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Rossini and the Development of the
Mid-Century Lyric Form*
BY SCOTT L. BALTHAZAR
*I wish to thank Professors Philip Gossett, Roger Parker, and Gary Tomlinson
for reading drafts of this paper and making many helpful suggestions.
1 Mazzatinti and Manis 1902, 332. See Lippmann 1969a, 295-97, for a discussion
of early assessments of "canto ideale" and "canto declamato."
2 See his letters of 28 June and 26 August 1868 in Mazzatinti and Manis 1902,
325-27 and 329-33.
3 Lippmann has noted Rossini's use of declamatory melody primarily in the active
opening movements of duets. See Lippmann 1968, 825-26. On the rise of declama-
tory melody in Bellini and Donizetti, see Lippmann 1969b, 84, and Lippmann 1966,
96.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM I03
4 For discussions of closed and open melody, see Lippmann 1968, 8 u7-25, an
Lippmann i969c, 154-69. Parts of the latter study have been revised and translat
as Lippmann 198 I. See pp. 427-28. On Bellini and Donizetti's abandonment of ope
melody in the i83os, see Lippmann 1966, 82-83 and 96.
5 Lippmann 1966, ioi. In Lippmann's words (my translation), "In the case o
Italian arias composed between 18oo and i830 one must generally be happy if, aft
the musical idea of the initial measures or else of its corresponding phrase, still oth
ideas follow. Generally, in Rossini's operas too, true melodic elaborations or eve
contrasting ideas are unusual, except of course in songs laid out like rondos such as t
famous entrance arias of Figaro and Rosina. With only a bit too much exaggeration
can be said that one knows an Italian aria movement of that time if one knows i
beginning. Indeed, one often knows it if one only knows four measures; whoever [is
intimate with the style hears the corresponding phrase in advance."
6 Tomlinson (1988) has also noted the "populist" aspect of the Bellinian lyric
form. (I wish to thank Professor Tomlinson for giving me a pre-publication
manuscript of his study.) See also Tomlinson 1982, 176-77.
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104 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM 105
Example i
Verdi, Nabucco, act 2
Cantabile
V7
IO allarg.
pian- - to
ji V7 i G: iif V i] V 7
I3
I V/ii ii II7
15 con grazia
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io6 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
piti comuni e semplici, cioe un primo periodo di 8 battute a due frasi, un secondo di
4 battute, la ripresa poi della seconda frase del primo periodo, cui succede un altro
periodo come di appendice, e subito la cadenza.")
9 In Bellini's melodies the A phrase usually returns. Donizetti preferred new
closing phrases until the mid-I83os, when he began using thematic reprise with equal
frequency. Verdi chose recapitulation somewhat more often than continuation in his
early operas.
10 Eugene Narmour (1977, 148-52) discusses rhythmic closure and non-closure.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM I07
I The climax on the pitch a" also completes an ascent away from d", the prior
focus of the upper range of the melody, an ascent that had been initiated in measures
9 and ii by the arpeggiation e"-g".
12 See Tomlinson 1981-82, 176. Budden 1973, 14-15, and D6hring 1975, 521,
also discuss the coda of this example.
3 The melodic integration and stability that characterizes lyric forms like
Abigaille's was matched by the increased poetic continuity of many lyric texts in the
1840s. It is not commonly recognized that, as eight-line texts became standard, poets
frequently avoided the tronco ending in line 4, which had previously divided the text
into two stanzas. (Tronco lines end with an accented syllable, producing the effect of
a closed downbeat. Piano and sdrucciolo lines end with one or two unaccented syllables,
respectively, in the manner of open upbeats.) Instead, they moved both tronco endings
together toward the end of the text, locating them most commonly in lines 6 and 8.
This approach united the eight lines in a single stanza, replacing the additive
organization of the double quatrain with an integrated structure that emphasizes
poetic closure near its end. Abigaille's octet, which has tronco endings ("duol" and
"sol" in lines 6 and 8), exemplifies the new approach.
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Io8 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
14 In citing pieces from Rossini's operas, I have used the standard numerical
designations for act and musical number given in the following sources: for Tancredi,
L'Italiana in Algeri, and La Gazza ladra, Gioachino Rossini, Edizione critica delle opere,
vols. io, i1, and 21 (Pesaro, 1979, 198 1); and for Otello, Ricciardo e Zoraide, Maometto
II, Zelmira, and Semiramide, prefaces to Early Romantic Opera, vols. 8 and 10- 3, ed.
Philip Gossett (New York, 1978-81).
'5 Many codas in Bellini's and Donizetti's melodies are no more distinct than the
one sung by Arsace. See for example Norma's cabaletta "Ah! bello a me ritorna,"
which follows her famous primo tempo "Casta diva" (A4 A'4 B2 B'2 A"sex3).
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM 109
model, with A4 A'4 setting lines 1-4, B2 B'2 lines 5-6, and A" line
7-8. Although this piece clearly conforms to mid-century practice, it
exhibits neither the unadorned vocal style nor the scenic dramatic
function of a folk-like preghiera or canzone. Instead, in its extravagant
vocal display it typifies cabalettas in the I820s.
Rossini wrote a number of similar melodies in the Bellinian mold,
both for arias and for duets, choosing this design often, but not
exclusively, for the principal themes of cabalettas.16 Many of his other
melodies differ only slightly from the later archetypal form. He
frequently incorporated a long concluding passage with numerous
sub-phrases, underscoring the finality of that section.17 In other
examples he took the opposite approach, weakening long-range rhyth-
mic closure by enlarging the B phrases to create an additive rhythm
(4+4+4 . . . ) with the phrases that come before and after.'8
In many cases the similarity of Rossini's melodies to later ones is
disguised by his more emphatic articulation of their three functional
sections. Brief pauses sometimes separate the A phrases from one
another or from the rest of the melody, as in the cabaletta "Si, sperar
16 A partial list of these includes Ginardo's "Se al intorno voi leggete" (Matilde di
Shabran, act I, number 2; A4 A'4 B2 B'2 A"4 coda7), which follows an open melody
"Chi vi guida a queste mura"; the cabaletta "La forza primiera" of Semiramide's duet
with Assur (Semiramide, act 2, number 8; A4 A'4 B2 B'2 A"4); and the slow movement
"Giorno d'orrore" from Semiramide and Arsace's second duet, sung by the sopran
and contralto together in parallel thirds (act 2, number i i; A8 A'8(SI 1-8) B4 B4(S21-4
Clo(S25-) coda). Examples that follow the lyric form in their music but set fewer than
eight lines of text include Lindoro and Mustafa's cabaletta "Ah, mi perdo, mi
confondo," which divides two quatrains of text between the singers (L'lItaliana in
Algeri, act i, number 3; A4 A'4 B2 B'2 C4); the principal theme of Uberto's slow
movement "Oh fiamma soave" (La donna del lago, act 2; A4 A'4 B B'2 A"4); and
Idreno's primo tempo from act 2 of Semiramide ("La speranza piti soave," A4 A'4 B2 B'
A"4).
17 Maometto's second aria "All'invito generoso" (Maometto II, act 2, number 8)
illustrates this approach. Although it closes with both A4 and C4, necessitating
repetition of lines from the second stanza, and appends an unusually long coda, it
otherwise adheres to Lippmann's model: A4 A'4(SI1-4) B2 B'3(S21-2) A4(S21-2)
C4(S23-4) coda. Bellini himself wrote a structurally similar melody for Pollione's
cabaletta "Me protegge, me difende" (Norma, act i). Its closing section uses both a
variation of B, modified to cadence, and a new C phrase whose contour is derived
from that of B'. The entire melody may be diagrammed as follows: A4 A'4(opening)
B4(medial) B'4 C4(closing). A similar alternative often seen in Rossini's melodies
involves repetition of the closing phrase. One example is the cabaletta "Amor, dirada
il nembo" of Otello's cavatina (Otello, act i, number 2; A4 A'4 B2 B'2 C4 C'4).
18 Aside from this difference, one of Rossini's most famous themes, "Di tanti
palpiti," at its second appearance within Tancredi's cabaletta (Tancredi, act i, number
3, at "Sara felice") comes surprisingly close to the later lyric form: A4 A'4(SI I-4) B4
B'4(S21-2) A' '4(S23-4).
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I IO JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Example 2
Rossini, Semiramide, act I
fl., cl.
Allegro I _ ,
E: I V7
V7/V V I ii6
IO
g#: i4 V7 i E: V7
I3
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM I I I
Example 2, (continued)
'9
19 a ., >--,
mo- re, si, m'a- ni- m6! d'A- ze- ma, di quel
22
?ff o .f n _b--2
mai, no mai sa- pr6, scor-dar- mi io mai, no mai sa-
I V7 I ii6 I6 V7
28
3'
I4 V7 I
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I 2 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
19 For example, in the slow opening movement "La speranza pidi soave" of
Idreno's second aria from Semiramide (act 2, number i o), orchestra and voice exchange
the same falling motive within the two B phrases, with the orchestra leading off.
Lippmann (1969c, i68) has also noticed this characteristic.
20 See again Maometto's "All'invito generoso," in which a cadenza-like flourish
extends B' and defines the end of the medial section.
21 See the cabaletta "Alle pii care immagini" from the first duet of Semiramide
and Arsace (Semiramide, act i, number 6; A4 A'4 BI2 Bi'3 B22 C17), which cadences
on G minor in B22 before launching into closing material. Obviously the enormous C
phrase (actually a group of subphrases) compensates considerably for the cadence in
B22, but only in retrospect.
22 Celletti (1968, 272) discusses the relatively flat overall profiles of many of
Rossini's melodies.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM I 13
TABLE I
In the case of movements with lyric-form melodies, these melodies are dia-
grammed; other movements are represented by dashes.
Arias
Act/Number Performer Primo Tempo Cabaletta
1/2 Arsace - A4A'4B2B'2A"4ex8
1/4 Idreno -
/115 Semiramide -
2/9 Arsace - A 8A28B4B4ex2A I 'ex6
2/Io Idreno A4A'4B2B2A' '"4 A4A'4B2B2C4
2/12 Assur -
2/13 Semiramide A8A' oBsB'4A"9*"
Duets
Act/Number Performers Slow Movement Cabaletta
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I 14 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
from the relatively flat overall dramatic shape often found in Rossini's
early melodies.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM I 15
23 The opening movement "Invan tu fingi ingrata" of Zoraide and Zomira's duet
from Ricciardo e Zoraide (act i, number 4) illustrates the alternative approach of using
corresponding antecedent and consequent phrases for the opening section, in this case
five-measure phrases shared by the orchestra and voice. The melody continues with
three two-measure B phrases that embellish vocally a descending motive given first in
the orchestra, followed by a long closing passage (C16), which implies but evades
arrival several times before reaching the tonic.
These three-part themes are not confined to Rossini's late operas. They occur
commonly as early as Tancredi, for example in Amenaide and Tancredi's first duet
"L'aura che intorno spiri." Her initial statement begins with asymmetrical antecedent
and consequent phrases (A6 A'5), followed by a repeated four-measure B phrase of
pseudo-canon between the orchestra and vocalist. The melody closes with an
extended passage offioriture (C14). The entire melody may be diagrammed A6 A'5 B4
B'4 C14.
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11 6 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Example 3
Rossini, Semiramide, act 2
Allegro
SEMIRAMIDE
Se la
?w I - I EF r
IO
V- - - ta an- cor t'- ca- ra;
vo- la, va, t'in- vo- la, va, t'in- vo- - la a'sguardi
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM I 17
Example 3, (continued)
21
24
27
spet- to non sa- pre- i piit sof- frir d'un tra- di-
30
rJo ------
33
36
tor, d'un tra- di- tor, d'un tra- di- tor, no, sof-
39
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18 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM I 19
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120 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
text (for a double quatrain, two lines of text for each phrase of music
and of a constantly paced declamation of text (one line of text for tw
measures of music). Yet this divergence from Bellinian practice
inevitable, since throughout Rossini's career single stanzas (usual
quatrains, although three- and six-line stanzas also occur) were th
norm for the principal melodies in reflective movements. Single
stanzas naturally preclude the formal relationship between poetry and
music found in Lippmann's model. Yet, given the constraint of fou
lines instead of eight, Rossini's approach to setting his texts usuall
has important similarities to the techniques of later composers. As in
Bellini's arias, many of Rossini's melodies allot two lines of poetry
each four-measure phrase of music. And both the thematic block A A'
and the combined medial and closing phrases B C receive one stanz
of text (two different stanzas in Bellini, the same stanza repeated
Rossini). The fast primo tempo "Ah! si per voi gia sento" of Otello
cavatina (Otello, act I, number 2) follows this format: A4(S I1-2)
A'4(S 13-4) B2 B'2(S I 1-2) A'"4(SI3-4).24
Nonetheless the general scarcity of double quatrains across Ros
sini's career cannot explain the infrequency with which the archetypa
text-music relationship occurs in the sizeable number of cases wher
both Bellinian lyric forms and eight-line texts are present. In suc
cases-Semiramide is the most prominent among Rossini's operas-
other factors must be taken into account.25 For example, the librettis
Gaetano Rossi seems to have reserved the exceptionally long eight-line
texts for scenes of particular theatrical or dramatic importance.
Semiramide sings double stanzas for both the primo tempo an
cabaletta of her aria in act I (act i, number 5), as does Arsace for h
aria of indecision and ultimate heroic resolution in the second act (act
2, number 9). Operatic events such as these--the cavatina of the prima
donna or the hero's moment of moral reckoning-may have suggeste
to Rossini expansive musical presentations, more expansive perhap
than he could sustain with concise, direct melodies in the Bellinian
mold. Ironically, in these instances Rossini probably avoided taut
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM 121
lyric forms for basically the same reason that the poe
quatrains.
In other examples, where the first movement of an aria leads
directly to a cabaletta, the two stanzas may be devoted to passages of
music that have different functions, so that only one stanza is available
for a cantabile theme. For example, Rossini set the first stanza of
Arsace's "Ah! quel giorno ognor rammento" (act i, number 2),
recalling in general terms the hero's rescue of the princess Azema, to
a closed melody, one with two balanced opening phrases and a single
closing phrase (A4 A'4 C4). However, he employed the second stanza,
which describes the incident more graphically, for a more urgent,
modulatory transition that leads to a dominant preparation of the
cabaletta.
26 The translation has been adapted from Peggie Cochrane's for the London
recording of the opera [A 4383; OSA 1383] (1966).
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122 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM 123
Example 4
Rossini, Semiramide, act I
4 ob., fl..r--,
tuo- - - i; e
e tut- - - to a- vrai da
3 3
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124 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MID-CENTURY LYRIC FORM 125
D6hring, Sieghart. Formgeschichte der Opernarie vom Ausgang des achtzehnten bis
zur Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Marburg, 1975.
Gossett, Philip, ed. Prefaces to Early Romantic Opera, vols. 8 and io-i 3. New
York, 1978-81.
Kerman, Joseph. "Lyric Form and Flexibility in 'Simon Boccanegra'," Studi
Verdiani i (1982): 47-62.
Kimbell, David R.B. Verdi in the Age of Italian Romanticism. Cambridge,
1981.
Lawton, David. "Tonality and Drama in Verdi's Early Operas." Ph.D.
diss., University of California at Berkeley, 1973.
Lippmann, Friedrich. "Die Melodien Donizettis," Analecta musicologica 3
(1966): 8o- 13.
"Per un'esegesi dello stile rossiniano," Nuova rivista musicale italiana
2 (1968): 813-56.
. "Rossinis Gedanken fiber die Musik," Die Musikforschung 22 (1969):
285-98. (1969a)
"Verdi und Bellini," in Beitriige zur Geschichte der Oper, ed. Heinz
Becker, 77-88. Studien zur Musikgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts, no.
15. Regensburg, 1969. (1969b)
Vincenzo Bellini und die italienische Opera seria seiner Zeit, Studien iiber
Libretto, Arienform und Melodik. Analecta musicologica, no. 6 (Cologne,
I969). (1969c)
"Vincenzo Bellini e l'opera seria del suo tempo. Studi sul libretto, la
forma delle arie e la melodia," in Maria Rosaria Adamo and Friedrich
Lippmann, Vincenzo Bellini (Turin, 1981): 313-548.
Mazzatinti, F. and G. Manis, eds., Lettere di G. Rossini. Florence, 1902.
Moreen, Robert Anthony. "Integration of Text Forms and Musical Forms in
Verdi's Early Operas." Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1975.
Narmour, Eugene. Beyond Schenkerism: The Need for Alternatives in Music
Analysis. Chicago, 1977.
Tomlinson, Gary. "Verdi After Budden," 19th-Century Music 5 (1981-82):
17o-82.
"Opera and Drame: Hugo, Donizetti, and Verdi," Studies in the
History of Music 2 (New York, 1988).
ABSTRACT
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