"Non più andrai" (You shall go no more) is an

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 ...

for bass from Mozart's 1786 opera ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'', K. 492. The Italian

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

was written by

Lorenzo Da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (; 10 March 174917 August 1838) was an Italian, later American, opera librettist, poet and Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's most celebrated operas: ''The Marr ...

based on a stage comedy by

Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist ...

, '' La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro'' (1784). It is sung by Figaro at the end of the first act.

Context

At the end of the first act, Count Almaviva finds Cherubino hiding in Susanna's quarters. The Count was already suspicious that Cherubino had designs on his wife, Countess Rosina, and overall disapproves of his loose lifestyle. However, he cannot punish Cherubino, as he himself was only in Susanna's quarters to proposition her. The Count sends Cherubino away instead, to his regiment in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. In this aria, Figaro teases Cherubino about his Spartan military future, in stark contrast with the pleasant and flirtatious life he has enjoyed in the Count's palace.

Libretto

The libretto of ''Le Nozze di Figaro'' was written by librettist

, who collaborated with Mozart on two other operas, ''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...

'' and ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

''. Non più andrai, farfallone amoroso, notte e giorno d'intorno girando; delle belle turbando il riposo Narcisetto, Adoncino d'amor. Non più avrai questi bei pennacchini, quel cappello leggero e galante, quella chioma, quell'aria brillante, quel vermiglio donnesco color. Tra guerrieri, poffar Bacco! Gran mustacchi, stretto sacco. Schioppo in spalla, sciabla al fianco, collo dritto, muso franco, un gran casco, o un gran turbante, molto onor, poco contante! Ed invece del fandango, una marcia per il fango. Per montagne, per valloni, con le nevi e i sollioni. Al concerto di tromboni, di bombarde, di cannoni, che le palle in tutti i tuoni all'orecchio fan fischiar. Cherubino alla vittoria: alla gloria militar! You shall go no more, lustful butterfly, Day and night flitting to and fro; Disturbing ladies in their sleep Little Narcissus,

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord". R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by ...

of love. No longer will you have these beautiful feathers, That light, romantic cap, That hair, that glowing countenance, That rosy, womanly complexion. Among soldiers, by Jove! A big moustache, a little kit. With a rifle on your shoulder, and a sabre on your flank, Standing up straight, hard faced, A big helmet, or a big turban, Plenty of honour, little pay! And instead of dancing the

fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

, A march through the mud. Through mountains, through valleys, With snow and with the sun beating down. To the beat of the bugle, Of bombs, of cannons, Whose thunderous report Makes your ears ring. Cherubino, to victory: To glory in battle! The meter of the verse is

anapest An anapaest (; also spelled anapæst or anapest, also called antidactylus) is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one; in accentual stress meters it consist ...

trimeter In poetry, a trimeter (Greek for "three measure") is a metre of three metrical feet per line. Examples: : When here // the spring // we see, : Fresh green // upon // the tree. See also * Anapaest * Dactyl * Tristich * Triadic-line poetry Triad ...

for the first two stanzas,

trochaic tetrameter Trochaic tetrameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line of four trochaic feet. The etymology of the word Trochaic is the Greek word ''trokhaios'', from the verb ''trecho'', which means "I run". In classical metre, a trochee is a foot cons ...

for the remainder. The intricate rhyme scheme is

BAC BAC or Bac may refer to: Places * Bac, Rožaje, Bac, a village in Montenegro * Baile Átha Cliath, Irish language name for Dublin city. * Bîc River, aka ''Bâc River'', a Moldovan river * Baç Bridge, bridge in Turkey * Barnes County Municipal A ...

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

F GG HH II JJJJK LK where the long series of -''oni'' rhymes ( supports the

patter song The patter song is characterised by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note. It is a staple of comic opera, especially Gilbert and Sullivan, but it ...

describing the soldier's miseries.

Music

The aria is set in

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

, in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

() and is in the style of a military

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

. It is 114 bars long and takes about four minutes to perform. Its

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

and

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 ...

covers C to E. The melody often mimics the sound of a military

bugle The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, normally having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure. History The bugle developed from early musical or communication ...

by concentrating on the natural

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...

s (C–E–G–C). This effect is strengthened when

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

are prominent several times in the orchestra. The final 14 bars are played entirely by the orchestra as the characters (in productions respecting the original stage direction ') march off the stage in military fashion.

Reception

The catchy tune and stirring military accompaniment have made this aria popular from the very beginning; indeed at the rehearsals of the premiere the performers burst spontaneously into bravos for the composer (for details see article on

Francesco Benucci Francesco Benucci (c. 1745 – 5 April 1824) was an Italian bass/baritone singer of the 18th century. He sang a number of important roles in the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri and other composers. Life Historical background ...

, who created the role). Mozart later quoted his own tune, played by a stage band as part of a medley sequence, in his opera ''

'' (1787) – evidently aware that the audience would instantly recognize it (the character Leporello, in ''Don Giovanni's'' Vienna premiere also sung by Benucci, ironically sings, ' – "Now that tune I know too well"). Mozart further reused this aria in the first of his Five Contredanses, K. 609 (1791). Harris calls "Non più andrai" "the most famous aria in the opera", continuing: "this is simply a great tune, a great comic piece ... Mozart at his most playful and entertaining." The march is currently the regimental slow march of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

in the United Kingdom and the

Governor General's Foot Guards The Governor General's Foot Guards (GGFG) is the senior reserve infantry regiment in the Canadian Army. Located in Ottawa at the Cartier Square Drill Hall, the regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry unit, and the members are part-time soldiers. ...

in Canada."Traditions"

It is also the march of

St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...

in England.

References

External links

* *, Joshua Bloom (bass),

Garsington Opera Garsington Opera is an annual summer opera festival founded in 1989 by Leonard Ingrams. The Philharmonia Orchestra and The English Concert are its two resident orchestras. For 21 years it was held in the gardens of Ingrams's home at Garsington ...

Douglas Boyd Douglas Boyd (born 1959, Glasgow, Scotland) is a British oboist and conductor. Biography Boyd studied oboe at the Royal Academy of Music, London, as a pupil of Janet Craxton. He later was a student with Maurice Bourgue in Paris. In 1984 he w ...

(conductor), John Cox (director), 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Non piu andrai Arias from The Marriage of Figaro Opera excerpts 1786 compositions 1786 songs Compositions in C major Bass arias Songs about the military