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57-398: A parabasis usually consists of three songs (S) alternating with three speeches (s) (or recitatives ) in the order S-s-S-s-S-s. The first speech, or parabasis proper - generally in anapaest - often ends with a passage which is to be rattled off very quickly (theoretically in one breath - called a πνῖγος – pnigos ). The chorus in the parabasis sometimes uses its own voice, sometimes that of

114-486: A libretto by Helmina von Chézy , several passages of which (notably the music for the villainous couple Lysiart and Eglantine) anticipate the early, romantic operas of Richard Wagner . In 1824, Weber received an invitation from The Royal Opera , London, to compose and produce Oberon , based on Christoph Martin Wieland 's poem of the same name . Weber accepted the invitation, and in 1826 he travelled to England, to finish

171-409: A trombone recitative as part of its Introduction). Arnold Schoenberg labeled the last of his Five Pieces for Orchestra , Op. 16, as " Das obligate Rezitativ ", and also composed a piece for organ , Variations on a Recitative , Op. 40. Other examples of instrumental recitative in twentieth century music include the third movement of Douglas Moore 's Quintet for Clarinet and Strings (1946),

228-662: A concert tour in 1802 the Webers returned to Augsburg where it is believed Peter Schmoll premiered. In mid 1803, Weber continued his studies in Vienna with Abbé Vogler, founder of important music schools in Mannheim , Stockholm, and Darmstadt . Another famous pupil of Vogler in Darmstadt was Jakob Meyer Beer, later known as Giacomo Meyerbeer , who became a close friend of Weber. In letters they addressed each other as "brother". Vogler recommended

285-460: A diary to list his expenses and correspondence, and make occasional comments on special events. Weber remained prolific as a composer during this period, writing a quantity of religious music , mainly for the Catholic mass . This, however, earned him the hostility of conservatives working for the re-establishment of traditional chant in liturgy . In his biography of Weber, Warrack notes that Weber

342-429: A different composer (some of Mozart 's so-called concert arias fall into this category). This division of labour persisted into the 19th century: Rossini 's La Cenerentola (1817, recitatives by Luca Agolini ) is a famous example. Later it remained a custom to replace originally spoken dialogue with new recitatives: Carl Maria von Weber 's Der Freischütz (1821, adapted 1841 with recitatives by Hector Berlioz for

399-502: A eulogy "An Weber's Grabe" WWV 72 for the reburial. The piece for male choir a cappella was premiered on 16 December 1844 in Dresden. For this occasion Wagner also composed Funeral Music for Winds after Themes from "Euryanthe" of Weber, WWV 73. Weber's unfinished comic opera Die drei Pintos ( The Three Pintos ) was originally given by his widow to Meyerbeer for completion; it was eventually completed by Gustav Mahler , who conducted

456-448: A major impact on subsequent German composers including Marschner , Meyerbeer , and Wagner ; his compositions for piano influenced those of Mendelssohn , Chopin and Liszt . His best known work, Der Freischütz , remains among the most significant German operas . Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born around 18 November 1786 in Eutin , Bishopric of Lübeck . He was the eldest of

513-618: A modest output of non-operatic music, which includes two symphonies, two concertos and a concertino for clarinet and orchestra, a bassoon concerto , a horn concertino , two concertos and a Konzertstück for piano and orchestra, piano pieces such as Invitation to the Dance ; and many pieces that featured the clarinet, usually written for the virtuoso clarinetist Heinrich Baermann . His mature operas— Silvana (1810), Abu Hassan (1811), Der Freischütz (1821), Die drei Pintos ( comp. 1820–21), Euryanthe (1823), Oberon (1826)—had

570-578: A more structured way. The term recitative (or occasionally liturgical recitative) is also applied to the simpler formulas of Gregorian chant , such as the tones used for the epistle , gospel , preface and collects ; see accentus . The first use of recitative in opera was preceded by the monodies of the Florentine Camerata in which Vincenzo Galilei , father of the astronomer Galileo Galilei , played an important role. The elder Galilei, influenced by his correspondence with Girolamo Mei on

627-505: A new model for the one-movement concerto in several contrasting sections (such as Liszt's, who often played the work), and was acknowledged by Stravinsky as the model for his Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra . Weber's shorter piano pieces, such as the Invitation to the Dance , were later orchestrated by Berlioz, while his Polacca Brillante was later set for piano and orchestra by Liszt. However, Weber's piano music all but disappeared from

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684-407: A parody of rhetorical debating points, rather than unmediated criticism. The parabasis is exclusively a feature of Old Comedy , and its decline can be charted in the plays of Aristophanes. The second parabasis is gradually abandoned, the chorus ceases to speak out of character in the parabasis itself, and finally the latter is abandoned altogether. Where the diminishment in the role of the chorus

741-457: A singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines as formally composed songs do. It resembles sung ordinary speech more than a formal musical composition. Recitative can be distinguished on a continuum from more speech-like to more musically sung, with more sustained melodic lines. The mostly syllabic recitativo secco ("dry", accompanied only by continuo , typically cello and harpsichord)

798-677: A successful performance of Silvana in Berlin later that year. From 1813 to 1816, he was director of the Opera in Prague; from 1816 to 1817 he worked in Berlin, and from 1817 onwards he was director of the prestigious Opera in Dresden , working hard to establish a German opera , in reaction to the Italian opera which had dominated the European music scene since the 18th century. He was inspired in this endeavour by

855-862: A theatre company in Hamburg. After a brief stay in Vienna, he joined the theatre company of Johann Friedrich Toscani (husband of Elisabeth Toscani ) and Peter Carl Santorini, who performed in Kassel , Marburg , and Hofgeismar . He tried repeatedly to establish a lasting company of his own but had only intermittent success. Franz Anton's half-brother, Franz Fridolin Weber  [ de ; fr ] , married Cäcilia Stamm and had four daughters— Josepha , Aloysia , Constanze , and Sophie —all of whom became notable singers. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart attempted to woo Aloysia, composing several pieces for her. After she rejected his advances, Mozart went on to marry Constanze; thus Mozart's wife

912-441: A variety of instruments, mostly plucked fretted strings including the chitarrone , often with a pipe organ to provide sustained tone. Later, in the operas of Vivaldi and Händel , the accompaniment was standardised as a harpsichord and a bass viol or violoncello . When the harpsichord was gradually phased out over the late 18th century, and mostly disappeared in the early 19th century, many opera-houses did not replace it with

969-407: Is at one end of the spectrum, through recitativo accompagnato (using orchestra), the more melismatic arioso , and finally the full-blown aria or ensemble, where the pulse is entirely governed by the music. Secco recitatives can be more improvisatory and free for the singer, since the accompaniment is so sparse; in contrast, when recitative is accompanied by orchestra, the singer must perform in

1026-681: Is lost. Six fughettas for piano of the twelve-year-old Weber were published in Leipzig . Weber's musical education was extended by a mastering of lithography which he learned in the workshop of Alois Senefelder (the inventor of the process) and Franz Gleißner (autumn 1799). A set of his Variations for the Pianoforte was lithographed by Weber himself. In 1800, the family moved to Freiberg in Saxony , where Weber, then 14 years old, wrote an opera called Das stumme Waldmädchen ( The Silent Forest Maiden ). It

1083-452: The Andante e Rondo ungarese (a reworking of a piece originally for viola and orchestra) are also popular with bassoonists. Weber's contribution to vocal and choral music is also significant. His body of Catholic religious music was highly popular in 19th-century Germany, and he composed one of the earliest song cycles , Die Temperamente beim Verluste der Geliebten ( [Four] Temperaments on

1140-442: The fortepiano , a hammered-string keyboard invented in 1700. Instead the violoncello was left to carry on alone, or with reinforcement from a double bass . A 1919 recording of Rossini 's Barber of Seville , issued by Italian HMV , gives a unique glimpse of this technique in action, as do cello methods of the period and some scores of Meyerbeer . There are examples of the revival of the harpsichord for this purpose as early as

1197-524: The orchestra as an accompanying body. The composer writes an arrangement for the orchestra musicians. As a result, it is less improvisational and declamatory than recitativo secco , and more song -like. This form is often employed where the orchestra can underscore a particularly dramatic text, as in " Thus saith the Lord " from Händel's Messiah ; Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were also fond of it. A more inward intensification calls for an arioso ;

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1254-601: The 17-year-old Weber for the post of Director at the Breslau Opera in 1804; Weber was offered and accepted the post. He sought to reform the Opera by pensioning off older singers, expanding the orchestra, and tackling a more challenging repertoire. His ambitious and dedicated work as director of the orchestra was acknowledged, though his tempi were frequently criticized as too fast. As the daily routine did not leave sufficient time for his own creative work, Weber did not seek to extend his two-year appointment. After an interlude at

1311-538: The 1890s (e.g. by Hans Richter for a production of Mozart 's Don Giovanni at the London Royal Opera House , the instrument being supplied by Arnold Dolmetsch ), but it was not until the 1950s that the 18th-century method was consistently observed once more. In the 2010s, the early music revival movement has led to the re-introduction of harpsichord in some Baroque performances. Accompanied recitative, known as accompagnato or stromentato , employs

1368-493: The Loss of a Lover ). Weber was also notable as one of the first conductors to conduct without a piano or violin. Weber's orchestration has also been highly praised and emulated by later generations of composers— Berlioz referred to him several times in his Treatise on Instrumentation while Debussy remarked that the sound of the Weber orchestra was obtained through the scrutiny of the soul of each instrument. His operas influenced

1425-510: The Munich court clarinetist Heinrich Baermann and composed the Concertino in E ♭ Major, Op. 26, J. 109 , and the two concerti J. 114 and J. 118 for him; from December 1811 through March 1812, Weber went on tour with Baermann playing the clarinet works, and it was some of the final concerts on this tour that changed public, critical, and royal opinions of Weber's work, and helped him to mount

1482-517: The Paris Opera), Georges Bizet 's Carmen (1875, recitatives by Ernest Guiraud for the posthumous run in Vienna the same year), Charles Gounod 's Mireille and La colombe (staged by Sergei Diaghilev with recitatives respectively by Eric Satie and Francis Poulenc ). Secco recitatives, popularized in Florence though the proto-opera music dramas of Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini during

1539-565: The court of Duke Eugen of Württemberg , who resided in Silesia , Weber served from 1807 to 1810 in Stuttgart as private secretary to Duke Ludwig , brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg . Weber's time in Württemberg was plagued with troubles. He fell deeply into debt and became entangled in the financial manipulations of his employer, e.g. the sale of confirmations of ducal service which exempted

1596-501: The death of Carl's mother, his paternal aunt Adelaide took over the care of him. A visit to Joseph Haydn in Vienna, presumably in hope of advanced teaching, was fruitless. In autumn 1798, Weber moved to Munich where he studied singing with Johann Evangelist Wallishauser and composing with Johann Nepomuk Kalcher, who supervised Weber's first opera, Die Macht der Liebe und des Weins  [ de ] ( The Power of Love and Wine ). Like his other compositions of that period, this opera

1653-625: The first of Richard Rodney Bennett 's Five Impromptus for guitar (1968), the opening section of the last movement of Benjamin Britten 's String Quartet No. 3 (1975), and the second of William Bolcom 's 12 New Etudes for Piano (1977–86). There are certain conventions, or tropes, which standardize recitative; so that, in practice, recitative is a rigid musical form. The following are standard tropes of recitative: Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber ( c.  18 November 1786  – 5 June 1826)

1710-603: The first performance in Leipzig on 20 January 1888. Weber's operas Der Freischütz , Euryanthe , and Oberon greatly influenced the development of the Romantische Oper (Romantic opera) in Germany. Der Freischütz came to be regarded as the first German opera, Euryanthe developed the leitmotif technique to an unprecedented degree, while Oberon may have influenced Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream and, at

1767-546: The ideals of the Sturm und Drang period, and also by the German folk song collection " Des Knaben Wunderhorn " by Arnim and Brentano . It was in 1816 that he wrote the Duet Op. 38 for guitar and piano, possibly inspired by similar works printed in Vienna by such composers as Hummel and Diabelli . On 4 November 1817, he married Caroline Brandt  [ de ] , a singer who created

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1824-566: The influence of Richard Wagner , favored through-composition , where recitatives, arias, choruses and other elements were seamlessly interwoven into a whole. Many of Wagner's operas employ sections which are analogous to accompanied recitative. Recitative is also occasionally used in musicals , being put to ironic use in the finale of Kurt Weill 's The Threepenny Opera . It also appears in Carousel and Of Thee I Sing . George Gershwin used it in his opera Porgy and Bess , though sometimes

1881-517: The late 16th century, formed the substance of Claudio Monteverdi 's operas during the 17th century, and continued to be used into the 19th century Romantic era by such composers as Gaetano Donizetti , reappearing in Stravinsky 's The Rake's Progress . They also influenced areas of music outside opera. In the early operas and cantatas of the Florentine school, secco recitatives were accompanied by

1938-408: The musical repertoire. His compositions for the clarinet, which include two concertos, a concertino , a quintet , a duo concertante, and variations on a theme from his opera Silvana , are regularly performed today. His Concertino for Horn and Orchestra requires the performer to simultaneously produce two notes by humming while playing—a technique known as " multiphonics ". His bassoon concerto and

1995-420: The opening of " Comfort ye " from the same work is a famous example, while the ending of it ("The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness") is secco . Sometimes a distinction is made between the more dramatic, expressive, or interjecting 'orchestral recitative' ( recitativo obbligato or stromentato ) and a more passive and sustained 'accompanied recitative' ( recitativo accompagnato ). Later operas, under

2052-415: The play's author, to address the audience. How far the latter is to be taken as ‘authentic’ is a matter for debate. The old view was that Aristophanes is speaking directly to his fellow-Athenians in the parabasis; and that as a result, as Northrop Frye put it, “his opinions on every subject are written all over his plays”. A postmodern interpretation would see the authorial voice as metatheatrical , offering

2109-564: The popular Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber , based on Weber's lesser-known keyboard works and the incidental music to Turandot . Weber also wrote music journalism and was interested in folksong , and learned lithography to engrave his own works. A virtuoso pianist himself, Weber composed four sonatas , two concertos, and the Konzertstück in F minor ( Concert Piece ), which inspired composers such as Chopin, Liszt, and Mendelssohn. The Konzertstück provided

2166-428: The purchaser from military service. Weber was arrested and charged with embezzlement and bribery. As he could disprove the allegations, the case was brought under civil law to avoid compromising the de facto manipulator, the brother of the king. Weber agreed to pay the costs (the last payment was made in 1816) and was banished from Württemberg together with his father. As a sobering side effect, Weber started to keep

2223-409: The recitative in that work is changed to spoken dialogue. Porgy and Bess has also been staged as a musical rather than as an opera. Recitative has also sometimes been used to refer to parts of purely instrumental works which resemble vocal recitatives, in terms of their musical style. In an instrumental recitative, one instrument (or group of instruments) are given the melody line (akin to the role of

2280-507: The repertoire. There are several recordings of the major works for the solo piano, including complete recordings of the piano sonatas and the shorter piano pieces, and there are recordings of the individual sonatas by Claudio Arrau (1st sonata), Alfred Cortot and Emil Gilels (2nd sonata), Sviatoslav Richter (3rd sonata), and Leon Fleisher (4th sonata). The Invitation to the Dance , although better known in Berlioz's orchestration (as part of

2337-465: The same time, revealed Weber's lifelong interest in the music of non-Western cultures. This interest was first manifested in Weber's incidental music for Schiller 's translation of Gozzi 's Turandot , for which he used a Chinese melody, making him the first Western composer to use an Asian tune that was not of the pseudo-Turkish kind popularized by Mozart and others. Weber's compositions for clarinet, bassoon, and horn occupy an important place in

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2394-489: The second movement of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto is also an instrumental recitative, although Owen Jander interprets it as a dialogue. Other Romantic music era composers to employ instrumental recitative include Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (who composed a lyrical, virtuosic recitative for solo violin with harp accompaniment to represent the title character in his orchestral Scheherazade ) and Hector Berlioz (whose choral symphony Roméo et Juliette contains

2451-540: The second movement of that work, the violinist is the soloist in an instrumental recitative. Ludwig van Beethoven used the instrumental recitative in at least three works, including Piano Sonata No. 17 ( The Tempest ), Piano Sonata No. 31 , and in the opening section of the Finale of his Ninth Symphony . Here, Beethoven inscribed on the score (in French) "In the manner of a recitative, but in tempo ." Leon Plantinga argues that

2508-584: The singer) and another instrument (or group of instruments) are given the accompaniment role. One of the earliest examples is found in the slow movement of Vivaldi 's violin concerto in D, RV 208 , which is marked "Recitative". C. P. E. Bach included instrumental recitative in his "Prussian" piano sonatas of 1742, composed at Frederick the Great 's court in Berlin. In 1761, Joseph Haydn took his post at Esterhazy Palace and soon after composed his Symphony No. 7 ("Le Midi") in concertante style (i.e. with soloists). In

2565-410: The three children of Franz Anton von Weber and his second wife, Genovefa Weber , a Viennese singer. He was baptized Catholic on 20 November 1786 with the name Carl Friedrich Ernst; the alternative second name Maria appeared only later. His brother and sister died in infancy. Both parents were Catholic and originally came from the far south of Germany. The " von " was an affectation of his father's, who

2622-469: The title role of Silvana . In 1819, he wrote perhaps his most famous piano piece, Invitation to the Dance . The successful premiere of Der Freischütz on 18 June 1821 in Berlin led to performances all over Europe. On the very morning of the premiere, Weber finished his Konzertstück in F minor for Piano and Orchestra , and he premiered it a week later. In 1823, Weber composed his first (and only) full-length, through-composed opera Euryanthe to

2679-549: The work and conduct the premiere on 12 April. Weber was already suffering from tuberculosis when he visited London. He conducted the premiere and twelve sold-out performances of Oberon in London during April and in May, and despite his rapidly worsening health, he continued to fulfil commitments for private concerts and benefits. He died in his sleep during the night on 5 June 1826 at the home of his good friend and host Sir George Smart ; he

2736-411: The work of later opera composers, especially in Germany, such as Marschner, Meyerbeer, and Wagner, as well as several nationalist 19th-century composers such as Glinka . Homage has been paid to Weber by many 20th-century composers, such as Debussy and Stravinsky . Mahler completed Weber's unfinished comic opera Die drei Pintos and made revisions of Euryanthe and Oberon while Hindemith composed

2793-509: The writings of the ancient Greeks and with Erycius Puteanus on the writings of Hucbald and wishing to recreate the old manner of storytelling and drama, pioneered the use of a single melodic line to tell the story, accompanied by simple chords from a harpsichord or lute. In the Baroque era, recitatives were commonly rehearsed on their own by the stage director, the singers frequently supplying their own favourite baggage arias which might be by

2850-564: Was 39 years old. He was buried in London. Eighteen years later, in December 1844, his remains were transferred to the family burial plot in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Dresden at the side of his youngest son Alexander, who at the age of 19 had died of measles seven weeks before. The simple gravestone, designed by Gottfried Semper , lies against the northern boundary wall. Wagner composed

2907-665: Was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic in the early Romantic period . Best known for his operas , he was a crucial figure in the development of German Romantische Oper (German Romantic opera). Throughout his youth, his father, Franz Anton  [ de ] , relentlessly moved the family between Hamburg , Salzburg, Freiberg , Augsburg and Vienna . Consequently he studied with many teachers—his father, Johann Peter Heuschkel , Michael Haydn , Giovanni Valesi , Johann Nepomuk Kalcher , and Georg Joseph Vogler —under whose supervision he composed four operas, none of which survive complete. He had

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2964-541: Was a cousin of Carl Maria von Weber. A gifted violinist, Franz Anton had ambitions of turning Weber into a child prodigy like Mozart. Weber was born with a congenital hip disorder and did not begin to walk until he was four. But by then, he was already a capable singer and pianist. Franz Anton gave Weber a comprehensive education, which was frequently interrupted by the family's moves. In 1796, Weber continued his musical education in Hildburghausen , Thuringia , where he

3021-418: Was an accomplished guitarist. It was in this year that his first song with guitar accompaniment, "Liebeszauber", was printed. Some of his most original and innovative songs were written during the following years, including "Er an Sie" (1808) and "Was zieht zu deinem Zauberkreise" (1809). In 1810, Weber visited several cities throughout Germany; 1811 was a pivotal year in his career when he met and worked with

3078-546: Was instructed by the oboist Johann Peter Heuschkel . After moving to Salzburg in autumn 1797, Weber studied from 1798 with Michael Haydn , younger brother of the better-known Joseph Haydn , who agreed to teach Weber free of charge. His time in Salzburg was overshadowed by the death of his mother Genovefa, who succumbed to tuberculosis on 13 March 1798, and that of his one-year-old sister Antonetta on 29 December 1798 in Munich . After

3135-408: Was not an aristocrat and who claimed descent from a south German noble family which was already extinct at the time. In April 1779, Franz Anton had been appointed director of the prince-bishopric orchestra, Eutin, which, however, was dissolved in 1781 because of spending cuts. He then took the position of Eutin's municipal music director. Dissatisfied with this position, he resigned in 1787 and founded

3192-665: Was produced at the Freiberg and Chemnitz theatres and later in Saint Petersburg (1804), Vienna ( 1805/1805 ) and Prague (1806). The young Weber also began to publish articles as a music critic, for example in the Leipziger Neue Zeitung in 1801. In 1801, the family returned to Salzburg, where Weber resumed his studies with Michael Haydn. Weber composed his third opera Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn ( Peter Schmoll and His Neighbours ) of which his teacher approved. After

3249-404: Was traditionally linked to the financial pressures of wartime, more recently Stephen Halliwell has preferred to see the decline in terms of theatrical evolution. Recitative Recitative ( / ˌ r ɛ s ɪ t ə ˈ t iː v / , also known by its Italian name recitativo ( [retʃitaˈtiːvo] ) is a style of delivery (much used in operas , oratorios , and cantatas ) in which

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