Scene and Prayer

Description

Pietro Mascagni (1864-1945) composed the one-act opera Cavalleria Rusticana” in 1890. The opera represents a style known as verismo (truth), sometimes referred to as “realism” or “naturalness.” Operas in this style are characterized by the use of a libretto which presents everyday people in familiar situations acting violently under the impulse of primitive emotions, and use a musical style appropriate to such a libretto. Verismo opera is the innocent ancestor of the television “shock drama.” Perhaps fortunately, the verismo style was short-lived. Cavalleria Rusticana remains in the active operatic repertoire today and is most often performed in tandem with the other great one-act verismo opera from the the same period, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.

This “Scene and Prayer” comes from a large scene in the opera which begins with the sound of organ music from the village church, and the sound of the choir lures the people inside, where the heroine, Santuzza, begins to sing the “Regina Coeli” prayer, a soaring melody (here scored initially as an oboe solo). She is joined in turn by the choir and the townspeople, and the music builds to a stirring, emotional climax.

Published by: String Instrument Specialists