Music for the Stage Through History

Opera was a form of entertainment that got its start in the courts of Europe around the beginning of the 17th century. The early dramas were taken from Greek and Roman mythology and were sung throughout. Because they involve soloists, a chorus, dancers, an orchestra, scenery, props and costumes they are expensive. In the 19th century many opera houses were built so that the growing middle class could enjoy the show as well. Incidental music is composed to support a play and is usually inserted between acts.

Monteverdi The Coronation of Poppea,

Act I, scene 3

Purcell Dido & Aeneas,

“Dido’s Lament”

Handel Rinaldo, “Lascia ch’io pianga”

Handel The Messiah,

“Hallelujah” (oratorio)

Mozart Don Giovanni, Act I, scene 3

Mozart The Magic Flute,

“Queen of the Night Aria”

Mendelssohn Midsummer Night’s Dream

(incidental music)

Verdi Rigoletto,

“La donna e mobile”

Wagner Tristan und Isolde,

“Liebestod”

Wagner The Ride of the Valkyries

Wagner Siegfried Idyll

Leoncavallo Pagliacci, “Vesti la giubba”

Grieg Peer Gynt (incidental music)

Bizet Carmen

Bizet L’Arlesienne

(incidental music)

Puccini Madama Butterfly

“Humming Chorus”

Puccini La Boheme, Act I

Puccini Turandot, “Nessun dorma”

Berg Wozzeck, Act 3

Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky (Cinema)

Gershwin Porgy & Bess

Bernstein West Side Story (Broadway)

Ligeti Lux Aeterna

(as used in 2001: A Space

Odyssey)

Overtures and Preludes

It is often the case that operas begin which an instrumental piece of music that usually features the significant motives and melodies in the drama that follows. This music is known as an overture, or opening piece. Sometimes it gets to be so famous that it ends up being performed in strictly orchestral settings, divorced from the opera. Sometimes the term prelude is used instead of overture and is also applied to the music that is heard before particular acts of the opera. Sometimes composers write overtures that stand alone and do not introduce anything.

Mozart Don Giovanni, overture

Mozart Magic Flute, overture

Beethoven Fidelio and Leonora overtures

Beethoven Egmont, overture

Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture

Rossini William Tell, overture

Weber Der Freischutz, overture

Glinka Russlan and Ludmilla, overture

Reznicek Donna Diana, overture

Smetana The Bartered Bride, overture

Verdi La Forza del destino, overture

Wagner Lohengrin, Prelude to Act III

Wagner Tristan und Isolde, prelude

Wagner Die Meistersinger, prelude

Tchaikovsky Romeo & Juliet, fantasy overture

Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Brahms Academic Festival Overture

Brahms Tragic Overture

Delius Irmelin Prelude

Barber School for Scandal, overture

Bernstein Candide, overture