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Dido and Aeneas |
Introduction Task Process Sources Conclusion Evaluation |
Process
While
working on
your assignment you will be shown many different
facts about the opera. On your way you will be asked to write a
number of paragraphs about them. Put them into your portfolio.
If
you join the paragraphs when you’ve finished this quest it will
be a good start for making an oral presentation. If
some of the internet-links don’t work anymore don’t panic! Use
a search-engine to find out what you need to know, for example www.google.nl
Politics First
let’s find out about the political circumstances in England
during the time the opera was first performed, 1689. Go to Now
read a short summary of the story of Dido and Aeneas, Go
to
The
opera Look at a programme of a modern performance of Dido and Aeneas and answer the following questions: WA3 Look at the cast of soloists who perform the opera. What is striking about the amount of men versus women that play a part? WA4 A reason for this can be found in the historical background of the opera (see the programme). Formulate this reason.
WA5 Find out in what way the
following persons played a role in the creation of the opera:
b
Nahum Tate c
Josias Priest Now write a paragraph about what roles these people had in the creations of the opera. WA6 The
literary period Look
at an overview of literary periods of English literature, and write
down in which period Dido and Aeneas belongs (name and dates,
WA7)
As you may have found in the programme you’ve studied, the story of Dido and Aeneas
was originally written by the Latin author Vergil (70-19 B.C.).
What Tate did was change a few things in the story and adapt it to an opera. Look again at the
literary periods you’ve just investigated. According to the information given,
what elements did the English writers in this period borrow from
the Classical writers? (WA9)
It’s
to be hoped that Nahum Tate, did not only borrow Vergil’s story,
but his quality of writing style as well! Let’s investigate that now. The
writer of the opera was not just a teacher who happened to like
writing the school-play. Look up what is said about Nahum Tate, and
give one reason why he seems to have been quite successful (WA10)
Also mention a fact which might suggest that he was not as good as
you expect from a man in his position (WA11) The Sociologist Assignment 2 Why witches played a part in the opera
Visit
the bbc-webpage about Dido and Aeneas:
If
you think that it was in fact only really wacky people that were
accused of being a witch, you might like to go to So
in the days of the first performance of
Dido and Aeneas witches were still seen as dangerous
creatures to be reckoned with. Now let’s look at the power witches were supposed to have. Read Act 1, scene three of Macbeth by William Shakespeare the first 25 lines (you might need a dictionary!)
Write a concluding paragraph on the power witches were supposed to have in these days, paying attention to their intentions, their possibilities and their limitations. (WB6) Now think about the question you started with and formulate your answer in 1 paragraph: why did witches play a role in the opera, instead of the gods of the original story by Vergil? (WB7) The Musician Assignment
3 The music
Henry
Purcell was a composer who lived in the Baroque period. This period
lasted from 1600-1750. Some famous composers from this period were
Johann Sebastian Bach (Germany, well-known for his St.Matthew’s
Passion)) and Georg Friedrich Händel (England, who made the music
of The Messiah). When people in this period made music to a song,
they paid very much attention to the text. Very often they let the
music show what the text said, mostly quite literally. An
example of this: when in a religious song by Bach the word Ewigkeit
(eternity) occurred, this word was sung on a very, very long note.
Purcell did the something similar, when he made a song about a
person who longed to die: the music of the song became slower and
slower, so that it seemed the music died too. Music-to-word
examples Let’s
listen to some parts of Dido and Aeneas and see if you can
detect some other examples of this.
C1
After the Ouverture, which doesn’t have any text, Dido’s
friend Belinda starts singing. She has noticed that Dido is a bit
melancholy: she is apparently in love with Aeneas, and Belinda
thinks she shouldn’t worry, because Aeneas seems to love Dido as
well. She sings: Shake
the cloud from off your brow, Can
you imagine how the word shake is sung? Well, listen. Also
pay attention to the word flowing.
C2
Belinda appears to be right: Aeneas declares his love to
Dido and they expect to live happily ever after. They go hunting
together and enjoy themselves tremendously. But.. In
our deep vaulted cell
listen
(the song
starts at 04:22) to how the music reflects the place where they are. C3
Aeneas can’t stay in Carthage. The witch has told him to
leave Dido and go on his way to fulfil his task: founding Rome. He
is very sad, but he knows he can’t disobey. Also Dido knows this
and is very depressed. Only Belinda stays optimistic and tells Dido
Aeneas will be true to her, but Dido sings: Your
counsel all is urged in vain
Listen C4
When Aeneas tells Dido he must leave, she becomes angry and
accuses him that his tears are not real: Thus
on the fatal banks of Nile
Listen
Affections On
the following Dutch website
juices
affections
Music
has several ways to stimulate these juices, so that the music
influences your feelings in such a way that you really become sad,
or lazy, or whatever.
Now
look up what a lamento bass is , and what feeling it gives
to the listener:
You
might wonder if this baroque theory is true; does music really have
this effect on your body? So let’s try! For
this we go to the end of the opera, where Dido is left alone by
Aeneas and feels so unhappy that she sees only one way out:
committing suicide. She takes poison and then sings her final song.
Listen ![]() |