1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910809346703321

Autore

Verba Cynthia

Titolo

Dramatic expression in Rameau's Tragédie en musique : between tradition and enlightenment / / Cynthia Verba

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2013

ISBN

1-107-30147-5

1-107-23578-2

1-107-31431-3

1-107-30567-5

1-107-30656-6

1-139-10940-5

1-107-30876-3

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xi, 327 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

782.1092

Soggetti

Opera - France - 18th century

Enlightenment - France

Music - France - Philosophy and aesthetics

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Rameau's concept of musical expression : in theory and practice -- Getting oriented : Rameau's first tragédie : Hippolyte et Aricie (premiere,1733) -- Comparative overview of Rameau's tragedies, first versions : continuity and change -- Scenes of forbidden love confessed -- Scenes of intense conflict -- Scenes of conflict resolution.

Sommario/riassunto

Cynthia Verba's book explores the story of music's role in the French Enlightenment, focusing on dramatic expression in the musical tragedies of the composer-theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau. She reveals how his music achieves its highly moving effects through an interplay between rational design, especially tonal design, and the portrayal of feeling and how this results in a more nuanced portrayal of the heroine. Offering a new approach to understanding Rameau's role in the Enlightenment, Verba illuminates important aspects of the theory-practice relationship and shows how his music embraced Enlightenment values. At the heart of the study are three scene types



that occur in all of Rameau's tragedies: confession of forbidden love, intense conflict and conflict resolution. In tracing changes in Rameau's treatment of these, Verba finds that while he maintained an allegiance to the traditional French operatic model, he constantly adapted it to accommodate his more enlightened views on musical expression.