Exposition

The Aria in its context - Sonata form and characterization in two Eighteenth-Century Opere Serie: Mozart's Mitridate and Lucio SIlla (2015)

Santo Militello
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Name: Santo Militello Main Subject: Music Theory Research Coaches: Paul Scheepers, Bert Mooiman Title of Research: The Aria in its context; Sonata form and characterization in two Eighteenth Century Opera Serie: Mozart’s Mitridate K87/74a (1770) and Lucio Silla K135 (1772) Research Question: Are the principles of Sonata Form present in Mozart’s early Opera- Seria Arias? How do these principles operate? Summary of Results: The musical forms employed by Mozart in the Arias from Mitridate and Lucio Silla are construed by classical literature as examples of Da Capo Aria and its variants, without providing a specific analysis of the thematic layout of the formal sections. The present research is an attempt to reconsider the analytical results of those authors and to propose a more detailed analysis, applying to the afore mentioned vocal works the analytical theories recently developed for the analysis of instrumental repertoire by scholars W. Caplin (Classical Form), J. Hepokoski and W. Darcy (Elements of Sonata Theory). A detailed description which demonstrates how Sonata-form principles operate in these Arias can be found in Part III, with particular focus on the exposition sections. In Part IV we discuss the connection between musical form and dramatic situations: as far as the overall form is concerned, it is not possible to identify a fixed relationship; however, we found that, in the totality of Arias sung by each character, the character alternates different musical forms (with one meaningful exception), and that, in some dramatic situations, the importance of specific roles such as the prima donna, primo uomo and primo tenore are highlighted by the use of musical forms which are, in the stylistic context of these two Operas, exceptional. On the other hand, we recognize a strong relation between musical form and libretto, concerning the details of the different expositional trajectories: through the analysis of proportion and amplitude of expositions, we understand their rhetorical strength; specifically, the way in which the secondary theme space is prepared, presented and developed is construed as a metaphor to portray the character’s utterance, feelings and purposes. Therefore, through a hermeneutic approach, we link the expositional narrative to the expression of heroism, self-confidence, rage, persuasive power and overwhelming emotions. Biography: Santo Militello is born in Verona (Italy) in 1983; he studied in Conservatorio di Musica di Vicenza and Trento, where he earned a Diploma in Choral Conducting (2009), Wind Band Instrumentation (2010) and Composition (2012). In 2012 he moved to the Netherlands, where, in 2013, he obtained a bachelor degree in Music Theory at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag.
typeresearch exposition
date01/01/2015
published26/05/2015
last modified26/05/2015
statuslimited publication
share statusprivate
licenseAll rights reserved
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/81421/114140
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue3. Internal publication


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nameThe Aria in its context - Sonata Form and Characterization
copyrightSanto Militello
licenseAll rights reserved
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