Coventional Form

"The Conventional Form"

by Tom Kaufman

From sometime around 1810 until well into the 1860s and beyond many of the individual numbers in Italian opera were in several parts, usually a slow part and a fast part. This was rather different from the forms used in the 18th century, which tended to have mostly rather short individual arias and duets, although the ensembles (especially those at the end of acts) were often quite lengthy. This essay will deal primarily with these "multi-part arias" arias, although much of this material is also applicable to duets and ensembles.

The conventions as they apply to arias have been previously discussed by many scholars, most notably Lippmann, Gossett, Ashbrook, and Budden. Lippmann goes into antecedents to a greater extent than the others: Friedrich Lippmann, Vincenzo Bellini und die Italienische Opera Seria Seiner Zeit, Cologne, 1969, and specifically cites several examples by Mozart, Paisiello and Cimarosa as having early precursors of the cabaletta -- although the slow and "fast" portions may well be separated by recitative.

My view is that this "multi-part form" became a fully developed convention in the time of Rossini, but not necessarily in an opera by Rossini. I say this because Giovanni Pacini, rather than Rossini, was known as the "maestro delle cabalette", and also because we find somewhat more developed precursors in the works of Spontini and Puccitta.

The period from around 1810 to around 1830 was one during which the form grew in complexity and variety. The next twenty to thirty or so years saw it as an accepted form, but still a form which was varied constantly. Then, between 1860 or so and 1890, the form started to die out, although vestigial uses remained well after that.

While there have been many attempts to define cabalettas. I don't find any really satisfactory because whatever limiting factors are put in, there can, and will be exceptions.

Cabalettas occur with great frequency at the end of arias, duets and ensembles, and are usually (not always) much faster than the preceding number.. The term stretta is generally used for ensembles, and can also be used for duets (I actually prefer it for duets). They were predominantly used in Italian opera, but occur less frequently in French opera, and still less frequently in German opera -- but they do occur there as well -- and, undoubtedly in works in other languages -- e.g., Balfe's Daughter of St. Mark (an English version of the Caterina Cornaro story).

In a typical example for an aria (when the form was already at its height) we might have a chorus, a recitative, a cantabile, a "tempo di mezzo", and a concluding cabaletta. But one or another (least likely the cantabile) might be skipped, and the tempo di mezzo might be totally missing, or an elaborate number such as the "Miserere" in Il trovatore. The cabaletta would usually be repeated, and in rare cases, the tempo di mezzo might be between the first and second times the cabaletta is sung. But we rarely encounter such typical cases in Rossini's Italian operas -- in fact. tempi di mezzi are the exception, rather than the rule in his earlier operas. And there are instances of simple two part arias -- no chorus, no recitative, just a slow movement followed by a cabaletta. Take, for example, "Di piacer mi balza il core" from La gazza ladra. Ninetta appears, sings "Di piacer", and immediately launches into her cabaletta.

By the time of Rossini's later Italian operas, and especially Semiramide, tempi di mezzo had become commonplace, although not universal. One of the most elaborate examples is in Arsace's second aria in the latter opera:

a. Chorus: "In questo augusto soggiorno arcano"

b. Recit.:"Ebben compiasti omai"

c. Cavatina: "In si barbara sciagura"

d. Tempo di mezzo: Coro: "Su ti scioti, rammento chi sei"

and pre cabaletta "Si vendetta"

e. Cabaletta proper (with chorus): Al gran cimento (and Si, vendicata).

There are similar examples in Meyerbeer's Il Crociato in Egitto -- in two of which the protagonist has two "slow arias" followed by cabalettas. We will look at the one for Palmide first::

a. recit. "O solinghi recessi"

b. first aria: "Tutto qui parla ognor"

c. first bridge passage: Ma ciel! s'ei mai peri!

d. second aria-part I "D'una madre disperata" and part II: "Deh mira l'angelo"

e. second bridge passage: A suoi preghi A suoi pianti

f. Cabaletta: "Con qual gioia le catene".

In the above scene, Palmide had worried first about her husband, then her child. But when she sees her father Aladino embracing and hugging the child, her mood changes -- and she has a joyous cabaletta. The big scene and aria for Adriano later on in the opera is also worth a look. Using the revision of 1824, it starts with a lengthy recitative for Adriano, followed by a hymn, another aria, a tempo di mezzo and a cabaletta

a. recit.: Tutto e finito

b. hymn; Suona funereo

c. new recit. Guidati sian que perfidi

d. aria: L'acciar della fede

e. tempo di mezzo: Udite son queste

f. cabaletta: La gloria cleste

As we will see later, these "tempi da mezzo" (or bridge passages) were a form which grew steadily at first. It has a tremendous value in that it explains changes in mood between the slow (often melancholy) cantabile and the fast (often happy -- at least in the early acts) cabaletta. I can repeat that they were rarely used by Rossini -- and probably did not become commonplace until the 1820s. In addition to those mentioned above, there are others in Vaccai's Giulietta e Romeo (1825), and still others in Bellini's Il pirata (1827). By the time of Donizetti's Parisina (1833) they were pretty standard, and played a big role in the drama. Verdi used them liberally in his early operas. They could take any number of forms -- a few lines by a comprimario announcing the arrival of an important personage, or some news event; a chorus of warriors may come upon the scene, the soprano's lover may be heard serenading her off-stage, the temporary appearance of a major character, resulting in a brief duet, the tenor may be brought in on a stretcher, badly wounded, and sings a brief "death aria", it may even be a formal ballet. The whole point is, of course, that anything was permissible, as long as it was dramatically plausible.

The same holds true for the form and nature of the cabaletta. A duet may become a trio, a trio may become a duet, the cabaletta may even be sung by another personage, it may either have no cantabile preceding it, or just a vestigial cantabile, it may be slower than the preceding movements. An unusual case occurs in Bellini's Il pirata where the baritone, Ernesto, uses the same words (Si, vincemmo ed il pregio io sento) for both his "cantabile" and his cabaletta.

Let's look at Anna Bolena (1830) next:

In act I Percy has a big aria:

a. Recitative between Percy and Anna's brother, Lord Rochefort

b. The slow and melancholy section: "Da quel di che lei perduta"

c. Hunters arrive from all sides, announcing the coming of the king: "Ola, veloci accoranno"

d. Percy recalls happier days: ""Ah! cosi ne di ridenti".

This is a relatively early version of the standard form. A much more elaborate version occurs in the finale of the opera:

a. An elegiac chorus: "Chi puo vederla a ciglio asciuto" sets the stage.

b. There is a brief recitative: "Piangete voi?"

c. In "al dolce guidami, castel natio" Anna wants to return to her native castle, and the days when she and Percy were in love.

d. A lengthy tempo di mezzo starts when Hervey announces that the other prisoners be brought from their cells. This is in several portions, the most important of which is an ensemble "Cielo a miei lunghi spasimi" But this is Anna's big scene, and, of course she dominates. In the Sutherland-Hadley recording (Decca) the entire tempo di mezzo takes over 8 minutes.

e. The final cabaletta "Coppia iniqua" in which Anna refuses to ask for vengeance, but prepares to die.

There are two interesting examples in Marino Faliero back to back:

The tenor aria in Act II:

a. Recit. "Notte d'orrore"

b. aria: "Io ti veggio; or svegli e tremi (Fernando has to fight a duel, and is counting the hours)--

c. after the aria, a clock is heard striking three; a signal that his adversary is due to show up. After a brief tempo di mezzo (sung by the tenor)

d. The cabaletta "Mi tornano presenti"

This is followed by a reprise of the opening chorus, and the big scena for the bass:

a. recit. "Fini la festa di Leon"

b. the slow part of the "aria": Bello ardir dei congiurati"--

c. almost immediately after that, a sword fight is heard in the distance, and the dying tenor is brought in by some gondoliers He sings a few bars, and dies.

d. The bass's cabaletta (with chorus) "Fosca notte, notte orrenda".

We get two extremes, a clock striking; and a dying tenor brought in to sing his "death throes" music in the middle of the bass' aria. This idea was quite successful, and Donizetti repeated it several years later in Pia de'Tolomei, where the tenor dies in the middle of the baritone's aria. This scene was to be the big hit of the opera--a fact that may have accounted for its relative failure--after all, the music in an opera was supposedly the prima donna's property.

Of course, there are countless other possibilities, of which the most common is an announcement of death:

In Act III of Lucia:

a. recit. Tombe degli avi miei

b. Aria "Fra poco a me ricovero"

c. first a mournful chorus to the effect that Lucia is dying, then the bass enters and confirms her death, causing Edgardo's final "cabaletta":

d. Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali during which he stabs himself.

The final scenes for soprano in several Donizetti works are very similar -- things are pretty bad to begin with, but get much worse during the "tempo di mezzo" . We have examples (the details vary) in Parisina, Belisario, Gemma di Vergy, Roberto Deveruex, Gabriella di Vergy, and others.

Such final scenes for the soprano were rare in Verdi, but he did use "tempi di mezzo" liberally, and some of them are almost "stand alone" numbers (in that they were recorded as singles during the 78 rpm era) -- especially the "miserere" in Il trovatore (between "D'amor sul ali rosee" and "Tu vedrai che amore in terra".

I just selected a few examples of the conventional form in its usual format. There are, of course, hundreds of others from which I have chosen a few just as easily.

The conventional form was also used in French opera, although quite a bit less frequently. An early example is Fernando Cortez's great scene (and cabaletta precursor) in Spontini's Fernando Cortez:(Paris, 1809). I will use Italian text, since the only available recording is in that language:

a. Coro--Lasciam l'ingrata riva

b. recit. "Qual mai terror dissenato v'assale"

c. aria: "Qual di voi che non e un vil"

d. "tempo do mezzo": "Io resto qui" (Cortez and coro)

e. Cabaletta precursor: "Voliam di gloria in gloria"

f. recit. "Tu a Montezuma il mio messaggio reci"

g. 2nd cabaletta precursor: "Serriam falange eroica" (Cortez and chorus)

The latter scene is a precursor of many "stretti marziali" to come in later operas.

We find clearer cut examples in such works as Boieldieu's La Dame Blanche (Paris, 1825), and Rossini's French operas: Thus, in Dame Blanche, there is a famous aria in ABA form: Viens gentille dame, which is followed immediately by a cabaletta "Deja la nuit, la nuit plus sombre".

There are several examples in Rossini's French operas, a very unusual case in point being what happened to Maometto's big cavatina between Maometto II and Siege de Corinthe. Thus, in Maometto II we have a cavatina: "Sorgete e in si bel giorno" followed immediately by a cabaletta: "Duce di tanti eroi", made famous by Sam Ramey. In the French version, the first movement disappears, to be replaced by recitative, and cavatina becomes "Chef d'un peuple indomitable"., but the music remains the same. Depending on viewpoint, this can now be regarded as a cabaletta without preceding cavatina, or as a cavatina being turned into a cabaletta.

Another Rossini example worth mentioning is Arnold's big aria in Act IV of Guillaume Tell,

a. recit. Ne m'abbadonne point

b. aria: Asile hereeditaire

c. off stage chorus: vengenace! vengenace, followed by a solo with chrorus

d. Cabaletta proper: Suivez-moi, d'un monstre perfiide

There are several examples in Meyerbeer's French grand operas, including Isabelle's in Robert le Diable. Robert himself did not get such a double aria until years later, when the "Mario aria" was composed for his debut.

But, in the meantime, Halevy's La juive had several examples, most strikingly in the finales to the first and second act, the great aria "Rache quand du Seigneur" in Act III and an unusual case in the duet for the Cardinal and Eleazar in Act IV. But the duet is more appropriately discussed separately under duets. To return to the famous Rachel quand du Seigneur, it is organized as follows:

a. Recit.: Va prononcer ma mort
b. Aria (in aba form); Rachel quand du Seigneur
c. First part of bridge passage: Brief chorus outside: Au bucher les juifs
d. Second part of bridge passage (sung by the protagonist): Quels cris de fureur retentissent
e. Cabaletta proper: Dieu m'eclaire, fille chere.

In this instance, the cabaletta is a complete turn-around from the aria itself. In the aria, Eleazar had decided that his daughter (born a Christian) would be permitted to live (all he had to do was to tell the cardinal that she was born a Christian, and the cardinal's daughter). But the chorus, singing death to the Jews, causes him to change his mind, and have her accompany him to death.

Meyerbeer also gave the soprano and tenor double arias in Les Huguenots, and also has some in Le prophete and even L'africaine. But the big difference is that, while the conventional form does occur in French opera, it is used much less frequently than in it's Italian equivalent.

An interesting comparison can be made between the Italian and French versions of the same basic plot: Donizetti's Poliuto (composed for Naples, 1838) and Les martyrs (Paris, 1841). Thus, the second scene of Act I of Poliuto (Severo's big aria) is organized as follows:

a. Chorus: Plausi all'inclito Severo
b. Recit. Severo: Decio, Signor del mondo
c. Aria, Severo: Di tua beltade immagine
d. Tempo di mezzxo: Come fausto e a noi l'aurora:
e. Cabaletta: No, l'acciar non fu spietato.

In the French version, the "tempo di mezzo" is expanded to include a ballet, and is then followed by the cabaletta. (which is termed "finale" in the original libretto). There is another bridge passage, and the cabaletta is repeated, with all the others joining in.

On the other hand, Auber used the conventional form sparingly, probably because of the great popularity of couplets in French opera comique, while Meyerbeer and Halevy used it quite a bit:

As early as 1833 Donizetti tried to eliminate the final rondo for the prima donna in Lucrezia Borgia. He failed, of course, and the prima donna won. Bellini eliminated it in I puritani (Paris, 1835) and Donizetti was also able to carry it off in the same city and year with Marino Faliero. The explanation is probably rather simple in that this type of aria was not a tradition in France or French opera. Bellini also had fewer than usual cabalettas in I puritani, although there were some vary famous one: "Vien diletto", "Suoni la tromba" and "Vieni fra queste braccia".

In the next few years, the big solo finale for the soprano (occasionally a tenor as in Lucia) started to slowly disappear. Some operas (Roberto Devereux, Maria de Rudenz, Belisario, Oberto, Saffo) had it. Others, especially those by Mercadante (Giuramento, Due Illustre Rivali, Bravo, Vestale, Orazi e Curiazi) did not. Verdi did not use it in his works after Oberto and Donizetti also used it less and less. But Pacini continued using it in many of his operas in the early 1840s.

However, most of the other pieces of these operas from the 1840s into the early 1850s were in the conventional form, although Verdi did have a larger and larger number of plain romanzas, even then. There are examples in Giovanna d'Arco, Attila, I Lombardi, and others.

By the time of the 1857 Simon Boccanegra, there was only one aria in the conventional form: the soprano's "Come in quest'ora bruna". This is its structure:

a. aria: "Come in quest'ora bruna"
b. Tempo di mezzo: Cielo da stelle orbato (sung off-stage by Gabriele)
c. Cabaletta: "Il palpito deh frena"

When Verdi revised the work in 1881, he made numerous changes, added much new music, and also deleted quite a bit. One of the numbers to go was that cabaletta.

It is interesting to note that in each of Verdi's three big successes form the early 1850s (Rigoletto, Trovatore, and Traviata) a cabaletta eventually became a standard cut. But what I don't know is when these cuts first became stanbdard practice, or the extent to which they were encouraged by the composer. Interestingly enough, none of the cabalettas in Ernani suffered that fate.

Only one of the big arias in the original Forza (1862) was in the conventional form: The baritone's "Urna fatal del mio destino" and "Egli e salvo". (The tenor's " Qual sangue sparsi" nicknamed son of Di quella pira" was really vestigial by comparison). To return to the baritone's cabaletta, it was sung twice in the 1862 version -- only once in the revised (1869) version. By the way, the slow and fast parts are separated only by a few bars sung by Don Carlo, and a brief entrance by the surgeon to the effect that Alvaro will live.

I believe that this may well be one of the last examples of an aria with full cabaletta by a major Italian composer. Another late example is Mercadante's Virginia (Naples, 1865 -- composed 1851 or so) which has several arias with "old fashioned" cabalettas. But, works like Don Carlos, Aida, and even Otello were to continue to have duets with cabalettas.