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PID:720046598 Jiehua MUSC 142, Spring 2011 Paper Topic: Giuseppe Verdis Otello
Verdi omitted the original Shakespeares othellos first scene, starting with the second scene, a heavy rainstorm. The hysterical and irregular musical performance symbolizes Otellos fierce personality. The notes are played rapidly with lower strings and woodwinds, which can create in image of a turbulent rainstorm. Whats more, the upper woodwinds are rising and falling irregularly, symbolizing the heavy winds. The first act ends with a romantic scene. Together Otello and Desdemona recall why they fell in love. They kiss and then walk back to the castle. Desdemona's reply is accompanied by the violins and violas, providing a contrast to the statements made by Otello previously. As the leading motive of the whole opera, the topic of kiss is fully presented with the performance of orchestra on E key. There is a duetto of a couple in the first scene, but these two voices dont start to be on the same beat until the very last three bars. The duet continues to build up in passion until its climax. And this synchronization is a natural chord beyond the reality. Verdi only wrote arias for the main characters in the opera. The arias can not only present the importance of the main character, but also present their inner feelings more precisely. For example, dramatic baritone has a vigorous, low and deep voice, which presents Jago. The conflicts in the opera are sometimes presented by part-singing and contraposition of voice parts. Take the part-singing in the garden in ActII as an example, there are three different melody styles which imply the trtragical conflicts between Desdemona, Otello and Jago. The following quartette forms a more intensive atmosphere. There are three crossed conflicts. One is between Otello and Desdemona because they could not guess what is each others mind. The second conflict is from the insidious Jago, and the last one is from maid Emilia because she is arguing with her husband, Jago, about the handkerchief that Desdemona owns. People can smell the irony behind those conflicts.
In addition, Verdi also wrote certain types of music which present their own personality. For example, when Otello fells into the snare that Jago sets for him, Otello's annoyance with Lago for not directly stating his "suspicions" is suddenly reflected by an boost in the orchestra. Otello starts singing Jagos rondo melody. The low strings and woodwinds create a dark tone through this scene. And when Otello his finds wife suspicious, he starts sarcastically singing Desdemonas melody. All of this presents the characters complex personality. Whats more, at the first Act, Verdi used a musical motivate to combine the tragedy of the whole opera, like the drinking song in the first Act which implies chaos and conspiracy. The musical development of the whole opera symbolizes the changes of Otellos personality. At the beginning, Otello shows up as a hero, but the rainstorm topic implies his irritable personality. When Jago sets him up, Otellos feeling grows from suspicion to murder, and the music also starts growing from undisturbed to hysterical. The biggest conflict is Otellos trust to his wife. Jagos rondo melody repeatedly appears in the process of the change of otellos trust, giving people a sense of evil. Otello finally sings Jagos rondo melody, showing that he has already been manipulated by Jago, and his feeling towards Desdemona has become hatred instead of love (at the end of Act I). As to the presentation of musical instruments, Desdemona's appearance in Act III is once again accompanied by a sweet melody, however, this is quickly subdued when Otello calls her a "vile cortegiana. and the anger of Otello is once again portrayed by a full orchestra with brass. The music that accompanies Desdemona's reaction to this sudden outburst is sad, yet the woodwinds give it an noble character, which reaffirms her innocence. The full following scene is grand in the orchestration with many uses of brass. However, following Otello's angry outbursts near the end, it quickly becomes dark and sad after Otello strikes Desdemona. At the end of Act III, Otellos mind is filled with confusion, which is reflected by the restlessness of the orchestra.
And the sounds increase when Otello falls into his trance. On the other hand, the dark singing of Lago is contrasted with the brass. The topic of death stars to showing up from Otellos hatred. At first, the topic of love is filled with Otellos undisturbed happiness in Act I, then the motivation of suspicion makes him suffer from jelousy, which eventully grows to the intention of murder in Act III and Act IV. At this moment, the musical development has reached its peak, but suddenly there is a fall-back. The final conflict shows up, it is the topic of regret and love, but following another motivation of murder. All of this represents that the hero is collapsed. A hero who seems can conquer everything has decided to kill himself in order to end everything.