Music and Its Styles of Composition

If music is the food of love, then play on.[1]Many people describe music as a form of entertainment, art and cultural activity. It spreads happiness, joy and peace in people’s life. Music can be defined as a form of sound that expresses ideas and emotions through aspects of melody, color, harmony and rhythm.[2]The genres of music exceed count as they keep emerging every day. Some of the common genres include hip-hop; rock; country; pop; rhythm and blues (R&B); folk and jazz. In the music industry, different people have different ways of creating music and expressing themselves through music. Also, different songs have different themes found in society, like love, death, power, violence, among others. This essay tries to explain the different ways through which the European composers made music. It focuses on one European composer, Joanna Adolph Hasse, his biography, a career in music, composition style, elements of style in his operas, among other things.

Hasse was born in Germany on March 25, 1699.[3] He was a great singer, teacher and composer of music in the 18^th Century. He was very famous for his sacred music. His family members were church musicians from Hamburg, Germany. His music career began in 1718 when he joined the Hamburg Opera as a tenor. The following year he got a chance to join the court of Brunswick to sing, and in 1721, he performed Antioco, his first music piece, where he sang in production. In 1725, he performed his serenade Antonio e Cleopatra, with principal roles: Carlo Broschi alias Farinelli and Vittoria Tesi. This performance earned him a great commission, and he also got to meet Alessandro Scarlatti, who later turned out to be his teacher.

Hasse married Faustina Bordoni in 1730 and was later appointed at the Dresden Court as the Kapellmeister. However, he arrived at Dresden the following year as he was supervising his cantata Daniello at the Habsburg court in Vienna. In October the same year, Hasse relocated from Dresden to Rome and Turin so as to direct performances of his compositions. During this period, he also composed music for the Venetian theatres. In 1733, Hasse’s patron at Dresden, Friedrich August, passed away. At this time, he composed many songs for Venice’s churches. In 1735, he went to Dresden then back to Venice, Italy for two years then returned to Dresden. In 1737, he came up with five operas and later in 1738 relocated back to Venice after his court moved to Poland. During this time, Hasse and his wife, who was a soprano singer, were very famous. After two years, Hasse moved back to Dresden where he stayed for four years. He composed new arias for his wife and also modified Artaserse when he was in Dresden.

In 1745, Hasse wrote many flute sonatas and concertos after Fredrick the Great visited Dresden.[4]In the same year at his performance of Te Deums, the King of Prussia requested a performance of his composition Arminio. In 1747, Hasse visited Venice and Munich then returned, where he performed his composition La spartan Generosa to celebrate multiple royal weddings at that time. He was also promoted to Oberkapellmeister at Dresden. Later in 1750, Hasse got a chance to perform his Didone abbandonata at a wedding of Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony and French Dauphin in Paris. In 1751, Hasse’s wife retired from performing, but Hasse continued to write his operas. Five years later, the Dresden court relocated to Warsaw due to the Seven-Year War hence forcing Hasse to travel between Italy and Poland to supervise the production of his compositions.

Hasse then moved to Vienna in 1760, and after three years he went back to Dresden only to find his house and every musical apparatus in the court destroyed. After four years, Hasse performed his Festa teatrale Egeria at the inauguration of Joseph II.[5] Hasse became Maria Theresa favourite and even when he wanted to retire in 1768, she encouraged him to write and compose more operas. Due to this compilation, he wrote Ruggerio in 1771, which he set to Metastasian libretto. During this period, the operatic style was changing, and therefore Hasse and Metastatio received strong competition from other composers like Ranieri de’Calzabigi and Christoph Gluck.[6] This made Hasse shift from Vienna to Venice where he spent the last years of his life. In 1781, his wife died, and after two years he also succumbed to arthritis.

Hasse’s composition style was classical opera. This was however disputed by people like G. B. Mancini, who argued that Hasse was a padre della musica. An opera is a form of art where music becomes the leading role in the theatre.[7] In opera, musicians execute a dramatic work while incorporating libretto (text) and music. It combines many aspects of spoken theatre such as dancing, costumes and acting. Opera often includes other genres of music. In the past, opera consisted of two genres: recitative and aria. Recitative just as the name, it was simply musically reciting passages so as to emulate and insist on the inflexions of speech.[8] On the other hand, the aria was the genre where actors were able to express their emotions in a melodic way.[9] Hasse also composed church music.

In his career in music, Hasse was well-received. He was the best composer of the opera genre, in his time, together with his colleague and friend Pietro Metastato, who was a librettist. Most of his stage works were performed in big musical centres all around Europe. Historians like Charles Burney claimed that he was the best lyrical composer.[10] Additionally, we see that in his music career he achieved positions like being Kapellmeister at Dresden court and later promoted to  Oberkapellmeister. Hasse also got to perform for great people like Maria Theresa, the King of Prussia, among others. Hasse’s opera Antonio e Cleopatra was also nominated as ‘the best opera recording’ in the Grammy Award. Clearly, Hasse was well-accepted and appreciated in Europe, and his career was very successful.

Nevertheless, after his death, Hasse was almost ignored. Hasse’s reputation declined massively, and his operas were not performed until the end of 20^th Century when it was revived. His competitor, Christoph Gluck, took the opera music in a new approach which was warmly welcomed in Europe hence outdoing Hasse.

Artaserse is an opera that was reviewed by Hasse around 1742.[11] Artaserse was originally composed by Leonardo Vinci, in 1730, to Pietro Metastio, who was an Italian libretto. Artaserse has a surprisingly good dramatic plot, and its characters face a number of political and personal dilemmas, giving the Leonardo Vinci the opportunity to create emotional arias. The opera is about political conspiracy, friendship, relationship and loyalty between two lovers. Artabano, the prefect of the Royal Guard, tries to take over the throne by killing the king of Persia, Serse. However, after he gives his sword to his son, Arbace, he is accused of the murder. Arbace tries to explain that he is innocent but does not want to sell out his father’s actions. Artaserse, son of Serse, succeeds his father. Artaserse trusts that Arbace, who was his friend, could not commit such an action but cannot defend him without proof. In this hopeless circumstance, the relationship between Artaserse and Semira (the sister to Arbace) and Arbace and Mandane (the sister to Artaserse) is in jeopardy. The opera reaches a climax where Artabano confesses, Arbace is released, and the two couples reunite.[12]

Opera music has many elements of style and also uses a number of musical instruments. In Hasse’s review of Artaserse, he uses various elements of style. The elements of style in music show how the music is expressed. Elements of style illustrate how harmony, rhythm, melody and arrangement are achieved in production.[13] In Artaserse, Hasse uses an orchestra, which is a group of musician led by a maestro and accompanied by different musical instruments.[14]Along with that, Hasse uses an overture. An overture is an orchestral composition that is performed as the opera begins before any acts take place on the stage. Additional, Hasse’s orchestra uses musical scores, which are notated piece of music indicating every voice and instrumental part for each orchestra member.

The Artaserse also showcase various musical theme used in opera music. The recitative theme is the most dominant theme. The recitative theme in Artaserse is used by characters to converse amongst themselves and move the plot of the story. Artaserse also uses the theme of the aria, where the characters sing vocal solo to voice out their emotions and recite their lines within the plot. Additionally, Artaserse had the ensemble theme, where the music composition is sung by two or more actors at the same time. Last but not least, the opera had a chorus, which is generally described as providing background music for two or more people singing separately or together.

Moreover, the opera music has several voice types which include: soprano; mezzo-soprano; contralto; soprano castrato, alto, countertenor, tenor, baritone and bass. In Artaserse, the soprano voice, which is the highest vocal range and in most cases is done by a female character, is the most used voice. In many operas, this voice is used by the heroine or young female characters. Also, the Artaserse has the soprano castrato, which is a male voice singing in soprano or mezzo-soprano voice of high range, power and flexibility. This voice is used by servants, old women and characters in comic roles. Finally, some characters sang in alto, which is the lowest singing voice of a female and is usually lower than a soprano. This voice type is usually used by male characters or women acting like men.

The opera of Artaserse is performed by an acoustic orchestra with four instrumental families: strings, brass, percussion and woodwinds. The instruments used including violin, viola, double bass, harp, flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, tuba, trombone, piano, bass drum, snare drum and other percussion instruments. Artaserse is performed in G-Major. The orchestra used in the performance of Artaserse achieves the musical and dramatic set.  

Just like soil and fabric, music also possesses texture. Music texture can be described as a combination of rhythm, melody and harmonic in a music piece so as to achieve an overall quality of sound. Hasse in Artaserse achieves a monophonic music texture. Monophonic music texture means that a piece is performed by one voice in a single melodic line, though played by one or more instruments.

Furthermore, Artaserse has a melodic tune. Melody is a linear series of notes heard as an entity and produces a tune. Artaserse uses the melody by most operas called operatic melody. Its melody can be classified as a disjunct, that is, quick rise and fall in the note intervals. Artaserse has both disjunct ascending and descending contours.  Additionally, music is classified according to the range. The range is the space of pitches between the lowest and highest of a composition. Artaserse has a narrow range. Also, Artaserse is performed in a high vocal register.

Artaserse is performed in a consistent dynamic volume. Due to the consistency in volume, there are no sudden changes in the volume. However, Artaserse uses punctuations and accents to create emphasis when reciting the composition. Crescendos, libretto and decrescendos are the most dominant dynamic expression in Artaserse. There are soft and loud notes at the end of every recited sentence while held notes are sung in decrescendos. Finally, Artaserse is performed such that the instrumental arrangement follows a similar dynamic as the vocals, while emphasizing emotions in the composition.

The opera music is classified into many forms like opera seria, semi-opera, operetta, among others. Artaserse can be categorized as an opera seria. Opera seria is an Italian opera of the 18^th Century which usually depends on a classical subject and describe by comprehensive use of recitatives and arias. The opera Artaserse has a fast tempo. Artaserse has an irrational rhythm. Its rhythm time signature can be described as 3/4. Time signature illustrates how music is counted. This means that there are three-quarter notes in each bar.

We can, therefore, conclude that music is a very beautiful form of art that enables people to express themselves. There are many elements of music that make it interesting and pleasing to people. Different people have different ways of combining these elements so as to come up their piece. This creates genres of music. Music, in itself, has a lot of benefits. It is a source of income for composers, singers, music teachers and instrumentalist. It is a form of entertainment and relaxation too. Also, music is used in therapy sessions. Thus, it would be correct to assume that music cuts across all aspects of our lives. Appreciating music is hence vital so as to keep music and artist motivated.

Bibliography

Cannon, Robert. Opera. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Charlton, David. Opera in the Age of Rousseau: Music, confrontation, realism. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Davidson, Mary Wallace, D.W. Krummel and James P. Cassaro. “Libraries and collections in the United States.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002253081.

Metastatic, Pietro. Artaserse: Drama per Musica. Pel Teatro Di S.M.B. printed by G. Woodfall, at the King’s-Arm, Charing-Cross, 1754.

Millner, Fredrick. The Operas of Johann Adolf Hasse. Hamburg: U.M.I. Research Press, 1979.

Monson, Dale E. “Artaserse (iii).” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000009178.

McClymonds, Marita P., and Daniel Heartz. “Opera Seria.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-978156159263-e-0000020385.

Neville, Don. “Artaserse.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000900283.

Price, Curtis and Louise K. Stein. “Semi-opera.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025392.

Scott, David. “Kennedy, (George) Michael.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-978156159263-e-0000014885.

Strohm, Reinhard. Drama per Musica: Italian Opera Seria of the Eighteenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997

Discography

Jaroussky, Phillippe. Artaserse. Virgin Classic-724354572128, 2005, compact disc.

[1] Davidson, Mary Wallace, D.W. Krummel and James P. Cassaro. “Libraries and collections in the United States.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002253081.

[2] Davidson, “Libraries and Collection,”

[3] Millner, Fredrick. The Operas of Johann Adolf Hasse. Hamburg: U.M.I. Research Press, 1979.

[4] Scott, David. “Kennedy, (George) Michael.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-978156159263-e-0000014885

[5] Strohm, Reinhard. Drama per Musica: Italian Opera Seria of the Eighteenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.

[6] Cannon, Robert. Opera. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

[7] McClymonds, Marita P., and Daniel Heartz. “Opera Seria.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-978156159263-e-0000020385

[8] Charlton, David. Opera in the Age of Rousseau: Music, confrontation, realism. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015.

[9] Price, Curtis and Louise K. Stein. “Semi-opera.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025392.

[10] Millner, “Johann Adolf Hasse,”

[11] Neville, Don. “Artaserse.” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000900283

[12] Metastatio, Pietro. Artaserse: Drama per Musica. Pel Teatro Di S.M.B. printed by G. Woodfall, at the King’s-Arm, Charing-Cross, 1754.

[13] Neville, “Artaserse,”

[14] Monson, Dale E. “Artaserse (iii).” Grove Music Online. (2002); https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000009178