Negro music in America; 15

In the years sixteen seventy eight sent every mon said Opera is a bizarre affair of poetry and music in which the poet and the musician each equally obstructed by the other give themselves no end of trouble to produce a wretched result. On the other hand one hundred years later Mozart said the best thing of all is when a good composer who understands the stage meets an able poet. In that case no fears need be entertained as to the applause even of the ignorant Riverside radio w while they are in New York City presents opera the battleground of the arts in this series of half hour programmes Borys gold ASCII discusses some of the problems that beset operators and those who create and produce them. The programmes are produced in association with the gold of ski opera Institute for National Educational radio under a grant from the National Home Library Foundation. Where is gold our ski is nationally known as an intermission commentator for broadcast at the Metropolitan Opera

and as an opera producer principally through the productions of The God of Opera Theatre which have been presented in about 400 communities from coast to coast. And here is Mr. Gold of ski opera. As we have noted before on these programs is a somewhat uneasy partnership of the two arts of music and stage drama. Very probably you would hardly has it date. Putting the orchestra exclusively on the musical side of the partnership the singer you would say must try at least to be an actor or with the men in the orchestra pit has only to sit there and play his notes from a written part. And it is certainly the orchestras function to supply harmonica company and to the voices on stage assuring musical continuity for the whole performance. There are indeed many musicians working in opera. Even being whispered some conductors working in opera who have no doubt at all that the orchestra is in the pit only to fill this essential musical role. On this program I hope to show you however that the orchestra also plays an essential

dramatic role a role that everybody responsible for interpreting the work in the theatre must appreciate and use to his advantage of the total significance of the work as ever to reach the public. We all know that music can express an infinity of moods and emotions to connect the music we hear with precise circumstances however we need words or the description afforded by a visible scene. But once the intended Association has been set up in our minds then music has unlimited power to define the quality or show us the intensity of whatever is being expressed. No one hearing this music from the closing scene of the veldt Yury out of its context would without some knowledge of the Opera associated with fire. Yet when we have the scene before us and the singers words to help us this

music speaks to us with overwhelming force and we feel all the emotion aroused by the fire. And in that situation to a degree that words alone could not possibly attain this power of the orchestra in the Opera House is not limited to such obvious descriptions. The operas chorus back to the dramatic meanings and indications that a composer has consciously or unconsciously in trying to knit. Nor a presentation in the theatre can be wholly satisfactory. And as those who have to interpret the score have known how to make it yield up its secrets and given them a counterpart on the stage. Singers and directors who understand the information provided by orchestral music will find that in the pages of a score the composer has given them precise and precious suggestions as to how each character should utter words behave move laugh cry show unhappiness or despair make love and even kill or be killed. It is true

that musical tones cannot express everything but fortunately words and music complement each other. Music being strongest where words are weakest and it is extremely difficult to describe in words for example the gradations of a given emotion such as the difference between the tenderness a child feels for his grandfather or for his bed dog. But the musical description can convey instantly the most subtle nuances of emotion and of course music provides the exact timing and intensity of every mood in action. It would be impossible to duplicate in words the exactness of Mozart's stage directions for amorous gestures. For example if the pond there the librettist of John Giovanni had wanted to show Tara Lena how to console her bridegroom as it were as he lies on the ground mourning and complaining of having been beaten up by a leper hello he would have had to ride the stage directions something like this. Zerlina caresses Mosad twice in quick succession. Her

behavior is flirtatious without being too provocatively sensuous her first caress begins about two thirds of a second after the last note of her first phrase each caress lasts about four thirds of a second and at the end of all between the two is two thirds of a second. But there is no need for such clumsy and verbose instructions since Mozart's music conveys all this and much more in a stage direction which is concise elegant and completely lucid. Most operas are filled with such orchestral acting instructions in Cosi Fan Tutte there for instance when Elmore sings of his moustache the violins tell him exactly when and how long to twirl it. There are many ways in which music can stimulate theatrical thinking and serve as a point of the partner for

staging ideas some musical passages have a very distinctive character and stand out from the surrounding musical landscape. Where are these musical events occur in the orchestra or in the voice part whether they consist of a melodic phrase a short motif or even a single note. They inevitably seem to illustrate specific dramatic ideas. Some composers like Wagner and Strauss indicate clearly the dramatic meaning of these significant musical passages and others like Mozart Rossini and Verdi leave the interpretation of musical events to individual choice. But in every case these unusual passages need to be reflected on stage by some appropriate the attic of business. The duet between Donna and the not in the opening scene of Don Giovanni contains a significant orchestral passage just before dawn and those words tell us that her thoughts have turned suddenly from grief to vengeance. If the Commendatore sword which had been knocked out of his hand earlier by Don

Giovanni is left lying on the stage for Dona Ana to find justice this passage is being played. Her discovery of that moment that her father had been killed in cold blood will give new strength to her cry for vengeance that she then utters these examples touch upon only a few of the ways in which music imparts dramatic information from a theatrical point of view. The most important musical values are first energy and mood. Second informative devices in third form and timing. All music consists of a succession of episodes that vary in mood and in the degree of energy they express. Generally speaking loud sounds are more energetic than soft ones accented passages more energetic than smooth ones. This in and harmonies and all startling combinations of sounds also create a rise in energy values. These musical energies take hold of both the performer and the listener and affect his entire body. They make him want to

move around to march to dance to shout or clap his hands. What is generally referred to as tempo in music is also an element of energy. The faster and louder the music the more energetic it is when it becomes softer and slower. The energy value subside matching The Rise and Fall of these musical energies with stage activities is one of the most fundamental rules of operatic theatre. One should not even contemplate the optical possibilities that contradict or do not fit with the changes of energy in the score in opera. One must see what one hears and hear what one sees. It is not enough for music to be played in the pit while the drama is acted on stage. There must be a recognizable relationship between these two activities. The orchestra does not merely a company and suport the characters on stage. It also reflects their thoughts feelings and actions. Consequently singers must

behave so as to justify the music as if they themselves were causing the music to be what it is and a director on his part must consider only those possibilities of staging that will justify the mood and energy dictated by the score. Certain types of short and energetic orchestral passages are soreness and of muscular movements that they can be said to belong to the special category of gesture music. The main advantage of these instrumental gestures lies in the fact that they give the singer a precise blueprint of just how an action is to be performed on occasion however music can also help to determine what gesture or other action is supposed to take place at a given moment. Such help can be very welcome especially with composers of the 18th and early 19th centuries whose scores often lack even the most essential stage directions. An interesting case in point occurs in the third act. There is a masked ball where Renato

informs Samuel and Tom who are involved in a plot to assassinate Ricardo that the letters which he has in his possession contain proof of their complicity and guilt. Renata however is not planning to turn these papers over to Ricardo. On the contrary he wants to join the plotters. And in reply to the doubting words and looks he assures them that he will prove his change of heart and dispelled her suspicions. Not with words but with D What deeds. Neither the full score nor any of the Italian or American editions of piano vocal scores that I have consulted contain any clarifying remarks on the subject. Verdi and his publishers must have felt that the three short passage just played here by the orchestra strings were such obvious examples of paper tearing music that it would have been redundant to add any verbal instructions. I regret to say that I have seen performances of this opera where instead of destroying the

evidence the baritone shook hands with the conspirators were not those act of tearing up the incriminating documents is obviously a must in this situation. Without it his reference to deeds simply does not make sufficient sense. Just your music however does not always have to refer to an action which has this degree of compelling necessity. As a rule music offers many dramatic alternatives and lets the stage director use his imagination much more freely. There is for instance a passage in the second act of Tosca that I like to treat in a rather unconventional manner. Although I'm not at all certain that other directors or for that matter the composer would necessarily agree with 90 appreciation the passage follows Carpi as a monologue in which the all powerful chief of the Roman police reveals his craving for every form of enjoyment. Four varieties of lovely women as well of varieties of fine wine and

chaperone announces the arrival of spore let Scarpa shouts splendid bring him in. And the stage direction informs us as Carpio is most excited at the orchestral phrase that is played on the heels of scorpions shouters marks to engender a crescendo becoming soon. I mean. The stage direction for Scarborough at this point says sits down but it seems a shame to waste this agitated music soley on the entrance of the relatively unimportant spotlight that in my staging of this passage Scorpio remains standing. He lifts the bottle to which he referred earlier and pours into his glass a stream of a red liquid that seems to converge with a sparkling stream of sixteenth notes that cascade down from the violins in the two last measures of this exciting passage. Of course such orchestral passages can be acted out in many different ways but the music

invariably tells us at least four things that must be closely reflected in any satisfactory staging. First something must happen here. Second this is where it begins. Third this is how long it lasts. And fourth This is the mood and the amount of energy with which it must be performed. The second theatrical value to be found in the score is informative devices. As we noted in the beginning of this broadcast instrumental music has no direct means of conveying specific information but it's suggestive power is so great that the mirrors tend to have a word or a picture is often sufficient to give it a precise meaning. The various devices composers have used to give specific the African meaning to their instrumental music can be put into three categories which I call imitations analogies and associations. The device of imitations is almost self-explanatory from one to Verity to

album Deryck there is hardly an opera composer who has not imitated man made and natural sounds in his music who has not succumb to the temptation of composing orchestral heartbeats birdcalls storms or the hering of a spinning wheel. Convincing as these imitations may be they are not apparent to the listener unless a clue to their identity is given by words a title or a scenic picture. For example the sound of thunder can be quite perfectly imitated by the roll of the kettle drums. But if a scenic picture or a title does not suggest that the storm is taking place the kettle drum roll is nothing more than a musical effect. Composers have zealously explored the possibilities of such musical imitations which have ranged from locomotives and nightingales to telephone dials. It is virtually impossible to think of a noise which has not been orchestrated by such a rabid imitation ist's as Richard Strauss and Ravel.

These instrumental imitations are often immensely effective but when over done they can become ludicrous. Like a singer who illustrates every word with a gesture. With Richard Strauss this device was occasionally a real obsession. For example when Electra tells her mother that she will be at her heels like a dog it hardly seems appropriate to emphasize this sentence by sounds of barking in the orchestra. Unlike imitations which are restricted to actual resemblance in sound analogies can convert into tonal counterparts ideas or happenings that are not related to sound. This method of giving precise meaning to various tone combinations is rooted in our habit of discussing music in terms borrowed from other fields. We speak of related in remote banalities white and dark voices harsh in heavy chords. Brilliant and mysterious passages smooth melodies high and low pitches are rising and descending scales

and sharp and flat keys. In purely instrumental music these terms are not taken literally. No one hearing Deceptive Cadence imagines that some mischief is being perpetrated or suspects that every descending scale leads down a staircase. In opera However these descriptions are often taken seriously and used for a variety of dramatic purposes. In the second act of Norse Faust one of the students Wagner climbs onto a footstool before singing the song of the rat and descends from it again. After he is interrupted by mistook the orchestra this great sport the up and the down of his actions by corresponding passages first toward the treble. And then toward the base. For some unknown reason these two stage directions referring to these climbing activities have been omitted from all scores of this opera. They are found only in the

original French libretto and even there the position of the second action is slightly misplaced. But even if these verbal remarks had been accurately inserted into discourse they could not begin to be as graphic and informative as purely orchestral descriptions. Listening to this upward and downward going music we can clearly visualize the loud and domineering Wagner as he picks up the stew places it in a favorable position and then climbs upon it with the self-assurance of a peacock. And then later we can see him descend me clearly from his perch all the starch taken out of him by ministers commanding personality. From a dramatic point of view the analogies found in opera which seem to be most useful. Are those based on melodic contour harmonic progressions and instrumental timers analogies based on melodic contour have their origin in vocal

music where words and moods are intimately connected with characteristic melodic lines. When typically vocal effects are imitated in the orchestra they not only create an emotional effect but also convey actual information. Meaning your own scrying spell in the instrumental interlude of her second act Aria could not be more explicit in this respect. These are certainly musical sobs and tears and Nino's actions must justify them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Analogies based on harmonic progressions are more subtle than those which use melodic

contour to understand the principle behind them we must bear in mind that for the greater part of the last three hundred years a certain order of course accessions was regarded as mandatory and constituted the backbone of all harmonic movement progressions of the type tonic dominant tonic or tonic subdominant dominant tonic. Were the rules within a given tonality and modulations to other keys were similarly standardized. These procedures change somewhat with each generation of composers but if we know the style of a given composition we can usually predict the direction in which the harmony is going to move. Consequently any deviation from the expected harmonic sequence can highlight a sudden interruption of activity or an unexpected change of mood. An orchestral passage from the opening scene of the Giovanni will serve to illustrate how analogies of harmonic progression can effect the exact

and timing of a fairly extended stage action as the Commendatore dies at the end of the trio there is an orchestral postlude of five measures. The miners firmly established during the first two measures the removal of the sorrowful sending rheumatics. This phrase is big. Enough. In the third and fourth. Measure something strange takes place. The last. Remain stationary. And the leading in the other food in the second violin fails to resolving to the tonic the whole harmonic. Structure slides down. On the brink of a mysterious anality and then. Elaborates into thin air. The orchestra silent. They come in the door a soul has left his body. The metaphysical mystery of death could not be

presented with greater musical clarity. Analogies based on instrumental clambers relate the characteristic sound of certain instruments to the special activities for which they are used. Composers have long used the French horn to suggest the idea of a hunt or a forest and the clarinet an English horn with their resemblance to the shepherd's pipe. Have all been used to evoke pastoral life. Another obvious connection is that of the pipe organ with the idea of a church or with religious sentiments. The meaning of these analogies based on tampers varies from generation to generation. The sound of trumpets was once associated exclusively with the royalty and used

to announce the arrival of kings and queens. Later this association with nobility ceased to exist and today the trumpet along with the snare drum has become the war instrument par excellence. Or take drum bones which no longer carry any special associations but were once considered to have a very mysterious tone particularly suited to portraying supernatural events. Mozart used drum bones for this purpose in both Idomeneo and undemanding. Now we come to associations without any reference to the world of common experience composers often set up purely musical associations. These are based upon our ability to recognize and remember short musical phrases provided they are repeated a sufficient number of times. If Let us say a musical phrase occurs often enough during a love scene an association is created and the phrase then stands for the idea of love. If it is constantly used to allude to this emotion it becomes

the love Moti by creating such artificial associations. A composer can attach a specific musical phrase to almost any conceivable object person or idea. These associations are often combined with imitations or with analogies of instrumental timers in Wagner's Ring for instance the motif of the Val curious image the galloping of horses in the motif of the sword is intrusted to the warlike trumpet. The different melodic rhythmic and harmonic shapes assumed by motif can be very useful in indicating characteristic behavior or even suggesting specific gestures here for instance is the majestic theme of Elektra the Princess in Strauss's opera. And here is the same theme showing her when she first appears on stage as a frightening demon deformed by suffering and devoured by hatred. This sudden snake like striking and spitting which is so clearly audible in this phrase

should be at least suggested in Electra's movements. Once a leading motive has been well established it can be used not only to support the ideas expressed on stage but also to clarify a change or even contradict the words of the text. When he has all the addresses done in the first act and speaks of having reached the goal she ostensibly means the shores of Cornwall but the orchestra makes it absolutely clear that she is really referring to the impending death of Tristan and herself. Associations can also be used for comic purposes as in their Rosenkavalier. When the marshal apologizes to bare an oxe for having kept him waiting the orchestra by playing the same music that accompanies her passionate embraces with Octavian gives the lie to her words that she had a headache that morning. Composers have used the technique of associations in many different ways. Often an operatic character is given his own tune by which he can always be recognized in The Marriage of Figaro both

figure uncurable you know announce themselves to the audience from offstage with strains from their songs. Associations can be very effective too when they occur in change dramatic circumstances as they inevitably do in operatic mad scenes. When a heroine whose mind has become deranged by some tragic development real lives scenes of former happiness the return of one's joyous music always produces the point and effect of irreparable loss. All of the informative devices found in the orchestral portions of a score have a significant bearing direct or indirect on the dramatic values of opera. The music can provide us with new information or it can simply reinforce the words emphasizing them in much the same way that the gesture heightens the effect of a line in a spoken play. Consequently musical duplications can often be effectively synchronized with appropriate gestures and actions. Even when the instrumental portions of his core do not add any new information they still offer

valuable clues for the characterization of a role Baron Oxus vulgar elegance or Bartels crotchety craft in this game of course be deduced from the text. But there are still music adds another dimension which sharpens and clarifies these characteristics. His words alone never could. You've been listening to opera the battleground of the arts with a borescope off ski nationally known operatic commentator producer and scholar opera the battleground of the arts is produced in association with the gold all ski opera Institute by W. R. They are the noncommercial cultural and information station of the Riverside Church in New York City. Producer Walter Shepherd production assistance and technical operations Matthew Bieber feld and Peter Feldman the duck hunt a stage direction was read by Donal pace of the barnet college theatre company. Portions of the script for this week's program were drawn from Mr.

Gold our skees book bringing opera to Life published by Appleton century Crofts on next week's program. Mr. Gold Aussie's topic is the art of operatic production. Two weeks from now we'll discuss the validity of operatic stories. Grant for that I still hold my very foundation as made possible the production of this program for national educational radio. This is the national educational radio network.