K. 418
Encyclopedia
"Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio!" (K. 418) is a soprano
aria
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
.
, Vienna, on 30 June 1783, as an insertion aria for a performance of Pasquale Anfossi
's opera
Il curioso indiscreto which had premiered with great success in 1777 in Rome. The opera uses Cervantes
' Don Quixote as its literary source. It had been staged 34 times until 1792, including in Venice and Florence and in a production by Joseph Haydn
in October 1782 at the Esterhazy
court. In modern times, the only production was on 20 January 1984 at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Mozart wrote two other insertion arias for that occasion, "No, che non sei capace" (I. 7) (K. 419) and "Per pietà, non ricercate" (II. 4) (K. 420); K. 418 and K. 419 were written for Mozart's sister-in-law Aloysia Weber
, K. 420 for Valentin Adamberger
, but that aria was not performed because of some intrigue initiated by Salieri
.
The aria is part of the 1991 pasticcio
opera The Jewel Box
.
than a genuine work for piano and soprano. For the final version, the text of the first slow section was changed considerably.
The aria is scored for oboe
I and II, bassoon
I and II, horn
I in D, horn II in A, and strings
. The work is 151 bars
long and takes about seven minutes to perform. The key signature
is A major
. The aria is divided into three parts; the first part with a time signature
of alla breve
and a tempo
direction of adagio, ends in bar 80 after a reprise of the initial stanza
. The second part is in the time signature of common time and a tempo indication of allegro; at bar 124, the tempo accelerates to più allegro to the words of the last stanza. The aria has a vocal range
of 2 octave
s plus a fourth
(or 2 900 cents
), from E6
to B3; the latter note is a whole note
in bar 135, followed immediately by a whole note D6, an interval
of 2 octaves plus a minor third
.
is often given as the author of the opera's libretto, others credit Giuseppe Petrosellini; however, neither is confirmed.
The aria is inserted at the end of act 1, scene 6, where Marchese Calandro wants to test his bride's Clorinda's fidelity – six 1/2 years later, in 1790, this was a central theme in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte
. Calandro persuades his friend, Count di Ripaverde, to court Clorinda. At his second attempt, Clorinda begins to waver and makes a veiled confession of her love to the Count. But stricken by conflicting emotions and her jealousy of the Count's bride, Emilia, she sends the Count away.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
.
History
Mozart entered the aria into his catalogue on 20 June 1783 Vienna. It was performed in the BurgtheaterBurgtheater
The Burgtheater , originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world.The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the...
, Vienna, on 30 June 1783, as an insertion aria for a performance of Pasquale Anfossi
Pasquale Anfossi
Bonifacio Domenico Pasquale Anfossi was an Italian opera composer. Born in Taggia, Liguria, he studied with Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, and worked mainly in London, Venice and Rome....
's opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Il curioso indiscreto which had premiered with great success in 1777 in Rome. The opera uses Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
' Don Quixote as its literary source. It had been staged 34 times until 1792, including in Venice and Florence and in a production by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
in October 1782 at the Esterhazy
Nikolaus Esterházy
Nikolaus Esterházy was a Hungarian prince, a member of the famous Esterházy family. His building of palaces, extravagant clothing, and taste for opera and other grand musical productions led to his being given the title "the Magnificent"...
court. In modern times, the only production was on 20 January 1984 at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Mozart wrote two other insertion arias for that occasion, "No, che non sei capace" (I. 7) (K. 419) and "Per pietà, non ricercate" (II. 4) (K. 420); K. 418 and K. 419 were written for Mozart's sister-in-law Aloysia Weber
Aloysia Weber
Maria Aloysia Louise Antonia Weber was a German soprano, remembered primarily for her association with the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-Biography:...
, K. 420 for Valentin Adamberger
Valentin Adamberger
Valentin Adamberger, also known by his Italian name Adamonti, was a German operatic tenor...
, but that aria was not performed because of some intrigue initiated by Salieri
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
.
The aria is part of the 1991 pasticcio
Pasticcio
In music, a pasticcio or pastiche is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, or inauthentic.-Etymology:The term is first attested in the...
opera The Jewel Box
The Jewel Box
The Jewel Box is a pasticcio opera constructed by Paul Griffiths out of various pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its mostly English libretto by Paul Griffiths includes new translations of most of the Italian-language texts of the musical numbers. It was premiered by Opera North at the Theatre...
.
Music
The aria "Ah, spiegarti, oh Dio", K. 178, was written as a draft for this work just a few days before; it resembles more a piano reductionPiano reduction
A piano reduction is sheet music for the piano that was once music for other instruments that was reduced to its most basic components within a two line staff for piano. It is also considered a style of orchestration or music arrangement less well known as contraction scoring, a subset of elastic...
than a genuine work for piano and soprano. For the final version, the text of the first slow section was changed considerably.
The aria is scored for oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
I and II, bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
I and II, horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
I in D, horn II in A, and strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
. The work is 151 bars
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
long and takes about seven minutes to perform. The key signature
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
is A major
A major
A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...
. The aria is divided into three parts; the first part with a time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
of alla breve
Alla breve
In music, alla breve Italian: at the breve] refers to a musical meter notated by the time signature symbol , which is the equivalent of 2/2. Alla breve is a "simple-duple meter with a half-note pulse"...
and a tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
direction of adagio, ends in bar 80 after a reprise of the initial stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
. The second part is in the time signature of common time and a tempo indication of allegro; at bar 124, the tempo accelerates to più allegro to the words of the last stanza. The aria has a vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
of 2 octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s plus a fourth
Perfect fourth
In classical music from Western culture, a fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions , and the perfect fourth is a fourth spanning five semitones. For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, as the note F lies five semitones above C, and there...
(or 2 900 cents
Cent (music)
The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals. Twelve-tone equal temperament divides the octave into 12 semitones of 100 cents each...
), from E6
Scientific pitch notation
Scientific pitch notation is one of several methods that name the notes of the standard Western chromatic scale by combining a letter-name, accidentals, and a number identifying the pitch's octave...
to B3; the latter note is a whole note
Whole note
thumb|right|250px|Figure 1. A whole note and a whole rest.In music, a whole note or semibreve is a note represented by a hollow oval note head, like a half note , and no note stem . Its length is equal to four beats in 4/4 time...
in bar 135, followed immediately by a whole note D6, an interval
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
of 2 octaves plus a minor third
Minor third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major...
.
Text
Giovanni BertatiGiovanni Bertati
Giovanni Bertati is an Italian librettist.In 1763, Bertati wrote his first libretto, La morte di Dimone , set to music by Antonio Tozzi. Two years later, L'isola della fortuna , based on Bertati's libretto and Andrea Luchesi's music, was performed in Vienna...
is often given as the author of the opera's libretto, others credit Giuseppe Petrosellini; however, neither is confirmed.
The aria is inserted at the end of act 1, scene 6, where Marchese Calandro wants to test his bride's Clorinda's fidelity – six 1/2 years later, in 1790, this was a central theme in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
. Calandro persuades his friend, Count di Ripaverde, to court Clorinda. At his second attempt, Clorinda begins to waver and makes a veiled confession of her love to the Count. But stricken by conflicting emotions and her jealousy of the Count's bride, Emilia, she sends the Count away.
Qual è l'affanno mio; ma mi condanna il fato a piangere e tacer. Arder non pù il mio core per chi vorrebbe amore e fa che cruda io sembri, un barbaro dover. Ah conte, partite, correte, fuggite lontano da me; la vostra diletta Emilia v'aspetta, languir non la fate, è degna d'amor. Ah stelle spietate! nemiche mi siete. Mi perdo s'ei resta. Partite, correte, D'amor non parlate, è vostro il suo cor. |
What my grief is! But fate has condemned me To weep and stay silent. My heart may not pine For the one I would like to love Making me seem hard-hearted And cruel. Ah, Count, part from me, Run, flee Far away from me; Your beloved Emilia awaits you, Don't let her languish, She is worthy of love. Ah, pitiless stars! You are hostile to me. I am lost when he stays. Part from me, run, Speak not of love, Her heart is yours. |
External links
- Discography at Neue Mozart-AusgabeNeue Mozart-AusgabeThe Neue Mozart-Ausgabe is the second complete works edition of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A longer and more formal title for the edition is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...