Gioachino Rossini "Sombe foret"

1.     “Sombre foret” (Dark forest) an aria from the opera Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8cvLMhnnEU

2.     Gioachino Rossini wrote five operas for Paris theatres and this was his last one he ever wrote. After its first performance he retired. The announcement of this opera came out in 1828, but was not premiered until 1829 because the libretto was not finished. Etienne de Jouy was the French librettist. It is also said that some other librettist helped with the script including Hippolyte Bis. This is a four act opera that tells the story of Wilhelm Tell a great archer that fights in a rebellion against the Austrians. At the same time it is about the love of Arnold and Mathilde and how this rebellion keeps them apart but they find their way back to each other. This opera was a French opera, but it was soon translated into Italian and is the version that was most often performed. This opera is most famous for the overture in the fourth act, "March of the Swiss Soldiers". It is one of his longest operas coming out at four hours.

3.     About the music piece:

a.      Guillaume Tell was first heard on August 3, 1829. It was first performed in Paris, France at the Salle Le Peletier. This was the last opera Rossini’s composed before he retired.  He simply wrote it for one of the theatres in Paris. It is based off of the play “Wilhelm Tell” by Friedrich Schiller.  

b.     Guillaume Tell is an opera. It is interesting that Rossini put his on twist on writing operas. He came up with a way in which to write operas in the same way every time, like a template, as to continually entertain the audience. This opera is pretty ordinary during the time it was written. It is more of a serious opera. It was a little strange that his last opera was not a comic opera, since he was highly known for them.

c.      Rossini comes up with his own sort of form for this aria, which he calls scena ed aria. An aria is very typical of the Romantic period, but the way in which it is presented and the mechanics of it are different. He follows his rules for what an aria should be. What he came up with was a piece of music that was intended to express an idea or something that had importance. “Sombre foret” begins with instrumental music, then the solo voice comes in. In this case, a female soprano who is accompanied by the instruments. There is then a cantabile portion which it is reflective, a transition point called tempo di mezzo or change in mood, and then the cabaletta part during which the female shows off various skills.

d.     It is more of a serious opera which would tie it to the Romantic period. This is because there was a desire to go back to the sublime. Composers during this time really tried to make their music transcend to express the individualistic qualities of humans and nature. Rossini however really just wrote to and for the audience. He pretty much saw the public as his ticket to making money. However the story told by this opera was descriptive of the idea of nationalism which was a big part of the Romantic period as well.

References

Fiorito, Lorenzo. (07 July 2014). Guillaume Tell: Taking aim at a new style of opera. Retrieved from https://bachtrack.com/article-guillaume-tell-opera-month

Green, Aaron. (05 March 2017). Guillaume Tell (William Tell) Synopsis. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/guillaume-tell-william-tell-synopsis-724235