Musicology 314, 15 February 2023

Handout 1b: The birth of opera

 The stirrings of an operatic idea can be seen in the intermedi and masques commonly
performed in 16th-century Italy. These were short musical-dramatic items that were
performed between acts of a play — the curtains in 16 th century Italian theatres were
unable to open and close quickly, and intermedi were used to mark the end of an act.
They were often seen in the elaborate celebrations of noble families (which usually
included theatrical productions), such as the weddings of the Medici dynasty. The
Medici masques in particular were important — some of these were written by the
composers who would go on to undertake the earliest experiments in opera proper.
 Intermedi and masques were essentially short narratives set to music. They could
involve dance, singing, spoken dialogue, and elaborate stage production and effects.
Their plots could pursue mythical or allegorical themes, or be simple and pleasing
pastoral settings. In many cases, the intermedi for a play would all follow a common
theme, despite often being written by different composers.
 Example: the intermedi composed for the wedding of Grand Duke Ferdinand de’
Medici and Christine of Lorraine in 1589. These intermedi were brought into being
by, among others, Emilio de’ Cavalieri, Ottavio Rinuccini, Jacopo Peri, and Giulio
Cacchini. Eleven years later, these four people would be crucially involved in three
separate musical projects that founded the operatic genre.
 The theme for the 1589 intermedi was conceived by count Giovanni de’ Bardi,
another key figure in the development of opera. The theme was the power of ancient
Greek music, one of the main topics of discussion within Bardi’s Camerata. It was
also in line with the prevailing humanist ideas at the time, which viewed ancient
Greece as a desirable model for modern society.
 There were three groups/figures that can be easily identified as having had an
influence on the development of opera. They were not entirely distinct — there were
strong connections between them, both of comradeship and rivalry, which ran deep
and permeated their artistic intentions.
Bardi’s Camerata
 The first group is Bardi’s Camerata, also sometimes known as the Florentine
Camerata. The central figures in this group were Count Giovanni de’ Bardi, Vincenzo
Galilei, Giulio Cacchini, and Pierro Strozzi. These and other intellectuals met at
Bardi’s estate to discuss all manner of worldly matters, with a particular emphasis on
music.
o Bardi, a member of the nobility, was an amateur but talented composer, and
took a very active role in organising musical entertainments for the Medici
family.
o Galilei was the most esteemed music theorist of the group, and indeed one of
the most esteemed of his day — he had studied with Gioseffo Zarlino, and
written a notable book on harmony, L’Istitutioni Armoniche. His polyphonic
compositions were well regarded by his contemporaries.
 o Cacchini was a renowned singer, and successful composer of solo songs. He
played the harp, on which he would sometimes accompany himself in
performance.
o Strozzi was a nobleman and amateur composer. He was an enthusiastic patron
of Cacchini, and also frequented the Camerata of Jacopo Corsi.
 The majority of the original musical ideas of Bardi’s Camerata came from the
classical scholar Girolamo Mei. Mei had a special interest in the music theory of the
ancient Greeks, and studied this in a depth not attempted since Boethius, almost a
thousand years prior. He was in direct contact with Bardi, who also put him in touch
with Galilei, and Mei shared his theories with them. His dialogue with Galilei was
particularly fruitful, and Mei even invited Galilei to travel to his home and stay with
him for a lengthy period, during which Mei imparted his vast knowledge of Greek
music onto Galilei.
 Mei’s principal theory about ancient Greek music was that it had been monodic, not
polyphonic as had previously been believed. This was seized upon by the composers
of Bardi’s Camerata (and others), as it offered a potential explanation of the great
problem vexing musicians at the time: why were the miraculous musical effects
documented in the ancient Greek treatises not seen in their own day?
o The first explicit monodies (informed by Mei’s theory) were written by Galilei
in the early 1580s.
 Mei’s discovery had practical applications across the board, but of particular interest
is its role in the reimagining of Greek tragic plays. It had been known before Mei that
these involved music of some kind — this had been thought to be polyphonic, but
Mei’s ideas changed the prevailing belief. Composers and playwrights had been
grappling with the challenge of reviving the tradition of Greek tragedy, and this goal,
coupled with the impetus of the new monody, led directly to what came to be known
as opera.
o The power of Greek music was chosen by Bardi as the theme for the 1589
medici masque. This was a highly collaborative project that involved input
from members of all three groups.
Corsi’s Camerata
 Jacopo Corsi was a composer, nobleman, and enthusiastic patron of the arts. He held a
type of academy of his own, which was frequented by notable artistic figures,
including Claudio Monteverdi. After Bardi’s Camerata “disbanded” in 1592 (when
Bardi left Florence to live in Rome), Corsi’s gatherings arguably inherited its spiritual
legacy.
 Two important collaborators of Corsi’s were the poet Ottavio Rinuccini and the
singer-composer Jacopo Peri. Rinuccini and Peri collaborated closely, and it was
through their collaboration that the stile recitativo was created in the 1580s.
 The stile recitativo (recitative) is a style of vocal writing in which the voice (roughly)
follows the rhythms and contours of ordinary speech. It can be written with varying
degrees of lyricism, and varying levels of accompaniment, from simple continuo
(recitativo secco) to full orchestra (recitativo accompagnato).
 Early operas mostly employed recitative in a very lyrical style, meant to portray the
emotional content of the text. In later opera, the lyrical and emotive content was often
 left to arias, and recitative was used purely to advance the plot, which resulted in a
simpler style.
 Around 1594, Corsi, Peri, and Rinuccini led a new compositional project, working on
what is now considered to have been the first opera, Dafne. The compositional
process of this work was convoluted and difficult: Corsi began composing the music
to Rinuccini’s text, before turning to Peri for help. By the time of its first public
performance in 1598, Giulio Cacchini had also managed to secure his music a place in
Dafne.
 Dafne was given its debut (private) performance for the remnants of Bardi’s Camerata
in 1597, and was received well. It was aired in public at a series of festivals from
1598 to 1600.
 The majority of the music for Dafne has been lost. However, we know that it was
written for a very small musical ensemble by the standards of the day. It was
generally well-received by listeners, but its impact was not strong. The work tended to
be performed in small, intimate venues, limiting its public presence. We acknowledge
Dafne as the first opera, but it was not until the events of 1600 that the genre truly
came to the fore.
Emilio de’ Cavalieri
 Cavalieri spent his early professional life in Rome, where he became acquainted with
Ferdinando de’ Medici, who would later become Grand Duke. Ferdinando had been a
member of the clergy in Rome; he renounced this calling in order to take up the role
of grand duke. He brought some of his Roman contacts to Florence, to support his
courtly activities. Cavalieri was one of these contacts; he was put in charge of the
musical and artistic life of the Medici court.
 Cavalieri and Bardi had a fierce rivalry. This was due in part to their competition in
terms of musical prestige in Florence, and in part to their different musical ideologies.
Bardi was a conservative, in every sense of the word, and passionately looked back to
ancient Greek models of music, decrying the music of his day. Cavalieri was a more
modern fellow; he was interested in ancient Greek music, but saw no moral failing in
the music of his day, and enthusiastically embraced and developed modern musical
ideas.
 While the Corsi group were pouring their energies into the production of Dafne,
Cavalieri was experimenting with similar ideas on a much smaller scale, setting
individual dramatic scenes to his own music. A grander idea grew from these
experiments, which was to manifest in 1600.
The events of 1600
 Three distinct but related events in 1600 launched the operatic genre into the public
sphere. Listed in chronological order, they are as follows.
 Rappresentatione di anima, et di corpo, Cavalieri
o Cavalieri’s musical morality play, Representation of the Soul and the Body,
was premiered in Rome in February 1600. It was, at the time, the longest fully
musical stage work. It pursued the expressive goals of the revival of ancient
Greek musical style, while remaining within the philosophical and religious
genre of the morality play. Whether it is best classified as an opera or an
 oratorio is debated — the boundary between these genres is quite flexible and
in many ways arbitrary.
 L’Euridice, Jacopo Peri
o Peri’s opera L’Euridice is the first unambiguous example of opera to survive
fully intact to the present day. It was premiered in Florence in October 1600,
at the wedding of Maria de’ Medici to King Henry IV of France. Peri himself
sang a main role (Orfeo), and Cavalieri directed the production. Some of the
music was provided by Cacchini — it is possible Peri allowed Cacchini to
contribute to the production as a concession in order to use Cacchini’s singers.
 L’Euridice, Giulio Cacchini
o Cacchini staged a pseudo-operatic work, Il Rapimento di Cefalo, three days
after the premiere of Peri’s L’Euridice, as part of the same celebrations. It fits
more closely into the madrigalian tradition than the operatic one, and did not
contain the innovations of Peri’s style. When Peri’s opera proved more
successful, Cacchini became jealous, and decided to enter into direct
competition with Peri (and/or mooch off of Peri’s success). He stopped his
work on the publication of Il Rapimento, and instead wrote his own version of
L’Euridice, set to the same text by Rinuccini and following the outline of
Peri’s version. Cacchini wrote this work extremely quickly, and it was
published before Peri’s version. The work was not actually premiered until
1602.
SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
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