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Coloratura is an elaborate
melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
with
runs,
trills, wide
leaps, or similar
virtuoso
A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...
-like material,
[''Oxford American Dictionaries''.][Apel (1969), p. 184.] or a
passage
Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers
* ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters
* ''The Passage'' (1979 film), starring ...
of such music. Operatic roles in which such music plays a prominent part, and singers of these roles, are also called coloratura.
[Steane, J. B.; Jander, Owen, "Coloratura" in Sadie (1992) 1: 907.] Its instrumental equivalent is
ornamentation
An ornament is something used for decoration.
Ornament may also refer to:
Decoration
*Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts
*Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...
.
Coloratura is particularly found in vocal music and especially in
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
tic singing of the 18th and 19th centuries. The word ''coloratura'' ( , , ) means "coloring" in Italian, and derives from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''colorare'' ("to color").
History
The term ''coloratura'' was first defined in several early non-Italian music dictionaries:
Michael Praetorius
Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...
's ''Syntagma musicum'' (1618);
Sébastien de Brossard's ''Dictionaire de musique'' (1703); and
Johann Gottfried Walther
Johann Gottfried Walther (18 September 1684 – 23 March 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era.
Walther was born at Erfurt. Not only was his life almost exactly contemporaneous to that ...
's ''Musicalisches Lexicon'' (1732). In these early texts "the term is dealt with briefly and always with reference to Italian usage".
[Jander, Owen; Harris, Ellen T. "Coloratura" in '' Grove Music Online'']
www.grovemusic.com
Retrieved 27 November 2006.
Christoph Bernhard
Christoph Bernhard (1 January 1628 – 14 November 1692) was born in Kolberg, Pomerania, and died in Dresden. He was a German Baroque composer and musician. He studied with former Sweelinck-pupil Paul Siefert in Danzig (now Gdańsk) and in War ...
(1628–1692) defined ''coloratura'' in two ways:
*
cadenza
In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), sol ...
: "runs which are not so exactly bound to the bar, but which often extend two, three or more bars further
ndshould be made only at chief closes" (''Von der Singe-Kunst, oder Maniera'', c. 1649)
*
diminution
In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series of ...
: "when an interval is altered through several shorter notes, so that, instead of one long note, a number of shorter ones rush to the next note through all kinds of progressions by step or leap" (''Tractatus compositionis'', c. 1657)
The term was never used in the most famous Italian texts on singing:
Giulio Caccini
Giulio Romolo Caccini (also Giulio Romano) (8 October 1551 – buried 10 December 1618) was an Italian composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist and writer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the founders of the genre o ...
's ''Le Nuove musiche'' (1601/2);
Pier Francesco Tosi's, ''Opinioni de' cantori antichi e moderni'' (1723);
Giovanni Battista Mancini Giovanni Battista Mancini (1 January 1714 – 4 January 1800) was an Italian soprano castrato, voice teacher, and author of books on singing.
Mancini was born at Ascoli Piceno, Italy. He studied singing in Naples with Leonardo Leo and in Bolo ...
's ''Pensieri, e riflessioni pratiche sopra il canto figurato'' (1774);
Manuel García's ''Mémoire sur la voix humaine'' (1841), and ''Traité complet de l’art du chant'' (1840–47); nor was it used by the English authors
Charles Burney (1726–1814) and
Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley (15 December 1808 – 16 February 1872) was an English literary, art and music critic, writer and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics.
Chorley was a prolific and important music and litera ...
(1808–1872), both of whom wrote at length about Italian singing of a period when ornamentation was essential.
Modern usage
The term ''coloratura'' is most commonly applied to the elaborate and florid figuration or ornamentation in
classical (late 18th century) and
romantic (19th century, specifically ''
bel canto
Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing.
The phrase was not associat ...
'') vocal music. However, early music of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, and in particular,
baroque music
Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...
extending up to about 1750, includes a substantial body of music for which coloratura technique is required by vocalists and instrumentalists alike. In the modern musicological sense the term is therefore used to refer to florid music from all periods of music history, both vocal and instrumental.
For example, in Germany the term ''coloratura'' (german: Koloratur) has been applied to the stereotypical and formulaic ornamentation used in 16th‑century keyboard music written by a group of German organ composers referred to as the "
colorists" (german: Koloristen).
[
Despite its derivation from Latin ''colorare'' ("to color"), the term does not apply to the practice of "coloring" the voice, ''i.e.'' altering the quality or ]timbre
In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...
of the voice for expressive purposes (for example, the technique of '' voix sombrée'' used by Gilbert Duprez in the 1830s).
Vocal ranges
The term is not restricted to describing any one range of voice. All female and male voice types may achieve mastery of coloratura technique. There are coloratura parts for all voice types in different musical genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
s.[
Nevertheless, the term ''coloratura'', when used without further qualification, normally means . A ]coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills.
The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...
role, most famously typified by the Queen of the Night in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...
'', has a high range and requires the singer to execute with great facility elaborate ornamentation and embellishment, including running passages, staccati, and trill
TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is an Internet Standard implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and is the application of link-state routing to the VLAN-aware cus ...
s. A coloratura soprano has the vocal ability to produce notes above high C ( C6) and possesses a tessitura
In music, tessitura (, pl. ''tessiture'', "texture"; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer or less frequently, musical instrument, the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or character ...
ranging from A4 to A5 or higher (unlike lower sopranos whose tessitura is G4–G5 or lower).
Richard Miller names two types of soprano coloratura voices (the coloratura and the dramatic coloratura) as well as a mezzo-soprano coloratura voice, and although he does not mention the coloratura contralto, he includes mention of specific works requiring coloratura technique for the contralto voice.[Miller (2000), p. 13.]
Examples of coloratura music for different voice ranges include:
* Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
's ''Allelujah'' (from ''Exsultate, jubilate
' (Exult, rejoice), K. 165, is a 1773 motet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
History
This religious solo motet was composed when Mozart was staying in Milan during the production of his opera '' Lucio Silla'' which was being performed there in the ...
'') may be arranged for and sung by a properly trained contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...
, mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
or soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
. The piece was written for soprano castrato.
* The aria
In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
'' Every valley shall be exalted'' from Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
's ''Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
'' is an example of a coloratura piece for tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
.
* Each singer of a major role in Rossini's operas must have a secure coloratura technique.
* Osmin, a character in Mozart's ''The Abduction from the Seraglio
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', is a coloratura role for a basso.
* ''Agitata da due venti'' ("Agitated by two winds") a coloratura contralto aria, from Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...
's opera '' Griselda''.
See also
* Bel canto
Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing.
The phrase was not associat ...
* Diatonic and chromatic § Medieval coloration
Citations
Works cited
* Apel, Willi, ed. (1969). ''Harvard Dictionary of Music
''The Harvard Dictionary of Music'' is a standard music reference book published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
The first edition, titled ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', was published in 1944, and was edited by Willi Apel. ...
'', second edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
. .
* Miller, Richard (2000). ''Training soprano voices''. New York: Oxford University Press. .
* Randel, Don Michael, ed.; Apel, Willi, ed. (1986). ''New Harvard Dictionary of Music''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. .
* Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1992). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...
'' (four volumes). London: Macmillan. .
{{Authority control
Italian opera terminology
Ornamentation