A Smattering of 20^th Century Opera

Opera in the 20^th century did what other kinds of music in the same era did: it experimented with new musical techniques as it explored the current political and social issues. The new techniques were often better suited to the issues than traditional techniques had been

Expressionism: Alban Berg (1885-1935)

· Berg was a follower of Arnold Schoenberg; he didn’t renounce tonality as completely as Schoenberg or Webern, but most of Berg’s music is very dissonant

· He wrote two music dramas: Wozzeck (1925), Lulu (1935):

· They are among the most high-charged operas ever written, emotionally and in terms of their social commentary; Berg died just as Hitler came to power and his operas were banned at that time (they were inconsistent with Nazi image of Superiority of German Character)

· Wozzeck

· An expressionist opera: Expressionism is a movement in literature, visual arts, film and music that emphasizes expression of raw emotion without “filtering” as nightmares are unfiltered.

· Berg’s opera comments on the sad state of the downtrodden, especially in Germany between the world wars. In the 1920’s Germany and Austria were in disarray because of WWI

· Despite atonality, there are numerous Leitmotives in this opera; some are rhythmic rather than melodic, such as the Fate motive

· The opera also uses a technique called Sprechstimme, a type of vocal declamation between speech and song

· Berg often quoted folk music in his works; in Wozzeck this technique illuminates the characters more clearly

Television: Gian Carlo Menotti (b. 1911)

· Born in Italy, educated at Milan Conservatory and then Curtis Institute in Philadelphia; became an American citizen

· Early fame came from some one-act operas (The Medium, 1946 The Telephone, 1947)

· Greater fame came from Amahl and the Night Vistiors (1951) commissioned by NBC, the first opera written for American television

• Composed with popular appeal in mind: very diatonic and relatively uncomplicated so it can be performed by amateur performers.

Minimalism: Philip Glass (b. 1937)

· Minimalism is derived from non-western chant forms of music; it is the repetitive use of simple, often tonal materials

· Einstein on the Beach(1976) is one of three operas about people who changed history

· Uses amplified ensemble and small chorus singing a text of numbers (other operas use Sanskrit and other languages no longer in use)

· Phasing technique is also present; in phasing, multiple recordings of a musical idea are played simultaneously, but they become out of sync with each other, creating a complex rhythm

Minimalism: John Adams (b. 1947)

· Famous for operas on contemporary events (President Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, a terrorist hijacking of a cruise ship resulting in the death of a disabled passenger)

· Nixon in China (1987) was a project suggested by Peter Sellers

· Explores differences between Eastern and Western views of the world

· There is little action, but rather scenes where characters reveal their views of the world