Course
MUSC-311-01
Document Type
Student Paper
Publication Date
Winter 2019
Disciplines
Music
Description, Abstract, or Artist's Statement
Composers of early operas faced the unique challenge of using their music as a dramatic form of entertainment. This idea of drama linked with music was relatively new, so these composers had to develop entirely original concepts. One such composer was Claudio Monteverdi, who built the foundation of modern opera’s three main musical forms: aria, recitative, and ritornello. An early example of the dramatic use of these musical forms can be seen in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. In this opera, Monteverdi used the aria to convey emotions, the recitative to transmit information, and the ritornello to unify the plot.
Augustana Digital Commons Citation
Haenisch, Zoe; Peterson, Elliott; McMillan, Luke; and Wagner, Sam. "Musical Drama in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo: How Aria, Recitative, and Ritornello Shape Drama" (2019). 2019 Festscrift: Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo.
https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/muscfest2019/1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.