OPERA SERIA IN (AND AS) PRACTICE

Chapter:

CHAPTER 4 Class and Classicism

Source:

MUSIC IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES

Author(s):

Richard Taruskin

The first sung phrase in Ex. 4.7 is followed by a fermata in the printed score. Such fermatas in virtuoso arias signal not a pause but a “cadenza” (short for cadenza fiorita, “ornamented cadence”), an unwritten solo that can come (as here) after the textual “motto,” but that more often precedes—and delays—an important cadence. Cadenzas are display vehicles abounding in what their singers called passaggii, from which we get our English term “passage” or “passagework,” replacing the earlier English “divisions.” In theory cadenzas were improvised by the singer on the spot, but in practice they were often worked out in advance and memorized.

Citation (MLA):

Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 4 Class and Classicism." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2025. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume2/actrade-9780195384826-div1-04007.xml>.

Citation (APA):

Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 4 Class and Classicism. In Oxford University Press, Music In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries. New York, USA. Retrieved 21 Jan. 2025, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume2/actrade-9780195384826-div1-04007.xml

Citation (Chicago):

Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 4 Class and Classicism." In Music In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 21 Jan. 2025, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume2/actrade-9780195384826-div1-04007.xml