Ever fallen in love with a piece of music so much that you research it and do a full analysis on it?
Just me then….Well here you are, Piangero la sorte mia from Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Operatic Arias in the Baroque era were songs that challenged the singer in areas of breath control, affekt, virtuosity, and ornamentation. Although all arias in the Baroque era have at least one of these musical characteristics, composers would sometimes take away from the beauty of the music to create a song to show off the singer’s skill. This is not the case in Handel’s Piangero la sorte mia from Giulio Cesare in Egitto. Not only does this song challenge the singer, it stays true to the original idea even within the melismatic passages and emotion of the piece. To understand the essence of the beauty of an aria, it is important also to look at the composer, the librettist, the historical background, the storyline of the opera of which the aria belongs as well as the structure and characteristics of the opera and the aria itself.
George Fredric Handel, the composer of this piece, was born in Halle in 1685 to a family that was not musicians. Before his tenth birthday he began formal music training and by 17 he was employed as a church organist. His love of music was in Opera though, so in 1703, he went to Hamburg and composed his first opera, Almira. He received patronage with both the nobility and the clergy and had many successes, making it all the way to London. There he composed Giulio Cesare in Egitto in 1728, today this opera is considered his masterpiece. 18 years later, Handel died at the age of 74 in the year of 1759.
Giulio Cesare in Egitto is an Opera seria in three acts and for simplicity will be referred to as just Giulio Cesare throughout the rest of this essay. Handel’s Librettist for Giulio Cesare was Nicola Francesco Haym. Haym was born in 1678 in Rome and began his career as a cellist in Italy. He travelled to London in 1701 and became the master of the 2nd Duke of Bedford’s chamber music, he worked much with Handel and died in 1729.
Haym
loosely based this opera on the History of the Roman Empire and “Haym duly
listed his classical sources”[1] However,
Haym more closely follows the retelling of Julius Cesare written by librettist Francesco
Bussani which was set to music by Antonio Sartorio in 1677, which he does not
cite.
The
Original cast of Giulio Cesare include many stars from the Baroque era, as
follows: Francesca Cuzzoni (Soprano), Margherita Durastanti (Soprano),
Francesco Bernardi, called “Senesino” (Alto castrato), Gaetano
Berenstadt (Alto castrato), Signor Bigonzi (Alto castrato), Anastasia Robinson
(Contralto), Giuseppe Maria Boschi (Baritone), and John Lagarde (Bass)[2].
Francesca Cuzzoni is of particular interest because she was known as a
“spit-fire”. However, Handel did not put up with her theatrics, an example is
as follows. “When Handel was rehearsing his opera Ottone, Cuzzoni, who had been engaged for 2,000 guineas, refused to
sing. So Handel threatened to drop her out of the window.”[3]
Handel revived Giulio Cesare with various changes three times during his
lifetime, starting in 1725, then again 1730, and lastly in 1732. Exact dates as
to when this Opera was composed are also unknown, but it is thought to be in
1723. One historian mentions that “Handel probably began the composition in the
early summer of 1723. He forgot to date it exactly; the words anno 1723 in
pencil seem to have been added later.”[4]
After
looking at the composer and librettist in detail, a brief Synopsis of Giulio Cesare is important to
understanding the focus of this essay, the aria, Pangero la sorte mia. Act 1 starts in Egypt, where Giulio Cesare
celebrates his victory over Pompey in battle. Pompey’s wife, Cornelia comes and
begs for mercy for her husband’s life. Cesare grants it, only to have Tolomeo,
king of Egypt, presents Cesare with Pompey’s head. Everyone is appalled and
Tolomeo invites Cesare to his quarters, the Emperor refuses. Before leaving,
Tolomeo notices Cornelia and is fascinated by her. Sesto, Cornelia’s son,
swears to avenge his father’s death and as mother and son part ways from each
other, they sing their goodbyes. In Act 2, Cleopatra attempts to seduce Cesare
disguised as Lydia, claiming to be a servant of Cleopatra’s. Since Tolomeo has
killed Pompey and is tyrannical, Cleopatra has decided to become the sole ruler
of Egypt. Cleopatra hopes Cesare will support her, but before anything can
happen, he flees, as Tolomeo’s men plot to kill him. He sings an aria. Once
Cesare has leaves, Cleopatra sings a prayer for Cesare. In Act 3, Cleopatra’s
army is defeated by Tolomeo’s men, and she is captured. She is left thinking he
is dead. Cesare comes to her rescue and Sesto successfully avenges his father. Cesare
and Cleopatra sing a song of eternal love and Cornelia hands Cesare Tolomeo’s
royal seal. The Opera ends.
Focusing on Scene III of Act 3 where Piangero la sorte mia is, the scene starts out as “One of the Guards puts Cleopatra in Chains, and her brother gloats over her humiliation. Alone, with Cesare reported dead and no one to help her, she bewails her fate;”[5] Shocked, Cleopatra sings in a recitativo secco “E pur cosi in un giorno (And yet so in one day)” and quickly moves into the aria “Piangero la sorte mia, crudele (I shall weep, my cruel fate)”. This Aria is a da capo aria in ternary form: ABA with basso contineo. The A section starts out in Larghetto in 3/8 in Cleopatra’s home key E major. Having this aria start out in Cleopatra’s signature key helps tie all the previous emotions into this climatic song like a motif. The music laments, word-painting Cleopatra’s cry “Piangero (I shall weep)” and creating a perfect artist challenge with breath control, embellishment notes, and virtuosity. When Cleopatra reaches the B section, the music quickly wraps into Allegro and the relative minor key, C# minor. The meter also changes into cut-time and the bars is more rhythmic and melismatic. In this B section Cleopatra claims “her ghost will haunt Tolomeo.”2 and speaks of her revenge before suddenly returning back into her lament “Piangero (I shall weep)” with the return of the A section.
In the early Baroque is was popular to go see Operas in languages you did not
know, thus Handel set the music of Giulio Cesare to Italian words even though
he was in an England. Words are poetic of Piangero la sorte mia: Piangerò la
sorte mia sì crudele e tanto ria finché vita in petto avrò. Ma poi morta
d’ogn’intorno il tiranno e notte e giorno fatta spettro agiterò. Which roughly
translate to: I shall weep over my fate cruel so long as there remains life in
my chest. But once I have perished, I shall become a ghost and torment the
tyrant from all directions, day and night. The chose of words creates a strong
image of pain and suffering “I shall weep” and then that of desired vengeance
“torment the tyrant”.
Handel’s
Piangero la sorte mia from Giulio Cesare in Egitto successfully incorporates
many different structural and textural aspects into a beautiful compositionthat stays true to the original idea. The
essence of the beauty of music is better appreciated when we look at the
composer, the librettist, the historical background, the storyline of the opera
of which the aria belongs as well as the structure and characteristics of the
opera and the aria itself.
ANNOTATE BIBLOGRAPHY
Dean, Winton; Knapp, John Merril. Handel’s Operas: 1704-1726, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1987. Hardcover.
This volume has a chapter devoted completely to Giulio Cesare in Egitto, offering a full synopsis, study of the libretto, full discussions of the music, the performance history, and a comparison of the different versions of the opera. As well, there are several general chapters on the historical and stylistic context of Handel’s operatic career up to 1726, and a number of Appendices including a list of performances during Handel’s life and the location of librettos, Handel’s borrowings, Handel’s singers, and modern stage productions up to the end of 1993.
Meynell, Hugo. The Art of Handel’s Operas, Lewiston/Queenston: Edward Mellen Press, 1986. Hardcover.
This volume contains information on Handel’s operas and how they contribute and changed the opera tradition in late 18th century, this also contains detailed discussions on Handel’s work between 1705 and 1741. Under the chapter “Full Maturity” we are given a full synopsis of Giulio Cesare in Egitto with details given to instrumental accompaniment and comparisons between the arias and the arias of earlier works by Handel. Contains a detailed timeline of Handel’s Operas, Librettists, and Singers start in 1705 and ending in 1741.
Monson, Craig. “‘Giulio Cesare in Egitto’: From Sartorio (1677) to Handel (1724)” in Music & Letters, Vol. 66 No. 4, pages 313-343, Oxford University Press October, 1985. JSTOR Journal Article
This Journal Article is considered a manuscript study and give historical background on what most likely inspired the storyline and plot of Giulio Cesare in Egitto. Handel’s Librettist, Haym, revised Bussani’s Giulio Cesare and created the much loved Giulio Cesare in Egitto. Music and Letters, where this Journal Article has been taken, has been established as the leading British journal of musical scholarship, covering all fields of musical enquiry.
Dean, Winton. “Handel’s ‘Giulio Cesare’” in The Musical Times, Vol. 104, No. 1444, pages 402-404, Musical Times Publications Ltd. June, 1963. JSTOR Journal Article
This Journal Article The Musical Times is the oldest continuously-published music journal in the world, founded in 1844. It explores the emotion and feel of the different pieces within Giulio Cesare in Egitto and some musical characteristic of each piece.
Hicks, Anthony., “Giulio Cesare in Egitto (ii)” Volume Grove Music Online – The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, issue Published in print December 1992, Published online January 2001 | e-ISBN: 9781561592630, Oxford Music Index http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004424
Reference to Guilio Cesare in Egitto by Handel, a libretto by Nicola francesco Haym adapted from Bussani’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1677).
Steen, Michael. The Lives & Times of Great Composers, Icon Books Ltd. March 30,
2010. Hardcover
An informative book on composer’s
personal lives and the historical events that happen in the time they lived and
an interesting read.
[1] Monson, Craig. “‘Giulio Cesare in Egitto’: From Sartorio (1677) to Handel (1724)” in Music & Letters, Vol. 66 No. 4, page 313
[2] Meynell, Hugo. The Art of Handel’s Operas, page xvi
[3] Steen, Michael. The Lives & Times of Great Composers, Icon Books Ltd. Page 84
[4] Dean, Winton; Knapp, John Merril. Handel’s Operas: 1704-1726, page 500
[5] Dean, Winton; Knapp, John Merril. Handel’s Operas: 1704-1726, page 485