Monstrous Opera : : Rameau and the Tragic Tradition / / Charles Dill.

One of the foremost composers of the French Baroque operatic tradition, Rameau is often cited for his struggle to steer lyric tragedy away from its strict Lullian form, inspired by spoken tragedy, and toward a more expressive musical style. In this fresh exploration of Rameau's compositional ae...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Superior document:Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton Legacy Lib. eBook Package 1980-1999
VerfasserIn:
Place / Publishing House:Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2014]
©1998
Year of Publication:2014
Edition:Course Book
Language:English
Series:Princeton Studies in Opera ; 26
Online Access:
Physical Description:1 online resource (220 p.) :; 22 music examples
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Other title:Frontmatter --
Contents --
Preface --
Abbreviations --
Chapter 1. Monstrous Opera --
Chapter 2. Different Tragedies --
Chapter 3. Rameau's Twins --
Chapter 4. Rameau Mise-en-Scène --
Chapter 5. In the Mirror --
Notes --
Sources Cited --
Index
Summary:One of the foremost composers of the French Baroque operatic tradition, Rameau is often cited for his struggle to steer lyric tragedy away from its strict Lullian form, inspired by spoken tragedy, and toward a more expressive musical style. In this fresh exploration of Rameau's compositional aesthetic, Charles Dill depicts a much more complicated figure: one obsessed with tradition, music theory, his own creative instincts, and the public's expectations of his music. Dill examines the ways Rameau mediated among these often competing values and how he interacted with his critics and with the public. The result is a sophisticated rethinking of Rameau as a musical innovator.In his compositions, Rameau tried to highlight music's potential for dramatic meanings. But his listeners, who understood lyric tragedy to be a poetic rather than musical genre, were generally frustrated by these attempts. In fact, some described Rameau's music as monstrous--using an image of deformity to represent the failure of reason and communication. Dill shows how Rameau answered his critics with rational, theoretical arguments about the role of music in lyric tragedy. At the same time, however, the composer sought to placate his audiences by substantially revising his musical texts in later performances, sometimes abandoning his most creative ideas.Monstrous Opera illuminates the complexity of Rameau's vision, revealing not only the tensions within the music but also the conflicting desires that drove the man--himself caricatured by his contemporaries as a monster.Originally published in 1998.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9781400864812
9783110413441
9783110413502
9783110442496
DOI:10.1515/9781400864812
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: Charles Dill.