What is aria? Development and national traits

Completed by construction number of a major vocal work, which is usually performed by a lead singer accompanied by an orchestra, that's what an aria is. This work has a melodic, mostly songstore. In the emotional plane, the aria generalizes a certain stage of the action. Its structure is many-sided.

French aria

In medieval times, this term has already been used in Western Europe. Some time later he came to France. At first, an ordinary stanzaic song was called aria, and from the seventeenth century instrumental pieces of song or dance character became known as such.

The flowering of this genre was the emergence of various varieties of solo vocal arias, as well as works for voice accompanied by various instruments. Many composers of this time use this genre as a source of inspiration. Aria has become not only an independent play, but also a part of such major works as ballet or orchestral suite.

With the development of opera creativity, the characteristic features of the French aria were singing and a simple structure.

Italian aria

In Western Europe, the evolution of the aria is associated with the development of opera and chamber vocal music. Here there are various kinds: one-sided arias or works with several contrasting parts.

The next stage in the development of the genre was the flowering of Italian opera. Here, the question of what an aria is, you can answer: this is the culmination of the opera, its center. Arias differ depending on the character. More complex belong to the protagonists and usually include development, coloratura, recitative and repetition. And secondary characters usually perform a simple opera aria of a song and dance character.

The aria takes a different character with the development in the Neapolitan opera school of the opera-seria genre. Here the aria is dominated by the demonstration of vocal virtuosity, and the musical-dramatic content of the opera is only secondary. Such a schematization leads to a crisis in this operatic genre.

The Gluck reform

One of the most important lines of the development of the aria is opera reform, which belongs to K. V. Gluck. What is the aria, you can say so here - this is an element that is organically connected with the musical-dramatic action of the opera. It conveys all the wealth of emotional states that arise in different situations. Aria is enriched with new forms and species, which vividly represent the Viennese classics.

The most outstanding in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the work of the composer-string instrumentist G. Puccini. Aria in his work passes to a new round of development.

Russian aria

The formation of the characteristic features of the Russian aria evolved mainly from the development of everyday comic opera. Basically, it used folk, urban and peasant songs, everyday romances. They influenced the structure and intonational structure of this genre, but at the same time one can notice the influence of the traditions of the West European opera.

The opera of Glinka became the flourishing of the aria. In his works, as well as the work of other composers, it occupies the most important place. The vocal melody and melodic generalization are very important here, which are based on the intonational richness of the folk song. What is the aria in the works of Glinka? This is primarily a broad chant and a special plasticity of the melody.

In the pre-revolutionary period, in parallel with the classical representatives of this genre, there arose peculiar forms of aria and its specific species that appeared in the works of composers of the time. But along with them, the interpretation of the Russian original aria was found, and characteristic for the domestic classics.