Dido and Aeneas

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  • Created by: Corinnaxo
  • Created on: 09-02-15 22:44

Thy hand, Belinda and When I am laid in earth from Dido and Aeneas

Context

  • At the time, Venetian composers were moving the development of instrumental music forward whereas in other parts of Italy, composers were debating how words should be set to music
  • Some believed that the beauty of the music was more important that the words, but a group called the Florentine Camerata believed the opposite and created a new style of vocal music called monodies. The singer was given a melodic setting of a text and was usually accompanied by a keyboard instrument or a lute and a bassline instrument. The singer was able to sing natural rhythms in a free manner, as if reciting a poem- recitative
  • The aria is for a solo voice, continuo and orchestral instruments. The aria has a set metre and strict rhythmic requirements where a single character normally expresses their thoughts and feelings
  • Claudio Monteverdi composed the first opera- L'orfeo in 1607. A true opera normally has recitatives, arias, choruses, instrumental dances and interludes 
  • An opera is a drama set to music performed on stage with costume, scenary, orchestral backing, dance and spectacle
  • English composers such as Purcell didnt' start writing opera until the late 17th century
  • Purcell's Dido and Aeneas lasts for an hour and was performed in 1689 written to celebrate the joint corontation of William and Mary in the same year
  • It is…

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