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
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“Have you ever been up in your plane at night, alone, somewhere, 20,000 feet above the ocean?... Did you ever hear music up there?... It’s the music a man’s spirit sings to his heart, when the earth’s far away and there isn’t any more fear. It’s the high, fine, beautiful sound of an earth-bound creature who grew wings and flew up high and looked straight into the face of the future. And caught, just for an instant, the unbelievable vision of a free man in a free world.”
—Dalton Trumbo (1905–1976)
“Now the rich stream of Music winds along
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—Thomas Gray (1716–1771)
“The basic difference between classical music and jazz is that in the former the music is always greater than its performance—Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, for instance, is always greater than its performance—whereas the way jazz is performed is always more important than what is being performed.”
—André Previn (b. 1929)