| Title: | The Willow Song in Verdi’s Adaptation of Othello by William Shakespeare – an Interdisciplinary Approach |
| Author: | Letiţia Goia |
| Publication: | Philologica Jassyensia, X (1 supl.), p. 491-498 |
| p-ISSN: | 1841-5377 |
| e-ISSN: | 2247-8353 |
| Publisher: | Institutul de Filologie Română „A. Philippide” |
| Place: | Iaşi |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Abstract: | The opera libretto hasn’t attracted too much critical attention from a literary perspective until very recently. One of the major qualities that renders the genre challenging to literary scholars is its ambivalence, as it pertains both to literature and music. Hence, beyond the literary component there is also the musical subtext which enriches and complements the words, and which is as valid a part of the discourse as the textual one. This paper seeks to discuss the entwinement of the two types of language – literary and musical – in the The Willow Song from Giuseppe Verdi’s Othello. It also focuses on the relationship between text and music and the role of music in enhancing the literary language. In Othello, Shakespeare’s knowledge of the human nature meets Verdi’s skill in exploring the psychological depth of the characters by means specific to the art of sounds. The playwright conveys personalities and situations by means of words, while the composer renders features and actions with the use of musical devices: tonality, choice of voice type, melodic lines, leitmotifs, rhythm, selection of instruments or orchestration. |
| Key words: | libretto, Othello, The Willow Song, Shakespeare, Verdi |
| Language: | English |
| Links: |  pdf  html |
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