Music in the western
culture is based upon its rhythm and notes. Each piece is set up in the
beginning with a clef, a key signature, and a time signature which it will
follow. The clef is relative to the instrument, with the most popular ones
being treble and bass clef. Time signature helps in reading the music, with it
determining where beats are placed and can help determine tempo. The key
signature establishes where "tonic" is, i.e. where the music holds
its base and towards which it tends to gravitate. Western music works mostly in
Major (Ionian) or Minor (Aeolian) scales, however there are also 5 modal
scales, which are Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Locrian.
Below is an image of the circle of fifths, which shows the key
signatures.
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| http://themusiciansdesk.com/music-theory/circle-of-fifths-explained/ |
Opera works within the
structure of western music, as it follows scales and time signatures, but does
so on a much larger level. The pit orchestra for an opera has many instruments
with many tone colors, including large selections of strings, woodwinds, brass,
and percussion. In Baroque opera, there were typically 30 people to an
orchestra, while in a Romantic opera, that number was closer to 75-100, along
with a cast full of singers.
Operas differ slightly
amongst Italy, Russia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and other
countries, however all follow a basic musical structure. They tend to be in two
to five acts, and are broken up into these segments by the action on stage.
There is little to no spoken dialogue, and the libretto, which is like the
script, is sung by the performers either to further the plot with recitatives
or to highlight bel canto in the arias. The storylines in operas are
often from famous folktales, Shakespeare plays, religious stories, fantasy, and
allegories. They follow basic plot structure, and are often written to relay a
moral and to entertain.
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| http://www.laynemcdonald.com/uploads/8/4/2/1/8421023/4252477_orig.jpeg |
Despite opera's continuously changing style, it holds a basic form that propels the story, just as the story in turn propels the music.
