“REALISM”
Even as he denounces the cabaletta, Arist makes an important point about it when he notes its (to him) offensive dance rhythm. An écossaise (in German schottische, “Scottish”) was the early nineteenth-century version of the contredanse, by 1813 a ballroom favorite. So was the polonaise (“Polish”), a strutting processional dance in triple meter and another characteristic cabaletta rhythm. The use of ballroom dances as aria models had a considerable history, especially in Mozart. But it was in Mozart's comic operas that he relied on the practice, not his serious ones. The infiltration of serious opera by the rhythms of the ballroom was only one of the ways in which by Rossini's time the serious had adopted—and adapted to its purposes—the resources of the comic.
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 1 Real Worlds, and Better Ones." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2025. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-001006.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 1 Real Worlds, and Better Ones. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Nineteenth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 21 Jan. 2025, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-001006.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 1 Real Worlds, and Better Ones." In Music in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 21 Jan. 2025, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-001006.xml
