JacobMorgan

MUSI331103
8September2015

Tusemorta
,recitativefromActII,
LOrfeo
ClaudioMonteverdi
1607
Baroque
Opera,Aria

LOrfeo
,sometimesreferredtoas
LaFavolaDOrfeo
,isanearlybaroqueoperawritten
bycomposerClaudioMonteverdi.Premieredintheyear1607,
LOrfeo,
isthestoryofthegreek
legendofOrpheus,amanwhojourneysintotheunderworldinordertobringhisdeadwife
Eurydicebackintotheworld.Theoperaiswritteninfiveactsandrunsforapproximatelytwo
hoursonaverage.Theinstrumentationisasfollows:fourviolins,fourviolas,twocellos,two
doublebasses,twoviolinipiccoliallafrancese(smallviolins),tworecorders,fivetrombones,
threetrumpets,twocornets,twoharpsichords,adoubleharp,threechitarroni(lutelike
instruments),twopipeorgans,threebassvioladagamba(Afrettedandbowedinstrument),anda
regal(asmallportablereedorgan).WhenMonteverdiwrotethisscore,itwasthefirsttimehe
hadeverwrittenmusicforthetheatre.Becauseofthis,hecombinedoldandnewideastogether
tocreatesomethingthatwasspectacularlynewanddifferent.Whilethiswasnotthefirstopera
everwritten,itistheearliestoperathatisstillperformedveryregularlytoday.Monteverdiputs
excellentuseofinstrumentationtodisplaymoodsthroughouttheopera.Forexample,thefirstact
showstheweddingofOrpheusandEurydiceandthescoreisveryhappyandjoyous,making
almostexclusiveuseofthestringsandrecorders.However,whenOrpheusisintheunderworld
andHades,lordoftheunderworldisonstage,Monteverdimakesheavyuseofthebrasstogivea
dark,scary,andedgyfeelingtothescore.
Theexcerpt
TuSeMorta
isanemotionalariasangbyOrpheusduringthesecondactof
theopera,afterhelearnsthatEuridicehasdiedfromapoisonoussnakebite.Orpheussings,You
aredead,mylife,yetIstilllive?longingforhisrecentlydeceasedwife.Inhissorrow,he
decidestojourneyintotheunderworldtotryandbringEurydicebackfromthedead.Thetime
signaturefortheexcerptiswhatwewouldconsider4/2today.Therearemanyexamplesof
chromaticismandsecondaryfunction.Atthebeginningoftheexcerpt,heusesthesetechniques
toaddasenseofuneasiness,sorrow,longing,anddreadtotheariainanattempttoevoke
emotionintheaudience.Inthepartoftheariawherehestartsstatingthathewillgointothe
underworldandsaveher(
no,no,cheseiversialcunacosaponno/n'andrasicuroa'piu
profondiabissi)
Themusicchangestoamoreinspiringtone,onefilledwithhope.During
thisportionthemusic,thereislesschromaticism.Attheendoftheexcerpt,hesaysthatifheis
tofail,hewillstaywithherintheunderworld.Duringthisportionthemusicgoestobeingvery

solemnandmelancholy,ashesaysfarewelltotheearth,sky,andsun.Theexcerptmakesuseof
averythininstrumentationwithoutmuchmovement,whilethesolovoicesingsovertopofit.
Theexcerptmakesalmostexclusiveuseovertheharpsichordandthepluckedinstrumentsinthe
ensemble.

Score
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bn7mEMsSpZeZlNRd1NKbVRKT3c

OriginalScore
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bn7mEMsSpZeNDdHLXRROE5WUlU

Performance
https://youtu.be/EcRFFmgVGlc?t=35m27s