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.
Queen Of The Night Aria
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tot und verzweiflung
Tot 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
Meine tochter nimmermehr
(cadence)
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 Bande…
(cadence)
Alle bande der natur
Wenn nicht durch dich
Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört, Hört, Hört,
Rachegötter
Hoert
Der Mutter Schwur!
The Queen of the Night Aria is a highly dramatic piece from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute." The aria begins with the character of Queen of the Night singing "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen," which translates to "the wrath of hell boils in my heart." She is consumed by anger and despair as she contemplates her daughter Pamina's decision to reject her in favor of the benevolent and wise Sarastro. The Queen of the Night vows revenge against Sarastro while expressing her feelings of disownment towards her daughter.
As the aria continues, the Queen of the Night declares that Pamina is no longer her daughter, and that she is now forever banished and abandoned. She sings of destroying every bond of nature and annihilating any connection to the natural world. The Queen of the Night concludes the aria by addressing the gods of revenge, commanding them to listen to her mother's oath and ensure that Sarastro suffers the consequences of his actions.
Line by Line Meaning
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem herzen
My heart boils with the wrath of hell
Tot und verzweiflung
Death and despair
Tot und verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Death and despair surround me!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen
If Sarastro does not feel death’s pain through you
Sarastro todesschmerzen,
Sarastro's death pains,
So bist du meine tochter nimmermehr
Then you are no longer my daughter
So bist du mein', meine tochter nimmermehr
You will no longer be mine, my daughter
Verstossen sei auf ewig
Be forever cast out
Verlassen sei auf ewig
Be forever abandoned
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Be forever shattered
Alle bande der natur
All bonds of nature
Alle bande…
All bonds...
Wenn nicht durch dich Sarastro wird erblassen!
If Sarastro does not weaken through you
Hört, Hört, Hört,
Listen, listen, listen,
Rachegötter
Gods of revenge
Hoert
Hear
Der Mutter Schwur!
The mother's oath!
Writer(s): Terry Davies, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Contributed by Olivia K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@valROFL
Mozart be like: “lol I’m not the one that’s gonna sing this”
@shirleyrombough8173
It wouldn't surprise me if Mozart did think this exactly. I think I read that he deliberately did write some devilish music for a soprano he had had some wotds with.
@Kelsi-2014
@@shirleyrombough8173 supposedly he wrote it specifically for his sister who was an amazing vocalist. So he either really loved her or hated her lol
@MultiKamil97
@@shirleyrombough8173That aria is called Come Scoglio and is from the opera called Cosi Fan Tutte. Mozart wrote it for soprano Adriana Ferrarese Del Bene who was known for raising her chin up during high notes and down when reaching for low notes. That's why this aria has a lot of high notes and low notes one after another. It was meant to make her look kinda like chicken while singing. Mozart was such a troll lol
@markiangooley
Same attitude Bach had, usually expressed politely by experts as “Bach never spared the performer.”
@alembess9129
Surprise!
@nachoijp
I love how she mixes the hateful revenge feelings with a tinge of sweetness and motherly concern, even her face changes to a pantomime of a caring mother. Her vocals are impeccable and her acting elevates this to ineffable levels.
@davidwright8432
... but her daughter will be in therapy forever.
@JBarr-lw6kp
Sweetness and motherly concern? You should stop drinking bourbon before breakfast -- this is pure evil hatred for Sarastro and total unconcern for her kid. Read the subtitles: "If you don't kill Sarastro for me you will no longer be my daughter." Charming.
@bebopbountyhead
I was just thinking the same thing when she was singing the truncated scales: she has her hand over her head like a mother giving a lullaby to her child.