.
 He was very much inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven.
 Wagner introduced new ideas in harmony and in form.
Including extremes of Chromatism.
 He was advocate of a new form of opera which he called
“music drama” where musical and dramatic elements were
fused together.
 The expressiveness is aided by the use of leitmotifs or
musical sequences for a particular character/plot element.
 His work would later influence modern film scores, including
those of “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” film series.
 His famous works were:
 “Tristan and Isolde”
 “Die Walkyrie”
 “Die Meistersinger”
 “Tannhauser” Image by Caesar Willich 1862
 “Parsifal”
 He died of a heart attack on February 13, 1883
at the age of 69.

GEORGES BIZET

o Georges Bizet was registered with the legal

name Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet.
o He was born October 25, 1838 in Paris,
France.
o He entered the Paris Conservatory of Music at
a very young age.
o Bizet became famous for his operas; His most
famous opera is “Carmen”.
o During the first round of “Carmen”
performances, Bizet died June 3, 1875.
o He was only 36.
o Four months later, “Carmen” opened on
Vienna, Austria and was a smash hit.

Image by Etienne Carjat 1875

Prepared by: JANE BETH ARTIAGA

MAPEH 9 Teacher