characters, key relations and tonal structure in 'il trovatore
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8/10/2019 Characters, Key Relations and Tonal Structure in 'Il Trovatore'
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Characters, Key Relations and Tonal Structure in 'Il trovatore'Author(s): William DrabkinSource: Music Analysis, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Jul., 1982), pp. 143-153Published by: WileyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/854125.
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8/10/2019 Characters, Key Relations and Tonal Structure in 'Il Trovatore'
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WILLIAM
DRABKIN
CHARACTERS,
KEY RELATIONS
AND TONAL STRUCTURE
IN
IL TROVA TORE
I
In
this
paper
I intend o use
principles
f
tonal
analysis
o discover
further
evidence
of dramatic
nd musical
unity
n the score of
II
trovatore.'
say
'further
vidence'
because
I
believe that
Pierluigi
Petrobelli's rticle To-
wards
an
Explanation
of the Dramatic Structure
f
II
trovatore'
lready
demonstrates
n
underlying
onal
ogic
at work n this classicnineteenth-
century
talian
melodrama.
n
focussing
n
tonality
shall
be
developing
onlyone ofthemanythemes n Petrobelli's tudy;and yetthis seems the
best
place
to start.
For not
only
are
pitch
and
key
relations f the utmost
importance
or
his
discussion,
here lso seem to be
good
reasons
for
ny
investigation
nto
the score of
an
opera
to
begin
with he
elements f
pitch,
just
as we
usually begin
with
the
pitch
domain
in the
analysis
of
purely
instrumentalmusic.
In
particular,
t
is
sometimes ound
n
studying pera
that
characters re associated
with
certain
pitches,
onalities r
melodies:
that a
sequence
of
events
or
emotions s associated
with,
and even illus-
trated
by,
a chord
progression
r
succession
of
keys;2
and that home
key,
if texists-thatis, if t seems useful o identify-canprovide focalpoint
for the
unity
of drama and music. With
regard
to
this
last
point,
the
mature
stage
works of Mozart
immediately
ome to
mind:
one thinks n
particular
f
Don
Giovanni s
an
opera
whose action s
welded to
a
tonal
hierarchy
ased on
D,
that
s,
an
opera
which
s
'in the
key
of
D'.3
In
the
Verdi canon a case can be made out
for the
original
version of Macbeth
(1847)
as
an
F minor
pera.
Despite
the recent
upsurge
in
studies of
nineteenth-century
talian
opera,
and
of Verdi
in
particular,
etrobelli's
rticle
has
not been
widely
commented
n,
and
its
possible
significance
or he
analysis
of
otherVerdi
scores s yetto be takenup. JulianBudden, in the secondvolumeof The
Operas of
Verdi
1978),
mentions
few of
Petrobelli's deas
in
the
chapter
on
II
trovatore
ut
does
not discuss
them
systematically.
n
his
biblio-
graphy
or
The Verdi
Companion 1979),
Andrew
Porter iststhe
article s
the
only
tem on Il
trovatore
mong
the
studies of individual
works;
but
@
MUSICANALYSIS :
2,
1982 143
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8/10/2019 Characters, Key Relations and Tonal Structure in 'Il Trovatore'
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WILLIAM
DRABKIN
there s no mention
f t
elsewhere
n
the
volume. Even
in
the
most recent
published
discussions
of
Verdi's dramatic
nd structural ses of
tonality,the extended forumon Un ballo in-mascheraublishedin 19th-Century
Music4
and
an articleon
Macbeth,5
Petrobelli's
arguments
re
totally g-
nored.
Petrobelli laims
that here s not a
single
element f musical
expression
that
escapes
the networkof musical and dramatic
relationships
n
the
opera;
thus
his
study
s
broader
than
my
development
f
some of
ts ideas
might
otherwise
uggest.
But it
was
in
observations n
pitch
and
tonality
that
he
was
able
to
lay
the foundations or
larger
view
of the
work.
n
his
discussion
of other
lements-notably
rhythm,
n
which he confined
im-
selfto associatingcertainmotifswithparticular haracters-he gave in-
sight
nto
specific
points
n
the
score,
but
this
in
itselfdid not
lead
to a
more
encompassing
nderstanding
f
t.
From these
comments do not wish to
imply
hat
what we
are
seeking
is one
of
those
instantaneous'
iewsof
the
entire
core,
omething
f
which
Tovey
and
his followers
would
have
certainlydisapproved.
We
might
begin
by
examining
ust
such
a
view,
provided
by Siegmund
Levarie
in
the
first ound
of the Ballo
forum.6
n
exemplifying
hat he calls the
'tonal
flow' across
an
opera,
Levarie
places
II
trovatore
alfway
between
operas
like Don
Giovanni,
which
begin
and
end
in the same
key,
and
operas
like Tristan n whicha tonic s
implied only by
a cadential
sweep
linking
he
opening
key
with the
final
chord
of the
opera. Following
the
analysis
of
Alfred
Lorenz,'
Levarie describes he
tonal
flow
cross Tristan
as
an
imperfect
adence, IV-V,
in
E
major,
since the
opera begins
with
a
prelude
n A
major
and ends
in
B
major
with
solde's Liebestod.
easoning
in
the
same
way,
Levarie
asserts
that
II
trovatore
egins
in
E
major
and
ends
in
E
b minor,
o
that
the
tonal flow f the
entire
workamounts
to an
enharmonically
e-interpreted
eapolitan
cadence,
that
s,
with
E
under-
stood
as
Fb.
The
succinctness
of
this view
of
the
opera
is not
itself
reason forfaultingt. But its ultimatevalue will depend on theway in
which
dramatic
and tonal events
support
Levarie's
two-chord
encapsulation
f
the
harmony,
or
xample
by demonstrating
hat
Neapol-
itan
relations
re
important
r
by showing
hat t
s
useful o
think f
Eb
as
a tonic n
some
larger
ense
than
as
'the
final
chord
of the
opera'.
(One
inference o
be
made
from
Levarie's
assertion,
hat
Eb
is
tonally
more
important
han
E,
is
quite
at odds
with
Petrobelli'sview
of
the
opera.)
II
Before
discussing
the
special qualities
of Petrobelli's
study
of the tonal
design
of
II
trovatore,
should like
to
investigate
two
premises
on which
it
is built. One
of these is
stronglysupported
by
Verdi's
famous letter
to his
librettist
Salvatore
Cammarano,
in which he outlined
the
scenario
and
assigned
to Azucena the role
of
principal
character-in
effect,
he
subject
144
MUSIC ANALYSIS
:
2,
1982
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8/10/2019 Characters, Key Relations and Tonal Structure in 'Il Trovatore'
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TONAL
STRUCTURE IN
II
trovatore
of
the
opera.
The other is
based on the
writings
f the
late
Gabriele
Baldini on Verdi's operalibretti,nparticular is remarks n symmetrynIl
trovatore.8
The first
f
these
premises
asserts
that the
principal
character
f
the
drama,
the
gipsy
Azucena,
is marked
by
an
emotional
mbivalence
round
which the entire
drama unfolds: her
amor
filiale
which
drives her
to
avenge
her
mother's ruel
death,
and her amor
maternowhich s
manifes-
ted
by
her love for Manrico. In
tonal
terms,
he is
represented y
what
Petrobelli alls the
sonority'
f
B,
in
effect,
he
pitch-class
B;
and her
two
conflicting
motions are
expressed
by
the tonalitiesof
E
minor and
G
major,
respectively.
hese
keys
are
of course
closely
ssociated,
s
relative
keys.But what s crucial to theanalysis s thatthe chords ofE minor nd
G
major
sharethenoteB and thus
stand na
pivotal
relation
o each
other.
The other
premise
regarding
onality
has to do
with
the
concept
of
symmetry
nd
with the
notion that
parallel
events
n the
drama are
also
reflected
n
the
music. This view
continues
he
trendof
thought egun by
Baldini,
who observed that the
division of
II
trovatorento four
cts-or
parts,
as Verdi
himself
alled them-results
in
a
large-scale ymmetrical
design.
The
opera
divides nto two
dramatically
quivalent
halves,
he
first
(Acts
I
and
II)
ending
with
Manrico's rescue of Leonora
and,
appropri-
ately, hebiggestmusical ensembleoftheopera,thesecond half Acts III
and
IV)
ending
with
the
deaths of
these
two
characters.
At
the next
evel,
each of these halves divides furthernto
two
parts,
he
second
of which
s
longer
than the
first:
Act II
is about twice
as
long
as Act
I,
Act IV
twice
as
long
as
Act III.
This
architectural iew
of the
drama,
a
view in
which
space
(i.e.
the
lapse
of
measured
time)
is
of
fundamental
mportance,
as led
Petrobelli
to
observe
parallels
to
this
architecture
n
a
musical level.
For
instance,
the
first cenes
of
Act
I
and Act II
begin
with
an account
of
the
pre-
liminaries f the
plot
(a
retelling
f
everything
hathas
taken
place
before
thecurtaingoes up forthefirst ime n theopera) and continuewiththe
evocation of
horror
which
results
from
these
events. The
events are
of
course
recounted
ifferently,
y
Ferrando
to
the
soldiers nd
retainers n
behalf of
the
Count,
and
by
Azucena to the
gipsies
and
Manrico
very
much
on
her own
behalf
or
on
behalf
of her
mother).
But
however
differ-
ently
the
story
s
told-thereby
leading
to a
different
et
of
images
of
horror n
each
instance-the
unfolding
f
tonality
s
always
from
minor
to
A
minor.
This
musical
parallelism
over
roughly
qual
portions
of the
score
can
hardly
e
regarded
s
fortuitous.
Beforeconsideringways in whichthis view of the opera may be ex-
panded,
I shall
commenton
three
features hat
help
distinguish
t
from
most
previous
writings
n
opera:
the
significance
f
melody,
analysis
on
different
evels,
nd the
search
for
arge-scale
nity.
(1)
The
significance
f
melody:
In
its
regard
for
melody,
Petrobelli's
analysis
marks a
significant
dvance
over
well-known onal
analyses
of
MUSIC
ANALYSIS
1:
2,
1982
145
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8/10/2019 Characters, Key Relations and Tonal Structure in 'Il Trovatore'
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WILLIAM
DRABKIN
opera-Lorenz
on
Wagner,
Levarie on
Figaro (1952)
and now on Ballo--
in
that
t
seeks to
explain
not
merelywhy
some set
number
s in
a
particu-
lar keybut also whyitsmelody mightemphasizea particularnote. For
example,
Azucena's 'Stride
la
vampa'
begins
with
repeated
B's and ends
with
long
trill n
the
same B
just
before
he
final adence. The
emphasis
of
B
in
this
canzone s a
direct
consequence
of Verdi's
association
of the
pitch-class
B
with he
character
f
Azucena.
(2)
Analysis
on
dzfferent
evels:
Though
Petrobelli's
study
in
no
way
purports
o offer n
all-encompassing ayer analysis
of
the
score,
t
does
account
for tonal events which
take
place
over
larger spans
of
music as
well as in shorter
assages,
and it
also
explains
how-at
times-the same
tonal event can takeplace on differentevels.9We see this n particularn
Verdi's use
of
E
minor
and G
major
as twin
keys,
demarcating
djacent
sections
of music of various sizes and formats.
As
one would
expect,
this
procedure
an be heardmostoften n Azucena's
music."'
But
it
is
by
no means
necessary
forAzucena to be
present
nd
singing
forthis
very mportant
ey
relation
o
be used: twice at the
beginning
f
the
opera,
Verdi
modulates from
E
to
G."
In the
first of these
modulations-in
the
passage immediately
eforeFerrando's
ballata,
there
is a
change
n the
subject
of the
text,
from
Ferrando's
warnings
bout
the
imminent
hreat f the troubadour'sreturn o the
palace grounds,
o
the
soldiers'
pleas
to be retold the
story
of Count Luna's
younger
brother.
This
passage
covers some
thirty
ars
of the introduction
n
a
moderate
tempo,
nd
the modulation s
again
achieved
by
a
re-interpretation
f B. It
can thus be
thought
f
as
illustrating
two-faced
iew of
Manrico as seen
by
his enemies
n
the
opera,
one which
parallels
the
two sides of
Azucena's
personality:
B as
the
fifth
f the scale of
E
representing
he
threatening
troubadour
'All'erta '),
B
as the thirdof the scale of G
representing
he
old
Count
Luna's
helpless
child
Garzia
('Dalle
gravi palpebre').
This
introduction
s followed
by
the
ballata,
in which the modulation
from
E
minorto G major is telescoped nto the space of two shortphrases in a
quick tempo.
This second modulation
s a local
phenomenon,
oo
brief
o
profit
from an
explicit pivot-note
relation,
and
serves to
highlight
he
words
zingara'
and
fanciullo'.
(3) Large-scale unity:
Petrobelli's
analysis
seeks
to
relate features
far
apart
in the
opera,
in
places
where
one
might
not have
otherwise
looked
for
important
musical
relationships
unless
a
memorable
tune
or motif
were
being quoted
literally.
ne
of
his
most
exciting
iscoveries
concerns
lyrical hrase
sung
by
Leonora
in
her
Act
I
cavatina,
which
he
identifies
ith a similar
but
by
no means identicalmelodic
idea
given
to
Azucena in Act
III,
both
phrases being impassioned
expressions
of love
for Manrico
(see
Petrobelli,
Exs 6 and
7).
The
relationship
between these
phrases
is
one of melodic
shape,
and as such
it
does
not
appear
to
have a
specifically
tonal
significance;
in fact Petrobelli asserts
that the one
is
an
'almost
literal
transposition'
of the
other. But
I
think that
by
adopting
a
146
MUSIC
ANALYSIS
1:
2,
1982
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TONAL
STRUCTURE IN
II
trovatore
wider view of
tonality
n
the
opera
we
shall
be able to attach
even
greater
meaning
o therelation
etween
hese
phrases.
III
My expansion
of
Petrobelli's deas
beginsby considering
he
principal
way
in
which
Verdi's stated
ntentions
n
conceiving
he
opera-his predomi-
nant
interest
n
the
ambivalentcharacter f Azucena-fall short of
his
actual achievements
n
the
final
omposition,
where Leonora
has as
big
a
musical
role
to
play
as
Azucena or indeed
anyone
else.'2
Thus the
polarity
ofE minor nd G major,clear-cut hough otally ontainedwithin single
character,
eems
bland in
comparison
with
the
potential
tonal
voltage
betweenAzucena and
Leonora,
whose
music moves
n
Ab
major
and
keys
closely
related
to it:
the
parallel key
of
Ab
minor,
the
relative
key
of
F
minor
and its
parallel major.
The
primary
iatonicscales
associated
with
these wowomen re
thus
maximally
ontrasting
s seven-note
ollections:
E-
F?
-
G
- A -
B -
C
- D
and
Ab
- BL-
C
-
Db
-
EL
- F -
G.
It
must follow from
this that these two
scales,
taken
together,
over
the
complete
hromatic cale.
The
question
arises: does Verdi
make the
fullest
use ofthis tonaldifferentialetweenAzucena and Leonora,notonlyas a
means of
contrast ut also
as a
way
of
creating
fulltonal
spectrum
o
be
brought
nto
play
in
the course of the
opera?
Budden,
in
his
chapter
n
II
trovatore,
eems to be
answering
his
question
only
partly
n
the affirm-
ative:
Most
striking
f
ll,
each
woman
nhabits er
own
phere
f
tonality-
Leonora
moves
n A
flat
nd
in
its
related
eys,
Azucena
hovers m-
biguously
etween
minor
nd
G
major,
he
first
ssociated
withher
thirst orrevenge,hesecond withherlove forManrico;and her
influence
eaches
o
A
minor
nd
C
major
s
well.
Again
t
must
be
emphasized
hat n
Verdi
venwhen
keys
re
exploited
t s
merely
s
contrasted
ystems
f
pitch
designed
o
keep
the
dramatic
lements
apart;
there
s no
attempt
o use
their
manifold
elationships
s
a
principle
f
tructure.13
Before
ooking
further
nto
the
contrast
etween
Azucena
and
Leonora
and
what it
might
mean
in
tonal
terms,
et
us
observe
that
even
the
polaritywithinAzucena'spersonality,etweenE minor nd G major,tells
only
half
the
story
f
key
relationships
dentified
ith
the
gipsy
world. As
Budden
intimatesn
the
passage
quoted
above,
we
ought
also to
include
the
mediant
relationship
n
the
other
ide of E
minor,
namely
betweenE
minor
nd C
major.
The
key
of
C is
often
ssociated n
the
opera
with
the
hardiness
and
courageous
spirit
of
the
gipsies,
and as
such
it
makes
its
MUSIC
ANALYSIS :
2,
1982
147
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WILLIAM
DRABKIN
most
powerful appearance
at
Manrico's
moment of
greatest
eloquence
and, symbolically,
is utmost
display
of
courage:
the aria
Di
quella pira'whichconcludesActIII. The tonal
representation
fthis other ide of the
gipsy
world
also
arises out
of
a
pivotal
relation,
with
E
common
to
both
chords.
And
so
it is
possible,
by
the
simple
use of one
pivot
note
or
the
other,
for
E minor
to
yield
to
either ts
submediantor its mediant
(G
-
B
-
D/E
-
G
-
B/C
-
E
-
G).'4
This dual
polarity
uilt
around
E
minorfurther
trengthens
he
parallel
between
the
opening
scenes
in
Acts
I
and
II which Petrobellihas
already
deduced.
For,
as
we have
seen,
Verdi uses G
major
as a
secondarykey
n
the two
places
where the
text
refers o the
Count's
younger
brother:
bs
51-59 of the Introduction,nd bs 9-16 of the refrain f Ferrando'sbal-
lata.
Now
if
we ook
t the
corresponding
laces
n Act
I,
Scene
1,
where
he
text
depicts
the
rigours
of
gipsy
life
and
the
sufferings
f Azucena's
mother,
we
find
harmonic
movement rom
E
minor
to C
major,
with
E
clearly
sed as
a
pivot
note:
in
the
gipsies'
opening
anvil'
chorus
'Chi
del
gitano giorni
abbella?';
vocal
score,
p.
54,
system 1),
and
in
the
third
phrase
of Azucena's
canzone
'Urli
di
gioia';
vocal
score,
p.
59,
system
1).15
By
this
tonal
design
Verdi
not
only
pins
down the dramatic
parallels
between he twoscenes,butalso-by introducing majoras an important
secondary
key-implies
a
central
role for
E
minor
among
the three
keys
associated
with he
gipsies.
Thus
the
argest
onal
polarity
n
the
opera
can
be
regarded
s
the
opposition
f an
E
minor xis and
the
key
of
Ab
major:
G
major
E
minor
*
Ab
major
C Major
One
may
wish
to
argue
that his
polarity
would
be best eft
lone,
that t
is
best to
keep
Azucena's
and Leonora's
very
different
elationships
with
Manrico
completely
separate,
hence
musically
unrelated.
Yet
the fact
cannot
be
ignored
that the
critical
moments n the
action,
though
few
n
number,
hinge
upon
the
love of these
two
women
for
Manrico
and
his
equal
love for
them.
It seems
hardly
coincidental
that the
moment
of
Manrico's
unexpected
rescue
of
Leonora from
her
threatened
bduction
from he convent finaleof Act II) and themomenthe realizesthat he
must leave
Leonora to
go
to his
mother's rescue
(end
of Act
III)
should
both be marked
in the score
with a chord
whose
appearance
is
intention-
ally surprising
and whose
resolution shows
a clear
link to one or the
other
poles
of tonal
opposition
in the
opera.
The chord
in
question
is
E
major;
and we can
regard
it as
a union of
elements fromboth
poles, namely
the
148 MUSIC
ANALYSIS
:
2,
1982
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TONAL STRUCTURE N
II
trovatore
root and fifth
f
E
minor,
and
the root of the
Ab
chord
re-interpreted
enharmonically
as
G?(E
-
G
- B
+
Ab
- C -
Eb =
E
-
G?
-
B).
This enharmonic
elationship
s farmorethana theoretical
bstraction;
Verdi
actually puts
it
into
practice
at an
early
stage
in
the
opera.
In
Leonora's 'Tacea la notte'
n
Act
I,
the final
Ab
of the second
strophe
f
the
cavatina s
converted o
G:
in the
ensuingdialogue
with nes
(vocal
score,
p.
26,
system
).
The effect
ould
hardly
be
more dramatic:
s
Ines
expresses
her
doubts about
Leonora's
ideal
love affairwiththe
trouba-
dour,
the
harmony
wervesfrom
Ab
into A
minor,
by way
of an
inter-
mediary
E
major
(=
Fb
major)
chord:
Ex.1
Leonora: Clel
ser
b
Ine:
Ouan
-
to
nar-ras
-
ti
di
tur-ba -
men
-
to
(violins)
2
But local dramaticexigency s not the onlyreason for this enharmonic
change.
By making
the
music for
this
dialogue tonally
remotefrom
Ab,
Verdi is
able
to return o it
for he
cabaletta
'Di
tale
amor';
vocal
score,
p.
28,
system )
as a
fresh-sounding
ey.
This scena s the
only
one
in
the
opera
in
which both
elementsof
a
two-part
musical
structure-cavatina
and
cabaletta-are
in
the same
key;
and
its
special
tonal
design
enables
Verdi to
identify
eonora
unambiguously
with
the
key
of
Ab
while at
the
same time
ensuring
hat
the second
Ab
section
does
not
sound like a
mere
tonal
prolongation'
f the first.
The
effect
f the
modulation
n
Ex.
1
is to
place
the
pitch-class
Ab/G?
in a newintervallicnvironment:nsteadofbeingboundedfrom boveby
a
tone
T)
and
from
elow
by
a semitone
S),
it
is bounded from
elow
by
a tone
and from
bove
by
a
semitone:
n
ALb
major
7
-
i
-2
=
G-
Ab
-
Bb
=
S,
T,
and
in
A
minor 6
-
$7
-
1
=
F
-G#-
A
=
T,
S. It
is
this
exchange
f
position
within he diatonic
cale
which, believe,
gives
these
modulations
by
pivot
their
dramatic
power.
It
may
be noted
in
passing
that
enharmonic
e-interpretation
f the
pivot
is
usually
a
suf-
ficient onditionfor
this
exchange
of
tone and
semitone,
but it
is
by
no
means a
necessary
one. In
two
passages
cited
by
Kerman in
the
Ballo
forum,16 major s followedbyDLbmajorwiththesameconsequencefor
the
pitch-class
F. This
is
fully exploited
in
the earlier
passage,
the love
duet in
Act
II,
where
Riccardo's
persuasive
wooing
in F
major
is the
perfect
foil for
Amelia's
response
in D
b
expressing
her
fear,
anguish
and
guilt.
The contrast of
mood is
highlighted
by
the use
of F
as a
melodic
pivot
in
the vocal
parts.
MUSIC
ANALYSIS :2,
1982
149
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9/12
WILLIAM
DRABKIN
IV
Insofar s theopeningkeyofII trovatores specifically major,which we
can
regard
as a union
of the two main tonal
forces,
t
is a
legitimate
starting-point
or he
unfolding
f
tonality
n the
opera.
Such a view
of
the
tonal
design
would,
I
admit,
quite rightly
be
seen
as static and
uninteresting-indeed,
rritatingly
mannered-were it not
possible
to
show an interaction etween his
generalunifying ey
and the two
specific
areas
of characterization: minor nd
its related
keys
and
A
major.
For
this reason
it
is
important
o look more
closely
at two critical
moments
where he
E
major
chord s
introduced.
In
the
big
ensembleof the
opera,
the
finale f Act
II,
the chord
appears
at themoment f Manrico's unexpected rrival n stageand his rescue of
Leonora
from
Count Luna's soldiers
vocal
score,
p.
117,
system
).
It
is
spelt
as an
F
b
major
chord
and
functions s the flattened ubmediant f
Ab
(Ex.
2);
thus t
prepares
us for
Leonora's solo
(climaxing
n Sei tu
dal
ciel disceso
..
.'),
which
sets the mood of the remainder of
the scene:
Ex.2
Ab:
I
?
I
The other critical
passage
involving
E
major
occurs
at the end of Act
III,
when
Manrico
announces
that
he will
go
to the
rescue
of his mother.
Here Verdi
shows
the
relationship
f
E
major
to the
tonal
forces ssociated
withthe
gipsy
world,
hat
s,
as the
major
mediant
of
C
major.
The chord
is
introduced
t the
momentRuiz concludes
his
agitated
report
of Azu-
cena's capture nd impending oom ('Accesa e giraa pira'; vocal score,p.
173,
system
to
p.
174,
system
1).
His
melodic
ine climaxeson the
final
note,E,
which
s
sung
to
the
word
pira'.
This
E
is taken
over,
n
turn,
by
both
Leonora
and
Manrico,
and
it
ultimately
ecomes
the first
melody
note
of
Manrico's
'Di
quella
pira'.
Thus
the connection
etween
the sur-
prise
E
major
chord nd the
subsequent
onality-C
major-is emphasized
by
a
pivot
which
s both musical and verbal.
Ex.
3
Ruiz: Leo nora
Manrico:
Manr co:
la
p
- ra
o
tu
fre-
.
E
;I
deg-gioa
.
Di
quegl-a
pi
r
150
MUSIC
ANALYSIS
1:
2,
1982
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TONAL STRUCTURE IN
II
trovatore
A
finalword about the
two main female haracters s
further
upport
for
the
importance
f
E major
and the enharmonic elationbetween
G?
and
A
b.
The charactersnever meet in the
drama,
and it is
appropriate
hat
their tonal areas
are
maximally
distant
fromeach other.
However,
Pet-
robelli has called our attention
o
one close musical
correspondence
e-
tween
them,
n the two
phrases
expressing
heir ove
for
Manrico
(see
Petrobelli,
Exs 6 and 7 and
commentary).
ere the word almost'
is
cru-
cial,
since
what
makes the
relationship
o
extraordinary
s the
very
fact
that
one
phrase
s not a
literal
ransposition
f
the other.The
relationship
between them is
really
based on two
interpretations
f the same
pitch-
class,
G?/Ab,
in
different armonic
ettings.
Both
phrases
startwith
the
samenote,repeated everaltimes, onsonant n itslocal surroundingsut
unstable
n
the
context f the entire
phrase:
Leonora's
Ab
is the
key-note
of
Ab
major,
but it is
harmonized
y
an
F
minor
chord;
Azucena's
G?,
as
the third
cale-step
of
E
major,
s
melodically
nstable.
n
both
phrases
a
stable
outcome s reached
t the
end,
as Ex.
4
indicates:
Ex.4
(a)
Leonora,
Act
I
scene
2
(b) Azucena,
Act
II
scene
2
Ab:
VI
u
(I)
E: I
V
I
In
attempting
to
extend
Petrobelli's
tonal
view of
II
trovatore,
have
taken
the
relation of
the
music to
the drama
beyond
the
identification
of
characters with
specific
pitch-classes
and
related
tonalities. I
have
felt
that,
however
nwaveringly
n
self-determinationhe main
characters
res-
ent
themselves
n
the
course of
the
drama,
they
do confront
ne another
on
stage
(excepting,
iterally,
eonora and
Azucena)
and
interactmusi-
cally; and this nteractions manifested ychordprogressionsnd modu-
lations.The
affinity
etween
E
minor
nd
G
major
through
he
pivot-note
B is
the
clearest
onal
relation n
the
score and the
obvious
starting-point
for
establishing
more
extensive
ystem.
n
order to
include
Leonora in
this
scheme it
is
necessary
o
invoke
the enharmonic
quivalence
of
G#
and
Ab,
though
Verdi
has himself
establishedthis at
the
earliest
op-
portunity;
o
Ab
major
we
can
also
associatethe
relative
key
of F
minor,
which
s
featurednAct IV.
Since thetonal
system
s
circular,
tis
always
possible
to
travel
between
twokeys n either f twodirections,nd an enharmonic e-interpretation
can
shorten
the
distance between
remotely
related
keys.
The critical
events n
the
score
of
II
trovatore
may
be
thought
f
as
dividing
he
tonal
circle
nto
three
qual
arcswhose
boundary
oints
remarked
by
C,
E
and
Ab
major:
the
keys
of
E
minor
nd G
major
are
placed
close to C to
form
the
E
minor
xis'
described
arlier:
MUSIC
ANALYSIS
1
:
2,
1982
151
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WILLIAM
DRABKIN
E
(opening
tonality
of
opera;
pivotal chord in
Acts
II
and
III)
AZUCENA
(amor
materno)
G
e
(amorfiliale)
(despair)
f
(gipsy courage, C LEONORA
Manrico's
heroism)
A
(heroism)
The
primacy
f
E
lies
in
the factthat
the
parallel
key
relationbetween
E
minor nd
E
major
inkstwo of the
three onal
regions
long
the circle.
t
is
this
special
connectionwhich enables
E
major
not
only
to
be used as a
tonal reference ointforall the forcesof good in the opera, but also to
clarify-by
means of ts
parallel
minor-the central ole of the
character
f
Azucena.
NOTES
1.
This
is an
expanded
version
of
a
paper
read at the second biennial Confer-
ence
on
Nineteenth-Century
usic,
Cambridge,
July
1980.
2.
See
Joseph
Kerman's
observations
n
the move
from
F
to D
b
twice
in
Un
ballo n
maschera,
n
'Viewpoint',
19th-Century
usic,
Vol.
2,
No.
2,
1978,
p.
190.
3.
See
in
particular
Alfred
Lorenz,
'Das Finale
in
Mozarts
Meisteropern',
Die
Musik,
Vol.
19, 1927,
pp.
621-32.
4.
Siegmund
Levarie,
'Key
Relations
in
Verdi's Un
ballo
in
maschera',
19th-
Century
Music,
Vol.
2,
No.
2,
1978,
pp.
143-7;
Kerman,
Viewpoint',
bid.,
pp.
186-91;
further
eplies by Guy
A. Marco and
Levarie,
ibid.,
Vol.
3,
No.
1, 1979,
pp.
83-9.
5.
Elliott
Antokoletz,
Verdi's
Dramatic
Use
of
Harmony
nd
Tonality
n Mac-
beth',
n
Theory nly,
Vol.
4,
No.
6,
Nov.-Dec.
1978,
pp.
17-28.
6.
Levarie,
Key
Relations',
p.
143.
7.
Lorenz,
Der
musikalische
ufbau
von
Richard
Wagners
Tristan und
Isolde',
Vol. 2 ofDas Geheimnis er FormbeiRichardWagnerBerlin,1926).
8.
Gabriele
Baldini,
The
Story of
Guiseppe
Verdi,
trans.
Roger
Parker
(Cambridge:
CUP,
1980),
Ch.
5
('I1l
trovatore'),
speciallypp.
212-14.
9. The idea is also
developed
n Antokoletz's
tudy
f
Macbeth.
10.
For
instance,
within
ne
long
section
of
Act
II
framed n
A
minor,
n
which
Azucena recounts
he
story
f her mother o
Manrico,
the
tonality
moves
to
152
MUSIC
ANALYSIS
:
2,
1982
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TONAL
STRUCTURE N
II
trovatore
G
major
for discrete ix-bar
phrase
'Ei
distruggeasi
n
pianto')
and
then-
via the
pivot
B-to a second
discrete
passage
in
E
minor
a
recall
of
the
'Stride a vampa'music).
11. It
may
be
objected
that,
t
the
beginning
f the
opera,
the
modulation
s
from
E
major
rather
han
E
minor.
The
reason for
his,
believe,
s that
t
was an
essential
part
of Verdi's
overall
trategy
o
begin
the
opera
in
the
major
mode,
with
G?
as the third
degree
of the
scale;
I discuss
this
point
ater
n.
12. At the
1980
conference
see
note
1
above) Julian
Budden
reported
his
dis-
covery
of a librettofrom bout
1850 for a Trovatore n
which the
part
of
Leonora
was
indeed
reduced
to a
comprimaria.
e
believes thatthe
existence
of
this
slightly
arlier
ibretto
may
have
prompted
Verdi
to
rethink he
scen-
ario for
his
Trovatore
nd
expand
the
role of the
heroine.
13. JulianBudden, TheOperasofVerdi,Vol. 2 (London: Cassell, 1978),p. 70.
14
The
twofold
possibility
for
modulation
from E
minor
by
pivot-note
helps
explain
why
Verdi
chose
B
as
the
pitch-class
o
represent
Azucena.
Both B
and
G
can
serve
as a
pivot
from
minor
o G
major;
but
since G can
also
be
used between
E
minor
nd
C
major,
that
note
would be
capable
of
introduc-
ing
an
element
of
ambiguity
nto
Verdi's
modulatory rocedures.
No
such
ambiguity
s
possible
with
B
or
E,
since
each
is common
to
just
two
of the
three
hords.
I am
grateful
o Dr
Eric Graebner
for
calling
this
point
to
my
attention.
15.
Note, too,
that n
orderto
emphasize
C
major
Verdi
departed
from
'normal'
harmonization. n the Anvil Chorus,a C-pedal is prolongedfor a fulleight
bars,
throughout
he
phrase
'Chi
del
gitano
i
giorni
abbella?',
and
thus
clashes with
the
dominant-seventh
hord
on
G. In
the
third
phrase
of
Azu-
cena's
canzone,
n
almost
modal
harmonisation
esultsfrom
he
composer's
under-emphasis
f
G
major
note
especially
he
bass F ? at
intorno').
16.
Kerman,
Viewpoint',p.
190.
MUSIC
ANALYSIS
1
:2,
1982
153