Ms Lehmanns model essay: Vocal Music - Mozart

VOCAL MUSIC
Evaluate Mozarts use of melody, rhythm and tonality in O zittre nicht,
mein lieber Sohn! from The Magic Flute, in relation to other similar works.
Relate your discussion to other relevant works. These may include set
works, wider listening or other music.
Mozart composed The Magic Flute in 1791, the year of his death.
Its intention was to appeal to audiences from all walks of life; not just the
nobility. The opera was written in the vernacular language, German;
hence, making it more accessible. It is a Singspiel (song-play)
characterised by musical numbers interspersed with dialogue. The libretto
is a fairy-tale, enchanting story that has magic, dark moments as well as
comic numbers. The work reflects, and refers to, the Masonic movement,
as Mozart was a Freemason himself, and its rituals. The number 3 is one of
the Masonic symbols that pervades throughout the work.
The recitative and aria O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn! is sung by
the Queen of the Night, who is portrayed as a soprano coloratura
indulging in technical histrionics that reflect her highly emotionallycharged character. In this number the Queen of the Night is addressing
Prince Tamino, misleadingly pleading him to rescue her daughter. Mozart
uses melody, rhythm and tonality to reinforce the characters formidable
personality. These elements will be discussed, as well as compared to
other recitative and arias depicting a female character, with a particular
focus on Queen Dido in Purcells opera Dido and Aeneas.
The recitative is syllabic as the Queen of the Night tries to befriend
Prince Tamino. She takes time over certain words, although as it is an
accompanied recitative she has less freedom than Purcells Queen Dido in
Thy hand, Belinda, which is a recitative secco and therefore only
accompanied by a continuo accompaniment. The volatile character of the
Queen of the Night is portrayed in the aria by the widening tessitura,
followed by the dizzying display of coloratura melismas that reach a top F,
an octave above the treble clef. These coloratura passages include rapid
scales, arpeggios and ornaments. Mozart uses melody to emphasise
certain words; otherwise known as word-painting. For example, when the
Queen describes her grief, the melodic line is descending; or when she
relates how her daughter struggled hopelessly there are descending
chromatic notes. On the words help me! there is a leap of an 8ve, as if
shouting for help. When the Queen orders Prince Tamino to find her
daughter, she repeats the word you in an ascending triad; after which
she commences her ecstatic feat of virtuosity predicting his triumph, yet
also revealing her determination and anger. Purcell also uses wordpainting to describe Queen Didos lyrics as she expresses her grief;
however the effect is one of genuine sadness as opposed to Mozarts
manipulative and quite frightening Queen. For example, when Dido sings
about her trouble it is emphasised with a triton. Purcell similarly has

Ms Lehmanns model essay: Vocal Music - Mozart

chromaticism to depict grief, as on the word laid, symbolising death and

agony. Whist Dido is also a soprano, the role is not as technically virtuosic
as Mozarts coloratura role; hence melismas are much shorter and the
highest note is only a top G. Mozarts use of melody to depict the lyrics is
thus a development of Baroque eras emphasis of text over music where,
as Purcells Dido, melodic shape is a tool for word -painting.
There is an ominous and unsettling feel from the very start of the
recitative, as the violins play syncopated rhythms under the Queen of the
Nights attempt to reassure the Prince. Heralding the importance of the
orchestras depiction of emotions with later opera composers such as
Wagner; the use of syncopation in the strings portrays the mood and true
nature of the Queen. Later, her fury is portrayed as continuous
demisemiquavers once again in the strings, as if trembling with anger.
When the Queen becomes more agitated herself, she takes the
demisemiquavers to a heightened level in her nearly hysterical coloratura
passage. As the aria builds to a climax, there is tremolo-like semiquaver
accompaniment in the strings. The use of rhythm underlines the
tempestuous and fiery character of the Queen of the Night. Purcell,
likewise, uses faster rhythms to express his Queens feelings of angst,
especially on words that are dramatic: such as darkness; and there is
also some use of syncopation, although here in the vocal part. However,
the depressive state of mind of Dido is reflected in the longer durations in
the aria, as well as the dotted crotchets. A more similar use of rhythmic
complexity and virtuosity would be the soprano coloratura role of Armida
in Rossinis opera Armida in which the evil sorceress has some some
frightening rapid rhythmic melismas in the aria D'Amore al Dolce Impero.
The Queens recitative and aria are set as three separate items,
each marked by a change in key: the recitative, which is in Bb major; the
first part of the aria in G minor; and a return to the key of Bb major in the
second part of the aria. The music is mainly diatonic, but there is some
underlying chromaticism that darkens the mood; such as the chromatic
descending chords in the violas and bassoons. The G minor section is the
relative minor of Bb major and betrays the sinister character of the
Queen. Although the final section returns to Bb major, there are
suggestions of Eb major, which is the subdominant key and sounds duller.
Furthermore, it could symbolise the magical number 3, as it has three
flats. Whilst Purcells Didos recitative has a passage in C minor, the aria
remains in G minor; which is characteristic of the Baroque era where a
movement would have one mood, or affection; in this case tragic.
Chromaticism is likewise used by Purcell to underline the dramatic
intensity of the movement, but only in the base-line and sounds,
therefore, less remote. By the Romantic era, Wagner in his opera Tristan
und Isolde further exploited chromaticism and chromatic modulations to
the extent where a sense of tonality becomes lost. Hence, whilst Mozarts
use of tonality emerges from Baroque links between affection and
specific keys (G minor for dramatic, dark moments); his use of chromatic

Ms Lehmanns model essay: Vocal Music - Mozart

chords heralds the Romantic eras unfettered explorations of distant keys

and chromaticism.
Mozarts use of melody, rhythm and tonality in the Queen of the
Nights recitative and aria O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn! are a means
to the portrayal of a formidable and quite fearsome woman. The
coloratura passages with fast scalic passages are not there for virtuosic
display, but to depict the Queens determination and fury. The chromatic
chords give a more sinister, ominous feel to the tonality, and Mozarts use
of Eb major as a symbolic number 3 is a forbearer of musical symbolisms
in Romantic operas. Moreover, Mozart develops the Baroque eras
characteristic use of vocal word-painting, as seen in Purcells Didos
Lament, by his descriptive treatment of the orchestra; for example, when
the syncopated strings reveal the true tempestuous nature of the Queen
as she falsely tries to seem reassuring. This recitative and aria shows how
Mozart was a harbinger of Wagner and his extensive exploitation of the
orchestra to portray inner feelings, chromatic-tonal tension, vocal melodic
complexity, and rhythmic word-painting.