Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön: Difference between revisions
Abert's thoughts and observations |
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==Lyrics== |
==Lyrics== |
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And then she would be mine forever!<br> |
And then she would be mine forever!<br> |
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Schikaneder wrote the lyrics in fairly strict [[iambic tetrameter]], the meter he used through most of ''The Magic Flute''. The stanzaic form and rhyme scheme involves two quatrains followed by two rhymed tercets, thus: |
Schikaneder wrote the lyrics in fairly strict [[iambic tetrameter]], the meter he used through most of ''The Magic Flute''. The stanzaic form and rhyme scheme involves two quatrains followed by two rhymed tercets, thus: |
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The aria was first sung by [[Benedikt Schack]] (1758-1826), a friend of Mozart's<ref>See the online [[New Grove]], article "Benedikt Schack" [http://www.grovemusic.com/shared/views/article.html?from=search&session_search_id=224164025&hitnum=1§ion=music.24728]</ref> who performed the role of Tamino at the premiere of ''The Magic Flute''.<ref>Branscombe, Peter (1991) Die Zauberflöte, Cambridge Opera Handbooks series, Cambridge University Press.</ref> It is frequently performed and recorded today, both as part of ''The Magic Flute'' and separately in recitals and recorded compilations. |
The aria was first sung by [[Benedikt Schack]] (1758-1826), a friend of Mozart's<ref>See the online [[New Grove]], article "Benedikt Schack" [http://www.grovemusic.com/shared/views/article.html?from=search&session_search_id=224164025&hitnum=1§ion=music.24728]</ref> who performed the role of Tamino at the premiere of ''The Magic Flute''.<ref>Branscombe, Peter (1991) Die Zauberflöte, Cambridge Opera Handbooks series, Cambridge University Press.</ref> It is frequently performed and recorded today, both as part of ''The Magic Flute'' and separately in recitals and recorded compilations. |
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==Criticism and commentary== |
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Abert (1927/2007) gives background to the work thus: it "deals with a theme familiar not only from fairytales but also from French and German comic operas, namely the love of a mere portrait, a true fairytale miracle that music alone can turn into a real-life experience."<ref>Abert, p. 1265</ref> Abert goes on to contrast Tamino's love with other male characters in Mozart opera: |
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:"Few, if any, experiences lend themselves to musical treatment as much as the mysterious burgeoning of love in a young heart. It was an experience that already preoccupied Mozart's attentions in the case of [[The Marriage of Figaro|Cherubino]]. Now, of course, we are no lnger dealing with an adolescent but with an already mature young man. Moreover, Tamino does not experience love as a state of turmoil in which all his senses are assaulted, as is the case with [[The Marriage of Figaro|Count Almaviva]], for example, but nor is it a magic force that paralyses all his energies, as it does with [[Don Giovanni|Don Ottavio]]. Rather, it is with reverent awe that he feels the unknown yet divine miracle burgeoning within him. From the outset, this lends his emotions a high degree of moral purity and prevents him from becoming sentimental."<ref>Abert, p. 1265</ref> |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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==References== |
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*Abert, Hermann (2007) (original edition 1927) ''W.A. Mozart''. Translated by Stewart Spencer and edited/footnoted by Cliff Eisen. New Haven: Yale University Press. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Revision as of 16:14, 28 September 2012
Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön ("This image is enchantingly lovely") is an aria from the 1791 opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The aria comes from Act I, scene I of the opera. Prince Tamino has just been presented by the Three Ladies with an image of the princess Pamina, and falls instantly in love with her.
Lyrics
German original
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English translation
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Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön |
This image is enchantingly lovely, |
Schikaneder wrote the lyrics in fairly strict iambic tetrameter, the meter he used through most of The Magic Flute. The stanzaic form and rhyme scheme involves two quatrains followed by two rhymed tercets, thus:
[AABB][CCDD][EEF][GGF]
Music
Mozart composed the aria in E-flat major. It is scored for two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, the usual string section, and the tenor soloist.
Mozart's musical setting mostly follows the scheme of Schikaneder's poem. There is an opening section in E flat corresponding to Schikaneder's first quatrain, a modulation to the dominant key of B flat for the second quatrain, a chromatic and modulating passage for the first triplet, and a return to E flat for the last.
The third to last line ":Was würde ich? Ich würde sie voll Entzücken" is not a legal iambic tetrameter, and may reflect a change of the text by Mozart, who places a dramatic full-measure pause after Tamino's self-directed question.
The orchestra for the most part plays a discreet accompaniment to the soloist. There is a solo for the clarinets between the first and second quatrains, and the first violins play a thirty-second note motif, evoking Tamino's surging emotions, in the third section.
Premiere and reception
The aria was first sung by Benedikt Schack (1758-1826), a friend of Mozart's[1] who performed the role of Tamino at the premiere of The Magic Flute.[2] It is frequently performed and recorded today, both as part of The Magic Flute and separately in recitals and recorded compilations.
Criticism and commentary
Abert (1927/2007) gives background to the work thus: it "deals with a theme familiar not only from fairytales but also from French and German comic operas, namely the love of a mere portrait, a true fairytale miracle that music alone can turn into a real-life experience."[3] Abert goes on to contrast Tamino's love with other male characters in Mozart opera:
- "Few, if any, experiences lend themselves to musical treatment as much as the mysterious burgeoning of love in a young heart. It was an experience that already preoccupied Mozart's attentions in the case of Cherubino. Now, of course, we are no lnger dealing with an adolescent but with an already mature young man. Moreover, Tamino does not experience love as a state of turmoil in which all his senses are assaulted, as is the case with Count Almaviva, for example, but nor is it a magic force that paralyses all his energies, as it does with Don Ottavio. Rather, it is with reverent awe that he feels the unknown yet divine miracle burgeoning within him. From the outset, this lends his emotions a high degree of moral purity and prevents him from becoming sentimental."[4]
Notes
References
- Abert, Hermann (2007) (original edition 1927) W.A. Mozart. Translated by Stewart Spencer and edited/footnoted by Cliff Eisen. New Haven: Yale University Press.
External links
- Text
- Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön: Score in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
- Score from the Magic Flute Project