Libretto Analysis: Discussion of Fatalism in Calisto and Atys - Essay Example

Indeed, the Cardinal crime of believing that a human being can somehow know better than the gods has been translated and carried into the English language until the very current time. This idea of progress, thumbing one’s nose at the intentions and designs of the deities, was understood to be tantamount to the worst possible crime that could be committed by man against the gods. Understandings of progress and an appreciation for mythology have pervaded European culture throughout the centuries. As such, at the time that operatic dramas began to be exhibited within Europe, near the beginning of the Baroque period, an understanding and general appreciation for the compliments of mythology and the idea that humans were merely the playthings of the gods, was carried alongside the musical development and plot design that came to define these operas. Although this may be relevantly understood with regards to a description and discussion of mythology, the following analysis will present such a determination with regards to how the musical composition of the individual librettos indicates this in and of itself.

Firstly, with regards to how a sense of helplessness is represented and the overall resignation to fatalism is accepted in both pieces, the listener must be keenly aware of the nuanced transition from major to minor keys to take place throughout the individual librettos. These transitions occur not indiscriminately but concerning the subject matter that is being engaged in the actual plot development that is occurring. Ultimately, the individual characters briefly hope for a release from the fatalistic and resigned nature that they have experienced; however, as reality begins to seep in and they become more and more aware of the hopelessness of determining their flight and fighting for their future, the transition from major to minor invariably occurs (Deacon, 37). Whereas the human spirit is represented as eternally hopeful, this hope turns into doubt, foreboding, and resignation as these individual shifts take place. Another means through which the fatalism is evidenced throughout both of these respective pieces is with regards to the dramatic pause that the composers were able to provide. Whereas a dramatic pause in music has been utilized for a great many things, the dramatic pauses that were included within the librettos included pointed to the fact that the characters in question were becoming fully aware of the reality of their situations and/or considering the foolishness of their hopeful expectations. Invariably, these dramatic pauses were leveraged as a means of alerting the viewer that a shift in thinking and a fundamentally different approach than had previously been presented was taking place.

Another mechanism through which hope, despair, and fatalism is presented is with regards to how an uptick in tempo and an increase in the suspense of the music before revelations of actions by the gods and how these will impact the respective characters are exhibited. In this way, a type of foreshadowing is created by the respective composers as knowledge is alluded to. Although each of these mechanisms has a powerful impact upon displaying the role through which a joint dialogue between hope and resignation/fatalism occurs, individual elements within the music such as a rise in harmony and pitch to match the major shifts that take place throughout the plot also utilized. However, as reality sets in the work and desires of the gods are manifest a sense of greater fatalism pervades the music and redirects the energetic activities of the participants towards a more morose understanding of how their future will be defined. Read More