AMBIENTUM BIOETHICA BIOLOGIA CHEMIA DIGITALIA DRAMATICA EDUCATIO ARTIS GYMNAST. ENGINEERING EPHEMERIDES EUROPAEA GEOGRAPHIA GEOLOGIA HISTORIA HISTORIA ARTIUM INFORMATICA IURISPRUDENTIA MATHEMATICA MUSICA NEGOTIA OECONOMICA PHILOLOGIA PHILOSOPHIA PHYSICA POLITICA PSYCHOLOGIA-PAEDAGOGIA SOCIOLOGIA THEOLOGIA CATHOLICA THEOLOGIA CATHOLICA LATIN THEOLOGIA GR.-CATH. VARAD THEOLOGIA ORTHODOXA THEOLOGIA REF. TRANSYLVAN
The STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABEŞ-BOLYAI issue article summary
The summary of the selected article appears at the bottom of the page. In order to get back to the contents of the issue this article belongs to you have to access the link from the title. In order to see all the articles of the archive which have as author/co-author one of the authors mentioned below, you have to access the link from the author's name.
Authors: NOÉMI KARÁCSONY, MĂDĂLINA DANA RUCSANDA, MIHAELA BUHAICIUC.
DOI: 10.24193/subbmusica.2022.spiss2.03
Published Online: 2022-12-20
Published Print: 2022-12-30
pp. 33-50
VIEW PDF
FULL PDF
Abstract: As part of a larger study which compresses three layers of analyses — dramatic, visual, and musical — the present article deals with the rhythmic component of the musical phenomenon in French operas within a half century timeframe, 1862–1923. Orientalism and exoticism were represented through melody, rhythm, timbre, and libretti in operas by F. David, G. Bizet, L. Delibes, J. Massenet, and A. Roussel. The melodic dimension, discussed in a previous study, offered perhaps more opportunities for the evocation of an allegedly oriental sound than rhythm and meter deliver within the operas, while the timbre of various instruments proposes the sensuality of the Orient — an accepted Western stereotype regarding the East. To identify certain rhythmic formulae of Indian inspiration and to understand the concept of tāla, several studies and works of Indian musicians and authors have been consulted, among these Sãrngadeva’s Sangītaratnākara, a thirteenth century treatise considered one of the most important Indian musicological texts. Whether invented or extracted directly from its original source, the article aims to identify composers’ rhythmic gestures. The blend of personal musical language with the Indian tinta reflected in rhythmic patterns create a romantic texture cognoscible to the discussed French exotic operas: David’s opéra-comique Lalla-Roukh, Bizet’s Les Pecheurs de perles, Delibes’ Lakmé, Massenet’s five-act grand-opéra Le Roi du Lahore, and Roussel’s opéra-ballet Padmâvatî.
Key words: Hindu rhythm, ethnomusicology, French opera, orientalism, Indian tinta, timbre
