Franz Schubert and French Opera: Concerning the Problem of “The Native and the Foreign” in the Austrian Musical Theater of the First Third of the 19th Century
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Abstract
The article is devoted to the connections of Franz Schubert’s operatic works with the French musical theater
of its time. These connections are stipulated by that significant position which was obtained in German-speaking
lands during the first two decades of the 19th century. In Schubert’s works for the stage, just as in operas by other
Austrian and German composers of that time, there are many features present which are characteristic of French
genre models. The article examines, among other things, points of connection between two of his operas, “Alfonso
und Estrella” and “Fierrabras” with “Semiramis” by Charles Simon Catel, which was staged in Viennese opera
theaters, and which, as it is known, Schubert was fascinated with. This confluence is characterized, first of all, by
the characteristic punctured rhythmical formulas, which in all three operas approach the functions of leitmotifs in
their significance, some melodic turns and the specific harmonic progression bringing in the connection between the
Aria of Azema from “Semiramis” with the Chorus of Florinda from “Fierrabras.” A certain amount of impact was
also exerted by Catel’s “Semiramis” on the libretto of “Alfonso und Estrella.” It is possible that one of the scenes
of the latter opera – the conspiracy scene – was brought in the general outline of the subject under the influence of
the French examples, moreover that particularly in the music of this scene one can discern the greatest amount of
connections with the analogous episode in Catel’s opera.
Keywords: Franz Schubert, Charles Simon Catel, Austrian opera, French opera, music of the early 19th century.
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