Table Of ContentTHE SIGNIFIER AND THE SIGNIFIED
Que la musique soit un langage, par Ie moyen duquel sont elabo
res des messages dont certains au moins sont compris de
l'immense majorite alors qu'une infime minorite seulement est ca
pable de les emettre, et qu'entre tous les langages, celui-lll seul
a
reunisse les caracteres contradictoires d'etre tout la fois intelligi
ble et intraduisible, fait du createur de musique un etre pareil aux
dieux, et de la musique elle-meme Ie supreme mystere des sciences
de l'homme.
Claude Levi-Strauss ( Le cru et Ie cuit)
FRITS NOSKE
THE SIGNIFIER AND
THE SIGNIFIED
STUDIES IN THE OPERAS OF
MOZART AND VERDI
•
MARTINUS NIJHOFF ! THE HAGUE! 1977
ISBN-13: 978-94-010-1089-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-1087-0
001: 10.1007/978-94-010-1087-0
© 1977 by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to
reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form
English translations in Appendix III,
Copyright © 1977: Harold Lindberg
Softcover reprint oft he hardcover 1st edition 1977
Published with a grant from the Netherlands Organization
for the Advancement of Pure Research
PREFACE
The studies collected in this volume deal with the interpretation of
opera. In most cases the results are based on structural analysis, a concept
which may require some clarification in this context. During the past de
cade 'structure' and 'structural' have become particularly fashionable
terms lacking exact denotation and used for the most divergent purposes.
As employed here, structural analysis is concerned with such concepts as
'relationship', 'coherence' and 'continuity', more or less in contrast to
formal analysis which deals with measurable material. In other words, I
have analysed the structure of an opera by seeking and examining factors
in the musico-dramatic process, whereas analysts of form are generally
preoccupied with the study of elements contained in the musical object.
Though admittedly artificial, the dichotomy of form and structure may
elucidate the present situation with regard to the study of opera. Today,
nearly one hundred years after the death of Wagner, the proclaimed anti
thesis of Oper und Drama is generally taken for what it really was: a means
to propagate the philosophy of its inventor. The conception of opera
(whether 'continuous' or composed of 'numbers') as a special form of drama
is no longer contested. Nevertheless musical scholarship has failed to draw
the consequences from this view and few scholars realize the need to study
general theory of drama and more specifically the dramatic experience.
Instead musicologists have treated opera as a musical object, analysing its
component elements as if they were consecutive movements of a symphony
or a string quartet. Questions concerning both verbal and musical drama,
as, for example, manipUlation of time, point of attack, monologue and
dialogue, dramatic rhythm or audience participation are almost always
ignored in scholarly writings on opera. Even specific operatic problems
(e.g. what is the exact function of a libretto?) are evaded or overlooked. It
seems as if musicology is overpreoccupied with opera history, to the ne
glect of its phenomenology.
VI PREFACE
There are of course exceptions, only two of which I shall mention here.
Although Oscar Bie's Die Oper (Berlin 1913) is outdated, its initial section
dealing with the genre's dialectic (Die Paradoxie der Oper) still provides
fascinating reading. A more recent publication, Opera as Drama by Joseph
Kerman (New York 1956), may be considered a landmark in twentieth
century operatic literature. In the introductory chapter the author clearly
states his basic view: "Like poetry, music can reveal the quality of action,
and thus determine dramatic form in the most serious sense". Kerman may
not have been the first to say this; what is refreshing, however, is his faith
ful adherence to this idea, with the result that his shrewd observations
throw a new light on famous operas from Monteverdi to Strawinsky. The
fact that I have occasionally expressed disagreement with certain of
Kerman's points should not be misinterpreted. I find the core of his argu
ment entirely convincing and every reader familiar with it may easily trace
its influence on the development of my thinking.
My approach to the topics discussed in this book is essentially based on
the study of the theory of drama. Although, in general, dramatic criticism
through the ages has been concerned with music only marginally, the read
ing of various treatises and essays ranging from Aristotle to Artaud and
Brecht has nevertheless helped me to gain insight into musical drama as a
cultural phenomenon of Western civilization. Among twentieth-century
theorists whose writings have provided considerable stimulus are George
Pierce Baker, T. S. Eliot, Northrop Frye, Una Ellis-Fermor, Francis
Fergusson and Eric Bentley.
Another factor that figured strongly in the preparation of these studies is
the dramatic experience. However useful attentive reading of operatic
scores may be, it is the theatre which ultimately reveals the truth. This was
proven to me when in January 1973 I had the opportunity to follow in
detail the staging of Verdi's Attila at the Teatro Regio in Parma, attending
all rehearsals either in the wings or in a box. Watching the second-act
finale on the stage, I realized that my original interpretation of this partic
ular ensemble, based entirely on study of the score, had been faulty.
Lastly, my study of semiotics has influenced this book. Like structur
alism, the theory of signs has recently become a dangerously fashionable
subject in scholarly and even in less learned circles. Still its usefulness
cannot be denied. Drama is essentially a matter of communication, and
since on our planet communication is effected by means of signs, the study
of the sign process is of vital importance for the student of opera. As in the
case of dramatic theory I have tried to avoid burdening the reader with a
surfeit of technical details and terminology. This does not alter the fact
PREFACE VII
that most of these studies are concerned with the musico-dramatic sign,
and of course Appendix I deals explicitly with opera and semiotics.
Little further need be said here about the two musical dramatists whose
works form the subject matter of this book. To speak of their greatness
could only result in cliches or truisms. Many lines have been written about
their unrivalled insight into human nature, and it is perhaps that quality
which induced me to choose the opera scores of Mozart and Verdi over
those of other masters. For in the last resort the study of art is nothing but
the study of man.
* *
*
The essays grew out of lectures and graduate seminars for the
Universities of Leyden, Amsterdam, Illinois (Urbana), Iowa (Iowa City),
the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.), the Institut fiir
Theaterwissenschaft (University of Vienna), the Salzburg Mozarteum, the
Dutch Mozart Society, and the Third and Fourth International Verdi
Conferences (Milan 1972, Chicago 1974). Appendix I is a revision of a
paper read at the First International Conference of Semiotic Studies
(Milan 1974) and in a more extended form at the International
Colloquium on "The Function of Tragedy" (Ghent 1975). To the editors
of The Musical Quarterly, Music and Letters, Studia Musicologica, Theatre
Research and the Atti del 3° congresso internazionale di studi verdiani I am
grateful for permission to print revised versions of previously published
material. It should also be mentioned here that two further articles on
Verdi are not included in this book, i.e. Verdi und die Belagerung von
Haarlem, published in Convivium Musicorum, Festschrift Wolfgang
Boetticher (Berlin 1974), and Schiller e la genesi del "Macbeth" verdiano
(Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana, vol. X, 1976, pp. 196-203).
The number of persons and institutions to whom I am indebted for help
and advice is considerable. First of all I want to thank Rita Benton
(University of Iowa) who graciously took the time to correct my English
and to offer critical observations. The insights I gained from extensive
talks and correspondence with my friend and colleague Pierluigi Petrobelli
(King's College, University of London) are truly invaluable; I am also
grateful to him for his guidance in the labyrinth of Verdi an source ma
terial. Both Julian Budden (BBC, London) and Philip Gossett (University
of Chicago) have cordially shared with me their vast knowledge of
nineteenth-century Italian opera. As for the Istituto di studi verdiani in
Parma, without the un wearying help of its Director, Maestro Mario
VIII PREFACE
Medici, and staff (Lina Re, Marisa Di Gregorio Casati, Marcello Conati
and Marcello Pavarani) the second half of this book could hardly have
been written. I also remember with pleasure the lively conversations held
with Luigia and Gian Paolo Minardi during my frequent sojourns in
Parma. Furthermore I am indebted to Signorina Gabriella Carrara Verdi
for permission to examine at Sant'Agata the Boito-Verdi correspondence
on the revision of Simon Boccanegra, and to Signora Luciana Pestalozza
and Maestro Fausto Broussard who gave me ample opportunity to study
autograph scores of Donizetti, Mercadante and Verdi in the Ricordi
Archives at Milan.
Last, a word of thanks to my students, whose contributions are far from
negligible. If some of the critical remarks they offered during seminar ses
sions on both sides of the Atlantic have anonymously found their way
into this volume, it is only fitting that they should be duly acknowledged
here. From my students I have also learned that research and teaching are
of equal scholarly importance and that each benefits from the simul
taneous practice of both.
University of Amsterdam FRITS NOSKE
December 1976
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Several chapters of this book are revised versions of articles previously
published in various periodicals. It concerns:
Musical Quotation as a Dramatic Device: The Fourth Act of'Le Nozze di
Figaro', The Musical Quarterly, vol. 54 (I968), pp. I85-I98 (Ch. I).
Social Tensions in 'Le Nozze di Figaro', Music and Letters, vol. 50 (I969),
pp. 45-62 (Ch. 2).
'Don Giovanni': Musical Affinities and Dramatic Structure, Studia
Musicologica, vol. I2 (I970), pp. I67-203 (Ch. 3).
'Don Giovanni': An Interpretation, Theatre Research/Recherches
Theatrales, vol. I3 (I973), pp. 60--74 (Ch. 4).
Verdi and The Musical Figure of Death, Atti del IIIO congresso in
ternazionale di studi verdiani, Parma I974, pp. 349-386 (Ch. 8).
Ritual Scenes in Verdi's Operas, Music & Letters, vol. 54 (I973), pp.
415-439 (Ch. 10).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface V
Acknowledgments IX
PART I: MOZART
Chapter 1. Le nozze di Figaro: Musical Quotation as a Dramatic
Device 3
Chapter 2. Le nozze di Figaro: Social Tensions 18
Chapter 3. Don Giovanni: Musical Affinities and Dramatic Structure 39
Chapter 4. Don Giovanni: An Interpretation 76
Chapter 5. Cosifan tutte: Dramatic Irony 93
Chapter 6. Semantics of Orchestration 121
PART II: VERDI
Chapter 7. Otello: Drama through Structure 133
Chapter 8. The Musical Figure of Death I7I
Chapter 9. Simon Boccanegra: One Plot, Two Dramas 215
Chapter 10. Ritual Scenes 241
Chapter I I. The Notorious Cabaletta 271
Chapter 12. Don Carlos: The Signifier and the Signified 294
APPENDICES
I. Semiotic Devices in Musical Drama 309
II. The Orchestration of Separate Items in Mozart's Operas 322
