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German Baroque Opera part 1

By Jason Monday February 23, 2009

Home » Classical Music Eras » Baroque » German Baroque Opera part 1

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Opera, in its conventional form, had first appeared in 1597 in Italy and later expanded toward Germany, France and England (“Encyclopedia” 491). Opera began just three years before the first years of what we now consider to be the Baroque Period (1600-1750 AD) in music. The word “baroque” according to Webster’s Dictionary means: “a jeweler’s trade term for ill-shaped pearls.” This term is in reference to general sound of the music that was composed within this era. Although it had intellectually surpassed that of the prior generations it still did not have the lush and extravagant harmonies of the Classical period. Specifically the German Baroque opera is of great importance.

It is often thought that opera is the combination of all the arts into one: music, drama, and visual art. Despite this belief opera in itself is dominated by music. The drama is primarily sung and accompanied by an orchestra, with visual art not even being present in certain instances. Tension and relief itself can be and is created through use of chords, progressions, tempo, dynamics, etc.

The first ever German Opera was Dafne, written by Heinrich Schutz in 1627 (“Encyclopedia“ 629). It was composed thirty years after the first Italian opera was written. In Greek Mythology, Dafne is the daughter of Peneus (a river god). She is followed indefinitely by Apollo (the sun god) and saved only when her mother, Gaea, turns her into a laurel tree (158). Ironically, it was based upon that very same libretto by Rinuccini that had been translated into German. Making it both the first Italian and German opera. Schutz had composed the music in this opera for the marriage of the daughter of Saxon Elector to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (Oxford 303; “Encyclopedia” 629).

Unfortunately, in the forty-four years following there hadn‘t been a “real“ opera produced. There had been, however, many librettos that were set to music. Historians consider these German librettos to be nothing more than amateur material, including a libretto set entirely to music: Sigmund Theophil Staden’s Seelewig that was written in 1644 (Oxford 303, 304).