39-542: " I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls ", or " The Gipsy Girl's Dream ", is a popular aria from The Bohemian Girl , an 1843 opera by Michael William Balfe , with lyrics by Alfred Bunn . It is sung in the opera by the character Arline, who is in love with Thaddeus, a Polish nobleman and political exile. The song was popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, and has been recorded many times by musicians. It has also been parodied. I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls, And each damp thing that creeps and crawls went wobble-wobble on
78-479: A Messa di Santa Cecilia for chorus and orchestra, composed in honor of Saint Cecilia for Cardinal Francesco Acquaviva in 1721. His last work on a large scale appears to have been the unfinished Erminia serenata for the marriage of the prince of Stigliano in 1723. He died in Naples in 1725 and is entombed there at the church of Santa Maria di Montesanto . Scarlatti's music forms an important link between
117-506: A scena . There might also be opportunities for participation by orchestra or chorus. An example is Casta diva from the opera Norma of Vincenzo Bellini . After around 1850, aria forms in Italian opera began to show more variety – many of the operas of Giuseppe Verdi offer extended narrative arias for leading roles that enable, in their scope, intensification of drama and characterisation. Examples include Rigoletto 's condemnation of
156-407: A heroine), aria buffa (aria of a comic type, typically given to a bass or bass-baritone ), and so on. M. F. Robinson describes the standard aria in opera seria in the period 1720 to 1760 as follows: The first section normally began with an orchestral ritornello after which the singer entered and sang the words of the first stanza in their entirety. By the end of this first vocal paragraph
195-403: A major role in grand opera , and in Italian opera through the 19th century. A favoured form of aria in the first half of the 19th century in Italian opera was the cabaletta , in which a songlike cantabile section is followed by a more animated section, the cabaletta proper, repeated in whole or in part. Typically such arias would be preceded by recitative , the whole sequence being termed
234-758: A similar post at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome in 1703. After visiting Venice and Urbino in 1707, Scarlatti took up his duties in Naples again in 1708, and remained there until 1717. By this time Naples seems to have become tired of his music; the Romans, however, appreciated it better, and it was at the Teatro Capranica in Rome that he produced some of his finest operas ( Telemaco , 1718; Marco Attilio Regolò , 1719; La Griselda , 1721), as well as some noble specimens of church music, including
273-444: A similar style, Scarlatti composed upwards of five hundred chamber-cantatas for solo voice. These represent the most intellectual type of chamber-music of their period, and it is to be regretted that they have remained almost entirely in manuscript, since a careful study of them is indispensable to anyone who wishes to form an adequate idea of Scarlatti's development. His few remaining Masses (the story of his having composed two hundred
312-537: A strong dramatic sense, especially in accompanied recitatives, a device which he himself had been the first to use as early as 1686 ( Olimpia vendicata ) and a much more modern style of orchestration, the horns appearing for the first time, and being treated with striking effect. Besides the operas, oratorios ( Agar et Ismaele esiliati , 1684; La Maddalena , 1685; La Giuditta , 1693; Humanita e Lucifero , 1704; Christmas Oratorio , c. 1705; Cain , 1707; S. Filippo Neri , 1714; and others) and serenatas, which all exhibit
351-489: Is opera , but vocal arias also feature in oratorios and cantatas , or they can be stand-alone concert arias . The term was originally used to refer to any expressive melody , usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The Italian term aria , which derives from the Greek ἀήρ and Latin aer (air), first appeared in relation to music in the 14th century when it simply signified a manner or style of singing or playing. By
390-808: Is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera. Nicknamed by his contemporaries "the Italian Orpheus", he divided his career between Naples and Rome , where he received his training; a significant part of his works was composed for the papal city. He is often considered the founder of the Neapolitan school , although he has only been its most illustrious representative: his contribution, his originality and his influence were essential, as well as lasting, both in Italy and in Europe. Particularly known for his operas, he brought
429-485: Is sometimes used in contemporary music as a title for instrumental pieces, e.g. Robin Holloway 's 1980 'aria' for chamber ensemble or Harrison Birtwistle 's brass band piece, "Grimethorpe Aria" (1973). Notes Sources Alessandro Scarlatti Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer , known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas . He
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#1732793144198468-697: The mass , from the oratorio to the cantata , the latter being a genre in which he was an undisputed master. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti . Scarlatti was born in Palermo (or in Trapani ), then part of the Kingdom of Sicily . He is generally said to have been a pupil of Giacomo Carissimi in Rome , and some theorize that he had some connection with northern Italy because his early works seem to show
507-407: The symphony ), of the four-part sonata (progenitor of the modern string quartet ), and of the technique of motivic development. He was a model for the musical theater of his time, as evoked by Händel 's Italian works, deeply influenced by his theatrical music. Eclectic, Scarlatti also worked on all the other common genres of his time, from the sonata to the concerto grosso , from the motet to
546-410: The tonic for the final vocal cadence after which the orchestra rounded the section off with a final ritornello. The nature and allocation of the arias to the different roles in opera seria was highly formalized. According to the playwright and librettist Carlo Goldoni , in his autobiography, The three principal personages of the drama ought to sing five arias each; two in the first act, two in
585-647: The violins often playing in unison. The operas composed for Ferdinando de' Medici are lost; they might have given a more favourable idea of his style as his correspondence with the prince shows that they were composed with a very sincere sense of inspiration. Mitridate Eupatore , accounted his masterpiece, composed for Venice in 1707, contains music far in advance of anything that Scarlatti had written for Naples, both in technique and in intellectual power. The later Neapolitan operas ( L'amor volubile e tiranno 1709; La principessa fedele 1710; Tigrane , 1714, &c.) are showy and effective rather than profoundly emotional;
624-454: The French term, airs ) are frequently in extended binary form (ABB') or sometimes in rondeau form (ABACA), (a shape which is analogous to the instrumental rondo ). In the work of Italian composers of the late 17th and early 18th century, the da capo aria came to be include the ritornello (literally, 'little return'), a recurring instrumental episode which featured certain phrases of
663-500: The Italian dramatic tradition to its maximum development, begun by Monteverdi at the beginning of 17th century and continued by Cesti , Cavalli , Carissimi , Legrenzi and Stradella , designing the final form of the Da capo aria , imitated throughout Europe. He was also the inventor of the Italian overture in three movements (which was of the highest importance in the development of
702-508: The Napoli school. His early operas— Gli equivoci nel sembiante 1679; L'honestà negli amori 1680, containing the famous aria "Già il sole dal Gange"; Il Pompeo 1683, containing the well-known airs "O cessate di piagarmi" and "Toglietemi la vita ancor," and others down to about 1685—retain the older cadences in their recitatives , and a considerable variety of neatly constructed forms in their charming little arias, accompanied sometimes by
741-401: The aria proper and provided, in early operas, the opportunity for dancing or entries of characters. Da capo aria with ritornelli became a typifying feature of European opera throughout the 18th century and is thought by some writers to be a direct antecedent of sonata form . The ritornelli became essential to the structure of the aria – "while the words determine the character of a melody
780-433: The arias "Le Violette", and "Ben ti sta, traditor". From about 1697 onwards ( La caduta del Decemviri ), influenced partly perhaps by the style of Giovanni Bononcini and probably more by the taste of the viceregal court, his opera arias become more conventional and commonplace in rhythm, while his scoring is hasty and crude, yet not without brilliance ( L'Eraclea , 1700), the oboes and trumpets being frequently used, and
819-538: The court, "Cortigiani, vil razza dannata!" (1851). Later in the century, the post-1850 operas of Wagner were through-composed , with fewer elements being readily identifiable as self-contained arias; whilst the Italian genre of verismo opera also sought to integrate arioso elements although still allowing some 'show-pieces'. Concert arias , which are not part of any larger work, (or were sometimes written to replace or insert arias in their own operas or operas of other composers) were written by composers to provide
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#1732793144198858-538: The early Baroque Italian vocal styles of the 17th century, with their centers in Florence, Venice and Rome , and the classical school of the 18th century. Scarlatti's style, however, is more than a transitional element in Western music; like most of his Naples colleagues he shows an almost modern understanding of the psychology of modulation and also frequently makes use of the ever-changing phrase lengths so typical of
897-446: The end of the 16th century, the term 'aria' refers to an instrumental form (cf. Santino Garsi da Parma lute works, ('Aria del Gran Duca'). By the early 16th century it was in common use as meaning a simple setting of strophic poetry; melodic madrigals , free of complex polyphony , were known as madrigale arioso . In the context of staged works and concert works, arias evolved from simple melodies into structured forms. In such works,
936-431: The head', i.e. with the opening section repeated, often in a highly decorated manner). In the da capo aria the 'B' episode would typically be in a different key – the dominant or relative major key. Other variants of these forms are found in the French operas of the late 17th century such as those of Jean-Baptiste Lully which dominated the period of the French baroque. Vocal solos in his operas (known of course as
975-461: The influence of Stradella and Legrenzi . The production at Rome of his opera Gli equivoci nel sembiante (1679) gained him the support of Queen Christina of Sweden (who at the time was living in Rome), and he became her maestro di cappella . In February 1684 he became maestro di cappella to the viceroy of Naples , perhaps through the influence of his sister, an opera singer, who might have been
1014-429: The instrumentation marks a great advance on previous work, since the main duty of accompanying the voice is thrown upon the string quartet, the harpsichord being reserved exclusively for the noisy instrumental ritornelli . In his opera Teodora (1697) he originated the use of the orchestral ritornello . His last group of operas, composed for Rome, exhibit a deeper poetic feeling, a broad and dignified style of melody,
1053-592: The later works of Mozart ; the arias now become far more expressive of the individual emotions of the characters and are both more firmly anchored in, and advance, the storyline. Richard Wagner was to praise Gluck's innovations in his 1850 essay " Opera and Drama ": " The musical composer revolted against the wilfulness of the singer"; rather than "unfold[ing] the purely sensuous contents of the Aria to their highest, rankest, pitch", Gluck sought "to put shackles on Caprice's execution of that Aria, by himself endeavouring to give
1092-639: The minuets and rondeaus. He must, above all things, avoid giving impassioned arias, bravura arias, or rondeaus, to inferior characters. By contrast, arias in opera buffa (comic opera) were often specific in character to the nature of the character being portrayed (for example the cheeky servant-girl or the irascible elderly suitor or guardian). By later in the century it was clear that these formats were becoming fossilized. Christoph Willibald Gluck thought that both opera buffa and opera seria had strayed too far from what opera should really be, and seemed unnatural. The jokes of opera buffa were threadbare and
1131-645: The mistress of an influential Neapolitan noble. Here he produced a long series of operas, remarkable chiefly for their fluency and expressiveness, as well as other music for state occasions. In 1702 Scarlatti left Naples and did not return until the Spanish domination had been superseded by that of the Austrians. In the interval he enjoyed the patronage of Ferdinando de' Medici , for whose private theatre near Florence he composed operas, and of Cardinal Ottoboni , who made him his maestro di cappella , and procured him
1170-433: The music, if it were in a major key as it usually was, had modulated to the dominant . The orchestra then played a second ritornello usually shorter than the first. The singer re-entered and sang the same words through a second time. The music of this second paragraph was often slightly more elaborate than that of the first. There were more repeats of words and perhaps more florid vocalisations. The key worked its way back to
1209-445: The normal to be exploited with telling effect." In the early years of the century, arias in the Italian style began to take over in French opera, giving rise eventually to the French genre of ariette , normally in a relatively simple ternary form. Types of operatic aria became known by a variety of terms according to their character – e.g. aria parlante ('speaking-style', narrative in nature), aria di bravura (typically given to
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1248-562: The opportunity for vocal display for concert singers; examples are Ah! perfido , Op. 65, by Beethoven , and a number of concert arias by Mozart , including Conservati fedele . The term 'aria' was frequently used in the 17th and 18th centuries for instrumental music modelled on vocal music. For example, J. S. Bach 's so-called " Goldberg Variations " were titled at their 1741 publication "Clavier Ubung bestehend in einer ARIA mit verschiedenen Verænderungen" ("Keyboard exercise, consisting of one ARIA with diverse variations.") The word
1287-580: The repetition of the same characters made them seem no more than stereotypes. In opera seria the singing was devoted to superficial effects and the content was uninteresting and stale. As in opera buffa , the singers were often masters of the stage and the music, decorating the vocal lines so floridly that audiences could no longer recognise the original melody. Gluck wanted to return opera to its origins, focusing on human drama and passions and making words and music of equal importance. The effects of these Gluckist reforms were seen not only in his own operas but in
1326-419: The ritornello instruments often decided in what terms it shall be presented." By the early 18th century, composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti had established the aria form, and especially its da capo version with ritornelli, as the key element of opera seria . "It offered balance and continuity, and yet gave scope for contrast. [...] The very regularity of its conventional features enabled deviations from
1365-410: The second, and one in the third. The second actress and the second soprano can only have three, and the inferior characters must be satisfied with a single aria each, or two at the most. The author of the words must [...] take care that two pathetic [i.e. melancholy] arias do not succeed one another. He must distribute with the same precaution the bravura arias, the arias of action, the inferior arias, and
1404-542: The string quartet, treated with careful elaboration, sometimes with the continuo alone. By 1686, he had definitely established the "Italian overture" form (second edition of Dal male il bene ), and had abandoned the ground bass and the binary form air in two stanzas in favour of the ternary form or da capo type of air. His best operas of this period are La Rosaura (1690, printed by the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung ), and Pirro e Demetrio (1694), in which occur
1443-468: The sung, melodic, and structured aria differed from the speech-like ( parlando ) recitative – the latter tending to carry the story-line, the former used to convey emotional content and serve as an opportunity for singers to display their vocal talent. By the late 17th century operatic arias came to be written in one of two forms. Binary form arias were in two sections (A–B); arias in ternary form (A–B–A) were known as da capo arias (literally 'from
1482-518: The tune [...] an expression answering to the underlying Word-text". This attitude was to underlie Wagner's would-be deconstruction of aria in his concept of Gesamtkunstwerk . Despite the ideals of Gluck, and the trend to organise libretti so that arias had a more organic part in the drama rather than merely interrupting its flow, in the operas of the early 19th century, (for example those of Gioachino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti ), bravura arias remained focal attractions, and they continued to play
1521-496: The walls... Aria In music, an aria ( Italian: [ˈaːrja] ; pl. : arie , Italian: [ˈaːrje] ; arias in common usage; diminutive form: arietta , Italian: [aˈrjetta] ; pl. : ariette ; in English simply air ) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment , normally part of a larger work. The typical context for arias
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