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A caveat for Branscombe's characterization
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==Lyrics==
==Lyrics==


[[Peter Branscombe]] describes the lyrics "a very tolerable [[sonnet]]."<ref>Branscombe (1991, 50)</ref> Laid out as verse, it appears as follows:
[[Peter Branscombe]] describes the lyrics "a very tolerable [[sonnet]]."<ref>Branscombe (1991, 50). In terms of length and stanza structure Branscombe is correct, but a rhyme scheme of paired couplets is unusual for a sonnet; see [[Sonnet]] for discussion.</ref> Laid out as verse, it appears as follows:


{|
{|
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And then she would be mine forever!<br>
And then she would be mine forever!<br>
|}
|}

The meter is [[iambic tetrameter]]<ref>Branscombe (1991, 50)</ref>, which is the meter Schikaneder used throughout most of ''The Magic Flute''. The stanzaic form and rhyme scheme involves two quatrains followed by two rhymed tercets, thus:
The meter is [[iambic tetrameter]]<ref>Branscombe (1991, 50)</ref>, which is the meter Schikaneder used throughout most of ''The Magic Flute''. The stanzaic form and rhyme scheme involves two quatrains followed by two rhymed tercets, thus:


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Mozart composed the aria in [[E-flat major]]. It is scored for two [[clarinet]]s, two [[bassoon]]s, two [[Horn (instrument)|horns]], the usual [[string section]], and the tenor soloist.
Mozart composed the aria in [[E-flat major]]. It is scored for two [[clarinet]]s, two [[bassoon]]s, two [[Horn (instrument)|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.
Mozart's musical setting mostly follows the scheme of Schikaneder's poem. There is an opening section in E flat corresponding to the 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 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.
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Abert (1920/2007) 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 that of other male characters in Mozart opera:
Abert (1920/2007) 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 that of 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 [[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>
:"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 longer 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>


Grout and Williams suggest that the opening notes of the aria spill over into other numbers: "The opening phrase of 'Die Bildnis ist bezauberned schön' turns up at a half-dozen unexpected places in the second finale.<ref>They do not specify these locations but one fairly clear case is the phrase to which Pamina sings the words "Tamino mein! O welch ein Glück!" ("My Tamino! Oh what happiness!") when they are reunited shortly before their trials of fire and water. See also Tamino's part on "Wir wandeln durch des Tones Macht" and the third and fourth bars of the flute solo he plays during the trials.</ref> These and similar melodic remembrances are not to be regarded as [[leitmotifs]] in the [[Wagner]]ian sense but as partly unconscious echoes of musical ideas that were in Mozart's mind throughout the composition of the opera."<ref>Grout and Williams (2003:331)</ref>
Grout and Williams suggest that the opening notes of the aria spill over into other numbers: "The opening phrase of 'Dies Bildnis ist bezauberned schön' turns up at a half-dozen unexpected places in the second finale.<ref>They do not specify these locations but one fairly clear case is the phrase to which Pamina sings the words "Tamino mein! O welch ein Glück!" ("My Tamino! Oh what happiness!") when they are reunited shortly before their trials of fire and water. See also Tamino's part on "Wir wandeln durch des Tones Macht" and the third and fourth bars of the flute solo he plays during the trials.</ref> These and similar melodic remembrances are not to be regarded as [[leitmotifs]] in the [[Wagner]]ian sense but as partly unconscious echoes of musical ideas that were in Mozart's mind throughout the composition of the opera."<ref>Grout and Williams (2003:331)</ref>


==Notes==
==Notes==

Revision as of 19:06, 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

Peter Branscombe describes the lyrics "a very tolerable sonnet."[1] Laid out as verse, it appears as follows:

German original
English translation

Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön
Wie noch kein Auge je geseh'n!
Ich fühl' es, wie dies Götterbild
Mein Herz mit neuer Regung füllt.
Dies' etwas kann ich zwar nicht nennen,
Doch fühl' ichs hier wie Feuer brennen.
Soll die Empfindung Liebe sein?
Ja, ja, die Liebe ist's allein.
O, wenn ich sie nur finden könnte!
O, wenn sie doch schon vor mir stände!
Ich würde, würde, warm und rein,
Was würde ich? Ich würde sie voll Entzücken
An diesen heissen Busen drücken
Und ewig wäre sie dann mein.

This image is enchantingly lovely,
Like no eye has ever beheld!
I feel it as this divine picture,
Fills my heart with new emotion.
I cannot name my feeling,
Though I feel it burn like fire within me,
Could this feeling be love?
Yes! Yes! It is love alone!
Oh, if only I could find her,
If only she were standing before me,
I would, I would, with warmth and honor ...
What would I do? Full of rapture,
I would press her to this glowing bosom,
And then she would be mine forever!

The meter is iambic tetrameter[2], which is the meter Schikaneder used throughout 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 the 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[3] who performed the role of Tamino at the premiere of The Magic Flute.[4] 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 (1920/2007) 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."[5] Abert goes on to contrast Tamino's love with that of 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 longer 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."[6]

Grout and Williams suggest that the opening notes of the aria spill over into other numbers: "The opening phrase of 'Dies Bildnis ist bezauberned schön' turns up at a half-dozen unexpected places in the second finale.[7] These and similar melodic remembrances are not to be regarded as leitmotifs in the Wagnerian sense but as partly unconscious echoes of musical ideas that were in Mozart's mind throughout the composition of the opera."[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Branscombe (1991, 50). In terms of length and stanza structure Branscombe is correct, but a rhyme scheme of paired couplets is unusual for a sonnet; see Sonnet for discussion.
  2. ^ Branscombe (1991, 50)
  3. ^ See the online New Grove, article "Benedikt Schack" [1]
  4. ^ Branscombe (1991)
  5. ^ Abert, p. 1265
  6. ^ Abert, p. 1265
  7. ^ They do not specify these locations but one fairly clear case is the phrase to which Pamina sings the words "Tamino mein! O welch ein Glück!" ("My Tamino! Oh what happiness!") when they are reunited shortly before their trials of fire and water. See also Tamino's part on "Wir wandeln durch des Tones Macht" and the third and fourth bars of the flute solo he plays during the trials.
  8. ^ Grout and Williams (2003:331)

References

  • Abert, Hermann (2007) (original edition 1920) W.A. Mozart. Translated by Stewart Spencer and edited/footnoted by Cliff Eisen. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  • Branscombe, Peter (1991) W. A. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte. (Cambridge Opera Handbooks). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Grout, Donald Jay and Hermine Weigel Williams (2003) A Short History of Opera, 4th ed. New York: Columbia University Press.
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