| Opera | ||||
| “E Lucevan le stelle” (Puccini) | “Habanera” (Bizet) | “News has a kind of mystery” (Adams) | Discuss Similarities and Differences | |
| Tempo (slow, medium, fast, dance-like?) | The tempo is slow and changing to medium. | The tempo is medium. | The tempo is medium and changing to fast. | In these three songs, the tempo is always different – it varies from slow to fast. |
| Unitythat you hear in timbre (instrumentation), tempo, dynamics (loud or soft) | Timbre, tempo, and dynamics are rather soft. | Timbre, tempo, and dynamics change from being soft to being loud. | Timbre, tempo, and dynamics are mostly loud. | All these songs have unity in timbre, tempo, and dynamics. However, if in “E Lucevan le stelle,” it is maintained throughout the song, in “News has a Kind of Mystery,” there is more variety (Frechen, 2019). |
| Varietyyou hear like changes in timbre (instrumentation), tempo, dynamics (loud or soft) | There is no much variety of timbre, tempo, and dynamics in this song. | There are moments when the singer’s voice is soft while the dynamics are loud. | Sometimes, either dynamics are loud, the tempo is fast, and the voice is soft, or vice versa: the voice is loud and dynamic, while the tempo is slow. | Variety in timbre, tempo, and dynamics is more evident in “News has a Kind of Mystery,” where the singer’s voice and the music may express different emotions. As for “E Lucevan le stelle,” I did not notice much variety – the music and the voice harmoniously complement each other (Cavaradossi, 2016). In “Habanera,” music’s tempo and dynamics may sometimes go loud, while the singer’s voice is soft (Metropolitan Opera, 2014). |
| Lyrics(What story, if any, is told by lyrics each artist sings?) | This song is performed when the leading male character, Mario Cavaradossi, is preparing for his execution. He sings about both the joy of life and the inevitability of death. | The lyrics of this song tell about love and its difficulties. | In this song, the future of the country is being decided. The singer tries to distinguish between the friends and the enemies and choose what is best for the nation’s success. | The lyrics of these three songs are on different topics, but they are powerful, emotional, and impressive. |
| Voice quality(Use adjectives to describe the different timbre of each singer’s voice.) | The singer’s voice is strong, powerful, and deep. Simultaneously, it is rather beautiful and lyrical, and it makes the listeners feel all the emotions the singer has. | The singer’s voice is melodious, gentle, and rich. Its strength and beauty make me want to listen to this song more and more. | The voice of the singer is clear, deep, and warm. I would even say that it is harsh and warm at the same time. | All voices are strong, powerful, and clear. |
| Rhythm(Does the song have a clear pulse or beat? Is there syncopation?) | There is no clear pulse and beat, the rhythm is calm. | There are syncopation and a clear pulse. | There is a clear pulse and beat in the song, which makes it more dynamic. | Rhythm and pulse are most evident in “Habanera” and “News has a Kind of Mystery.” |
| Other (What else comes to mind as you listen to this music?) | This song makes me feel desperately sad because of its story and the singer’s voice and performance. | When I listen to this music, I feel more encouraged and braver. Moreover, the song’s lyrics make me rather impressed as it is not just another song about love – it has a new meaning and interesting ideas. | The fact that this song is performed by several singers simultaneously makes me think about unity and the strength of people who stand together and support each other. When there is only one artist singing, his voice sounds loud, smooth, and very deep. | All these songs have left me rather emotional and impressed by their depth and power. |
| Can you think of a modern artist or song that may have been influenced by each vocalist or each style? What similarities are apparent? | It is hard to compare modern music and artists with opera songs like this. However, this song reminds me of Sam Smith’s “Fire on fire” because both are emotional, and they have similar tempo and dynamics changes. | The song “Little Me” by Little Mix may have been influenced by “Habanera” because they are similar in style and tempo. | When I listen to this song, I always think of “Run boy run” by Woodkid. I know that there are no many similarities in the lyrics, but the energies and the rhythms of these songs are alike. | |
References
Cavaradossi, M. (2016). E lucevan le stelle Luciano Pavarotti 1978 English captions [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Frechen. (2019). “The people are the heroes now” & “News has a kind of mystery” – Nixon in China (2011 NY Met Opera) [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Metropolitan Opera. (2014). Carmen: “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Elina Garanca) [Video]. YouTube. Web.