Changes

Jump to navigation Jump to search
28 bytes added ,  15:57, March 7, 2010
add reflist
Line 31: Line 31:     
As with all mature Mozart operas, the musical style is varied among characters in order to delineate their personalities. Thus, the peasant couple Zerlina and Masetto sing in a more rustic style, with peasant dance rhythms like the [[gigue]] predominating. Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, on the other hand, are noblewomen who sing in a more florid, exalted style. Don Giovanni, a nobleman, often sings in the form of a [[minuet]], which was an aristrocratic dance. <ref>For more information on this aspect of Mozart's characterization, see Wye J. Allabrook's ''Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart''.</ref> The Commandant, when he sings as a ghost/statue, is accompanied by frightening harmonies and a slow tempo. The semantics of various [[key (music)|keys]] also plays a role in their characterization, as often the case in Mozart's operas: typically, simple keys such as F and G major are given to lower-class characters, and keys with more flats are given to the nobility. The opera's main pair of tonalities, however, is D Minor/Major, as exemplified in the overture and the musical passages at dramatically important moments, such as the so-called "statue music" in Act II.
 
As with all mature Mozart operas, the musical style is varied among characters in order to delineate their personalities. Thus, the peasant couple Zerlina and Masetto sing in a more rustic style, with peasant dance rhythms like the [[gigue]] predominating. Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, on the other hand, are noblewomen who sing in a more florid, exalted style. Don Giovanni, a nobleman, often sings in the form of a [[minuet]], which was an aristrocratic dance. <ref>For more information on this aspect of Mozart's characterization, see Wye J. Allabrook's ''Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart''.</ref> The Commandant, when he sings as a ghost/statue, is accompanied by frightening harmonies and a slow tempo. The semantics of various [[key (music)|keys]] also plays a role in their characterization, as often the case in Mozart's operas: typically, simple keys such as F and G major are given to lower-class characters, and keys with more flats are given to the nobility. The opera's main pair of tonalities, however, is D Minor/Major, as exemplified in the overture and the musical passages at dramatically important moments, such as the so-called "statue music" in Act II.
 +
 +
==References==
 +
{{Reflist}}
    
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
1,266

edits

Navigation menu