BAROQUE BRILLIANCE HANDEL ALESSANDRO (EXCERPTS) $20 SCHOOLS’ TICKETS PROGRAM RESOURCES

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ABOUT HANDEL George Frideric Handel (b. 1685, d. 1759) while born in Germany, spent his most prolific years in England Here he forger a successful creer, in part thanks to his appointment as the Kapellmeister to the Elector of Hanover who swiftly inherited the throne of England, bringing Handel with him. Most known for his operas and oratorios (namely The Messiah), his time spent in Italy ( ) greatly influenced his compositional style and made his continental sound very appealing to those in England.

ALESSANDRO (Composed 1726) is an opera composed by Handel. It premiered at the King’s Theatre in London by all accounts it was very well received by audiences. “The story recounts Alexander the Great's journey to India and depicts him less in a heroic vein than as vainglorious as well as indecisive in matters of the heart. The work's charm and lightness of touch make it at times almost a comic work.”

FEATURES IN OPERA The music in an opera serves quite specific functions to help progress the story, identify characters or event and give the audience insight as to what characters are thinking or feeling. These different types of pieces are identified as the following: Recitative: Speech-like singing that helps to narrate the story. Dialogue during recitative sections can be as boring as “and he opened the door” to more significant lines such as “they embraced for the first time”. Aria: Solo piece for characters to express their emotions. Similar to a soliloquy in Shakespeare. Also known as “out of time” moments where the narrative is suspended and characters delve into their emotions. Can seem like the character steps out of the scene to sing directly to the audience. Usually in da capo (A-B-A) structure. (A) establishes the mood/emotion of the character (B) explores a contrasting mood/emotion. (A) allows the singer to embellish and ornament the original melody. This is quite similar to what jazz musicians do when returning to the head tune. Duets, Trios, Quartets: An ensemble piece usually written for the lead roles to sing together. It will often be placed at the point where the story is at its most complex and will interweave all the characters’ sub-plots together. It is a clever way to wrap up the first act before the second act begins and things begin to be resolved, or at the end of the opera when all has been resolved. me”. Chorus: A large piece sung by the chorus, often used to set the scene or introduce the new act.

ALESSANDRO Excerpts from Alessandro One recitative, an arioso and two arias 1. Solitudini amate – Recitative where Roxana reveals her love for Alessandro despite his cheating ways and keeping her held as a prisoner. 2. Aure, fonti, ombre gradite This arioso, a musical piece somewhere between a recitative and aria in style, is when Roxana is asking Alessandro to free her from captivity to show his magnanimous side. 3. Alla sua gabbia d’oro Da capo aria that occurs just after Roxana has been freed by Alessandro. She sings of her freedom from the “golden cage” gabbia d’oro. 4. Brilla nell’ alma Roxana’s aria at the beginning of act 3 when Alessandro has decided to take her as his wife over Lisaura.

DRAMA! DRAMA! DRAMA! These excerpts highlight the love story within the opera involving Alessandro, Lisaura and Roxana. The is also a narrative running concurrently about a revolt planned amongst Alessandro’s men against him and a larger battle that he and his army are facing. The complexity of these narratives running throughout the opera create not only interest for the audience but also an opportunity for Handel to explore the main themes of love, loyalty and betrayal on several layers.

WORDS FOR AURAL OR ANALYSIS TASKS OPERA SYNOPSIS DA CAPO ORIGIONAL MELODY DRAMATIC RECITATIVE EMOTIONS COMPLEX PLOT SPEECH- LIKE CONTRASTING INTERWEAVE NARRATIVE ARIOSO EMBELLISH CHORUS CHARACTERS ARIA ORNAMENT THEMES

COMPOSITION ACTIVITY- RECITATIVE Drawing on some of the ideas and techniques examined in the excerpts from Alessandro, we are going to write our own recitative and aria. Our story is about a refugee who has fled their country and arrived to our shores by boat. RECITATIVE STEP 1 – Character’s background Who is your character? Decide who you will be and write a brief profile. Include details such as age, sex, country of origin, why you left, how long it has taken to get here, any other details of the journey that will help to clearly give the character’s background. STEP 2 – Putting it to music Listen to Handel’s Solitudini amate again. Hear how the chords that accompany the recitative only move at particular points in the text. Once you have refined your text add some accompanying sustained chords to give your recitative some harmonic foundation. Borrow some ideas from Handel if you’d like. In order to identify the important words, circle them in the text and aim to use chord changes at these points. You may choose to notate your recitative with staff notation, tab (if you are using guitar to accompany) or some graphic representations. As long as it can be performed as you would like. STEP 3 – Rehearse and perform Practise your recitative and share your ideas with a classmate for some feedback. Listen to other’s ideas and offer your response to their work.

COMPOSITION ACTIVITY- ARIA STEP 1 – The text How do they feel at this point? Imagine what you would have been through to get this far. Record some of emotions and thoughts you may have upon arriving to Australia. Try to arrange your text into two sections. A = Your initial thoughts/ feelings; B = Any conflicting thoughts/ feelings. This will help you to set up a da capo aria structure quite nicely having the two conflicting sections to work with. STEP 2 – The music Listen to Handel’s Aure, fonti, ombre gradite, Alla sua gabbia d’oro and Brilla nell’ alma making note of how the music reflects the emotions and text sung by the soloist. Are their places where instruments are used in particular ways to show sadness, tension, happiness, etc? Once you have established the text, the mood or emotions of your aria should be apparent. Experiment with some melodic and harmonic ideas that reflect the text. Once you have found an idea that you feel represents the text in each section, you can begin to develop them further and start to incorporate the words into your melodies. It is VERY important to notate or record ALL your ideas throughout this process. You never know when you might like to revisit an idea later.

STEP 3 – Shaping & Refining When you have completed the development of each section start to bring it all together. Incorporating some similar musical features in both section can help to unify the aria (eg; use of dynamics, similar ornaments/articulation). Contrasting instrumentation between sections can help to efficiently change the mood between section A and B. SHARING YOUR IDEAS AND SEEKING FEEDBACK ENRICHES YOUR COMPOSITION PROCESS. HEARING SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK AND RESPONDING TO IT ALSO ENRICHES YOUR COMPOSITION PROCESS.

AT THE CONCERT When you go to the concert, use the knowledge and skills we have explored and consider the following questions: Listen to how the singer (Lezhneva) is not only treated as a soloist but also how the voice is used as an instrument to help shape and convey the text. Can you grasp the feelings of the arias and other vocal works despite the language they are sung in not being English? How does the composer and Lezhneva achieve this? Listen to Bach’s suite No.1 in C major – Of the seven pieces that make up this work, pick which two interest you the most in the performance. Write out what musical aspects of the chosen pieces most drew you attention. Refer to as many of the concepts of music as you need to in order to give a thorough answer.

TEACHER’S NOTES Teacher's Notes for reference to the Draft Australian Curriculum: The Arts and NSW Stage 6 Music 1 & Music 2 Syllabus.Australian Curriculum: The ArtsMusic 1Music 2 General Capabilities LIT – Reading the score, writing about the Concepts of Music (CoM). NUM – Identifying and discussing meter and rhythm. ICT – Utilising internet resources. CCT – Critically discussing the set work/s. PSC – Sharing personal responses to set work/s. EU – Working collaboratively with peers in group discussions. ICU – Discussing cultural issues surrounding the set work/s. Cross-Curriculum Links & Priorities English, Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics, History, Language Viewpoints2 – Extend discussions into the links between the repetitive nature of these works and that of cultural music of Asian regions (eg; Balinese, Chinese).

TEACHER’S NOTES NSW Stage 6 Syllabus Links – MUSIC 1 Topic Links Baroque Music Theatre Music MUSIC 2 Topic Links Music 1600 – 1900 Baroque Music MUSIC 1 Outcome Links P – 2,3,4,5,6,10,11 H – 2,3,4,5,6,10,11 MUSIC 2 Outcome Links P – 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,12 H – 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,12

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