Music
The overture in C major is notable for its long development section and symphonic character. Re-used with reduced orchestration as the first movement of his Symphony No 63, in the opera it finishes on an open cadence.
Throughout the opera the key of E flat is associated with the moon; the 18th century often linked the key with darkness and sleep.
In this opera Haydn moved to a new level of inspiration in the noble arias he writes for his serious characters Flaminia and Ernesto and the evocative music for the flight to the moon in Act 1. Several numbers (vocal and instrumental) combine triple metre and a slow to moderato tempo. Flaminia’s Act I "Ragion nell’alma siede" has the typical form and coloratura of opera seria, while Lisetta’s "Se lo comanda" in Act II mixes comic and serious styles.
The ballet interludes in Act II create an imaginary world with off-stage horns and bassoons and string harmonics. By contrast the G minor sinfonia which starts Act III depicts the inner rage of the duped Buonafede.
Haydn re-used parts of the opera in trios for flute, violin and cello (Hob IV:6-11) and Ernesto’s "Qualche volta non fa male" become the Benedictus of the Mariazeller Mass (Hob XXII:8).
Read more about this topic: Il Mondo Della Luna
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Intolerable music falls.
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Belly, shoulder, bum,
Flash fishlike; nymphs and satyrs
Copulate in the foam.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“What is our life? a play of passion;
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—Sir Walter Raleigh (1552?–1618)
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—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)