Introduction to Western Music

Week 10: More Music from the 19th Century: Music for and Inspired by the Voice

Announcements

• No Recitation 9A this week.
• Paper - First Version is due this week.
• Concert Reflection 2 Assignment is due next week

Listenings & Readings

Lecture 10: 19th-Century Music Inspired by the Voice

• Giuseppe Verdi – beginning of Act 1 of La Traviata (opera)
• Richard Wagner – end of Prelude and beginning of Act 1 from Tristan und Isolde (music drama)

Recitation 10B Listening & Reading (Neff)

Recitation 10B Listening & Reading (Goetjen)

Key Terms

Opera  

A story or drama presented in music. It is sung throughout using two techniques for conveying the text: 

1. Recitative (think “recitation”)

• declaiming words musically in a heightened, theatrical manner  
• moves the action of the story forward 

1. Aria

• elaborate, extended piece for solo singer  
• pauses the action in order to immerse the audience in the character’s feeling 

Music drama 

Wagner’s term for his operatic works