MUSIC AND (OR AS) MORALITY
In the second act the trajectory is reversed, leading to the Don’s inevitable downfall. The first scene finds him farcically brazen as ever, rejecting Leporello’s advice to mend his ways and wooing Elvira’s maidservant with a serenade. In the second scene, both noble ladies are cynically shown wavering in their hatred of the irresistible Don. The third scene is the turning point. Don Giovanni, having escaped another scrape by leaping a wall into a graveyard, and having revealed the true depths to which he can descend (now he’s been dallying with Leporello’s girl!), is brought up short by the voice of the Commander from beyond the grave (accompanied by sepuchrally solemn trombones). He sends Leporello to see where the voice is coming from, and they discover the Commander’s monument. With his usual bravado, Don Giovanni bids Leporello invite the statue to dinner. To Leporello’s great fright and Don Giovanni’s bewilderment, the statue nods assent.
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 9 Enlightenment and Reform." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 21 Sep. 2023. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume2/actrade-9780195384826-div1-09010.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 9 Enlightenment and Reform. In Oxford University Press, Music In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries. New York, USA. Retrieved 21 Sep. 2023, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume2/actrade-9780195384826-div1-09010.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 9 Enlightenment and Reform." In Music In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 21 Sep. 2023, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume2/actrade-9780195384826-div1-09010.xml
