The Sentimentalist Features of Thomas Augustine Arne's Opera “Thomas and Sally”

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Elena V. Pankina
Anastasia S. Privalova

Abstract

The article is devoted to the comic opera “Thomas and Sally” (1760) by of English composer Thomas Augustine Arne (1710–1778), examined from the perspective of sentimentalist tendencies  in the 18th century arts of music and the theatre. The creation by Arne and librettist Isaac Bickerstaff of a comic opera on a rural plot corresponds to one of the main trends in the development of English
art in the mid-18th century – expression of new ideas in a form accessible to the broadest audience. In terms of its content, “Thomas and Sally” pertains to the context of numerous works belonging to the genre spheres of “tearful” comedy and “middle-class” drama, devoted to the theme of the triumph of virtue, which is crucial to British educational literature. The task of disclosing this topic stipulates the musical language of the protagonists, as well as the inclusion of a parenthetical Scottish aria in the opera. An analysis of the opera’s arias and ensembles reveals that Sally’s vocal part, notwithstanding the protagonist’s low social status, contains strongly marked features of arioso virtuosity, similar to the Squire’s vocal part. On the other hand, Dorcas’ and Thomas’ vocal parts tend towards vernacular song-dance prototypes of genre and style. The authors of the article have also recreated the most complete plan of the opera’s compositional structure based on the material of two published editions from the 18th century.
The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 19-312-90032\19.


Keywords: Thomas Arne, “Thomas and Sally,” 18th century opera, English musical theatre, the
pastoral, sentimentalism.

Article Details

How to Cite
Pankina Е. В., & Privalova А. С. (2020). The Sentimentalist Features of Thomas Augustine Arne’s Opera “Thomas and Sally”. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 38(1), 50–59. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1147
Section
Musical Theater
Author Biographies

Elena V. Pankina, Novosibirsk State M. I. Glinka Conservatory, Novosibirsk, Russia

Elena V. Pankina, Dr.Sci. (Arts), Professor at the Music History Department, Novosibirsk State M. I. Glinka Conservatory

Anastasia S. Privalova, Novosibirsk State M. I. Glinka Conservatory, Novosibirsk, Russia

Anastasia S. Privalova, Post-graduate Student at the Music History Department, Novosibirsk State M. I. Glinka Conservatory