Zieg ⦁ Monteverdi’s Orfeo 44 humanistic and man produced. Composers developed a desire to write music that was inspired by the words and represented the meaning of the text well.27 Instead of revolving the words around the music, the words became of primary importance. This is what Monteverdi called seconda prattica, or the necessity of breaking musical norms in order to express the emotion. This was a new musical idea that was vitally important in shaping opera. While Renaissance composers took many elements from the Greco-Roman times and applied them to their compositions, they also took these ideas and shifted them to embody humanism. Brown explains, “The emancipation from medieval ways of thought and the restrictions of pre-formed structure meant that music became for the first time a self-sufficient, self-generated art.”28 This transition to an anthropological view of music emphasizes the philosophy of humanism and paved the way for the creation of opera. Monteverdi’s Orfeo is a prime example of these humanistic qualities coming to life through music. Using the human voice in specific, musical ways, and declaring the words clearly was a way to achieve catharsis. In Politics of Opera, Mitchell Cohen explains, “A solo voice or choral music could declaim words in a powerfully communicative way, provided they were composed in a certain way. There had to be a single melodic line and simple accompaniment. Called ‘monody’ in the next century, it became a key expressive aspect of early opera.”29 The use of monody in Orfeo helps convey the emotions and better persuade the audience of the emotion of the scene. For example, in the opening of Act I, Monteverdi uses clear and syllabic text declamation for the second shepherd to set the scene and explain the emotional state of the drama.30 The shepherd sings on a single melodic line with a simple, chordal accompaniment of harpsichord, double bass, and viola. This approach directly highlights the text and plot of the opera. The shepherd is singing about a joyous day, and the sweet melodies in the air. Monteverdi uses a simple accompaniment consisting of just a basso continuo all throughout the opera, emphasizing the text of the story (Example 3). 27 Brown, 3. 28 Brown, 3. 29 Cohen, 15. 30 Monteverdi, 9, https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/310353.
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