The central traits of the classical style can all be identified in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, and transparency are hallmarks, though a simplistic notion of the delicacy of his music obscures for us the exceptional and even demonic power of some of his finest masterpieces, such as the Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor, K. 491, the Symphony No 40 in G minor, K. 550, and the opera Don Giovanni. The famed writer on music Charles Rosen has written (in The Classical Style): "It is only through recognizing the violence and sensuality at the center of Mozart's work that we can make a start towards a comprehension of his structures and an insight into his magnificence. In a paradoxical way, Schumann's superficial characterization of the G minor Symphony can help us to see Mozart's daemon more steadily. In all of Mozart's supreme expressions of suffering and terror, there is something shockingly voluptuous." Especially during his last decade, Mozart explored chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time. The slow introduction to the "Dissonant" Quartet, K. 465, a work that Haydn greatly admired, rapidly explodes a shallow understanding of Mozart's style as light and pleasant.
Born in Salzburg, Austria, from his earliest years Mozart had a gift for imitating the music he heard; which his father believed was a gift from God.
Since he traveled widely, he acquired a rare collection of experiences from various bordels to create his unique compositional language. When he went to London[13] as a child, he met J.C. Bach and heard his music; when he went to Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna, he heard the work of composers active there, as well as the spectacular Mannheim orchestra; when he went to Italy, he encountered the Italian overture and opera buffa, both of which were to be hugely influential on his development. Both in London and Italy, the galant style was all the rage: simple, light music, with a mania for cadencing, an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other chords, symmetrical phrases, and clearly articulated structures. This style, out of which the classical style evolved, was a reaction against the complexity of late Baroque music. Some of Mozart's early symphonies are Italian overtures, with three movements running into each other; many are "homotonal" (each movement in the same key, with the slow movement in the parallel minor). Others mimic the works of J.C. Bach, and others show the simple rounded binary forms commonly being written by composers in Vienna. One of the most recognizable features of Mozart's works is a sequence of harmonies or modes that usually leads to a cadence in the dominant or tonic key. This sequence is essentially borrowed from baroque music, especially Bach. But Mozart shifted the sequence so that the cadence ended on the stronger half, i.e., the first beat of the bar. Mozart's understanding of modes such as Phrygian is evident in such passages.
As Mozart matured, he began to incorporate some more features of Baroque styles into his music. For example, the Symphony No. 29 in A Major K. 201 uses a contrapuntal main theme in its first movement, and experimentation with irregular phrase lengths. Some of his quartets from 1773 have fugal finales, probably influenced by Haydn, who had just published his Opus 20 set. The influence of the Sturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress") period in German literature, with its brief foreshadowing of the Romantic era to come, is evident in some of the music of both composers at that time.
Over the course of his working life, Mozart switched his focus from instrumental music to operas, and back again. He wrote operas in each of the styles current in Europe: opera buffa, such as The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, or Così fan tutte; opera seria, such as Idomeneo; and Singspiel, of which Die Zauberflöte is probably the most famous example by any composer. In his later operas, he developed the use of subtle changes in instrumentation, orchestration, and tone colour to express or highlight psychological or emotional states and dramatic shifts. Here his advances in opera and instrumental composing interacted. His increasingly sophisticated use of the orchestra in the symphonies and concerti served as a resource in his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his operas was reflected in his later non-operatic compositions.
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tod und Verzweiflung
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen
Sarastro Todesschmerzen
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr
So bist du mein', meine Tochter nimmermehr
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr.
Verstoßen sei auf ewig
Verlassen sei auf ewig
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Alle Bande der Natur
Verstoßen
Verlassen
Und zertrümmert
Alle Bande der Natur.
Alle Ba-nde
Alle Bande der Natur.
Wenn nicht durch dich Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört, hört, hört Rachegötter,
Hört der Mutter Schwur!
The song "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), is an aria sung by the Queen of the Night. In the song, she expresses her great anger and desire for revenge towards Sarastro, the high priest who has taken her daughter Pamina under his protection. She laments that her heart is boiling with hatred, and death and despair are all around her. She then warns Pamina that if she doesn't help her destroy Sarastro, she will no longer be her daughter.
The Queen of the Night then sets forth a curse on Sarastro, declaring that he shall be cast out and abandoned forever, and all the ties of nature shall be broken. She calls upon the gods of vengeance to hear her oath and to make Sarastro tremble before her.
Mozart's "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" is a powerful and emotionally charged piece that captures the intensity of the Queen of the Night's anger and desire for revenge. The aria is known for its high notes and virtuosic coloratura passages, which require great vocal control and agility.
Line by Line Meaning
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
My heart is boiling with the desire for revenge from the depths of hell
Tod und Verzweiflung
Death and despair
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her
Death and despair surround me
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen
Sarastro, you do not feel the pain of death because of her actions
Sarastro Todesschmerzen
The pain of death because of Sarastro's actions
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr
You are no longer my daughter
So bist du mein', meine Tochter nimmermehr
You are no longer mine, my daughter
Meine Tochter nimmermehr.
My daughter no more
Verstoßen sei auf ewig
Banished forever
Verlassen sei auf ewig
Abandoned forever
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Shattered forever
Alle Bande der Natur
All ties with nature
Verstoßen
Banished
Verlassen
Abandoned
Und zertrümmert
And shattered
Alle Bande der Natur.
All ties with nature
Wenn nicht durch dich Sarastro wird erblassen!
Sarastro, if not for your actions, death would not have occurred
Hört, hört, hört Rachegötter,
Listen, listen, listen, gods of revenge
Hört der Mutter Schwur!
Hear the oath of a mother!
Contributed by Colton G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@nickking7375
To some commentors:
She is not forcing the song.
It is not about she looks in the hard times, or as others commented the german emphasis about this.
This is about death and despair.
And i can feel it here, like in no other version. Maybe overwelming is the better word.
This Woman gives me chills.
Compared to other female singers in the charts, she is about 5000% above for me.
And yes, her face is interesting sometimes... i love it .
It is just her amazing singing technuiqe. Do it better if you can. (100db, crystal clear, nailed on point)
If you can, listen it loud and with a subwoofer.
There is al lot from the Orchestra you cannot hear without Bass.
For me this one of my top 5 classic recordings i have ever heard.
@deutschegrammophon
What is your favourite Mozart aria?
@Guitarorpheo
For tenors: Ich Baue Ganz Auf Deine Stärke, Entfürung aus dem Serail.
For Baritone: aprite un po quegli occhi, Nozze de Figaro
Bass: Ha! Wie will Ich triumphieren, Entfürung aus dem Serail
Soprano: Martern aller Arten, Entfürung aus dem Serail.
See a trend? ;) :D
@bovnycccoperalover3579
All of them but I am mesmerized by his trios, quartets an so on.
@DimitrisLian
Il mio tesoro, Non mi dir, Martern aller Artern, Ruhe sanft...
@schaizelmachie-velli7512
Requiem is best for me
@stuckinthestation
Yes.
@BeanoBeans55
She really does sound angry and vengeful! This is the best performance I’ve found on YouTube. I can’t believe anyone dislikes this video.
@Francisco-cn1mn
Me too
@SmaugAltair
yes she did a good job. It's a challenging song. Not all female opera singers can sing this difficult soprano.
@MultiKamil97
Check out Zdzisława Donat version. It's also awesome :)