No description available.

The thesis sets Rousseau's philosophy of music and aesthetic of opera against the wider philosophical backcloth of eighteenth-centuryF rance and in contraposition to the more scopic music-theoredcabl ackdrop,o f which Rameau'sw ritings are takena s a paradigm. The first half of the thesis contends that the philosophy of music is fashioned upon a trinary model which mirrors the philosophy of nature and history. The first sector is an ideal, hypothetical state; the second (the 'fall) is the moment when the ideal state is ruptured, when societal and cultural institutions - and history - commence; the third, is the 'actual state', the culmination of the process of history. It is argued that relativism is at work between the second and third sectorsa nd Rousseaua ssignsa rigorous systemo f value to the processo f history and all points alongi t, the processi tself, taken as a whole, is seena s a degeneratives lide awayf rom nearperfection to imperfection. 7111sce condh alf of the thesis explores the ramifications of the trinary model and the effect the degenerativep rocessh as upon the voice, music and opera. The voice is consideredt he unique phenomenon that connects all sectors of the trinary structure: though objectified and endowed with an ontology, it is not immune to the degenerativep rocess. At the fall-state,t he voice begins to rupture and two entities - melody and language - gradually emerge. Over time, melody and speech are forced further apart until neither bears much resemblance to the other. With the invention of harmony, melody degeneratesh: armony begins to overshadowm elody, until in the eighteenthc entury- consummatedin the music and theoreticalp ostulationso f Rameau- melody is subjugated and subsumed entirely within the harmonic domain of musical production. The impact upon opera is more complex and the concluding chapters explore the radical and largely reform-driven aesthetico f opera. Roussea&sf inal dramaticw ork Py gmalion(1 762)i s considered not simply as an outcome of this aesthetic, but as an embodiment of the philosophy of music itself; the animateds tatuee nunciatesR ousseau'sv ision of the origin of human expression.

Appearances are one of the main concerns in eighteenth-century novels, but most studies relegate them to a subordinate role, in relation to other issues. Following Slavoj Žižek's understanding of ideology, Alain Badiou's concept of logics of appearances and Jacques Derrida's deconstruction, this thesis offers a sustained analysis of a series of issues of appearances in the eighteenth-century novel, through an exploration of sixteen defining traits, based on Samuel Johnson's definitions of ‘appearance', ‘appear' and ‘apparition'. The concept of appearances allows for an interrogation of ideas, beliefs and positions about most things, including appearances themselves, as they remain open, in their structure and logic, destabilising and deconstructing the ways of thinking that try to contain them. This thesis argues that eighteenth-century novels reproduce, resist and deconstruct the eighteenth-century ideology based on a desire to neutralise the effects of appearances. Through a wide range of eighteenth-century novels, from Robinson Crusoe to Evelina, it argues that novels destabilise the relationship between appearance and being, proposing the multiple appearances of beings and becomings. William Godwin's Caleb Williams is taken as a paradigm, shown to contain most of the issues of appearances in the eighteenth-century novel, revealing that whatever there is, it must be supplemented by appearances in order to appear as reality. This thesis argues that novels came to grasp such a truth of appearances from the beginning of eighteenth-century, by locating appearances subjectively, making more evident the multiplicity and extent of fictions, allowing readers an increased degree of awareness of the fictionality of reality. Thus, this thesis makes a significant contribution to the study of issues of appearance and ideology within literature studies by establishing the genre of the novel as the event of appearances in the eighteenth century.

Not available / text

This work is an attempt to study the turbulent and dark period of late 18th century Persia. We begin with the death in 1193 A.H./1179 A.D. of the Vakil, Karim Khan Zand, after nearly twenty years of rule. Immediately thereafter the conflicts and contradictions inherent in a semi-feudal monarchy came to the surface, giving rise to the most violent and chaotic anarchy. The Vakil's own tribe, the Zands, failed to grasp their only chance of survival which was to remain unified against their rivals. Instead, one after another Zand prince usurped supreme power and killed his own kinsmen. In this process the country was destroyed and eventually witnessed the final downfall of the Zands in 1209/1794. From the death of the Vakil, the Zand 's most formidable rival, .Ag.a Mohammad Khan Qajar, was consolidating his power in the northern provinces of the kingdom. By careful planning and patience, he contributed to the weakening and eventual tqtal annihilation of ·the Zand dynasty. In this thesis we also attempt to clarify the underlying currents behind these events. The dynamics of the society and social and economic forces are studied in detail. This period of history is of particular importance as it marks the end of a semi-feudal regime based on tribal military support. Before the advent of the 19th century, which witnessed the sedentarization of nomadic tribes and the formation of a regular and disciplined army under the Qaj ars. In this study of an important, but little known, period of transition, particular emphasis is laid on socio-economic aspects such as trade, religious life and the structure of late 18th century Persian society.

Haydn's thirteen extant Esterhazy operas, composed from 1762-85, represent a microcosm of the various trends in Italian opera during the eighteenth century. His early operas illustrate his understanding and mastery of the opera seria, the intermezzo and the opera buffa traditions which he would utilize in his later drammi giocosi. In addition to his role as Kapellmeister Haydn adapted and conducted over eighty-one operas by the leading Italian composers of his day, resulting in over 1,026 operatic performances for the period between 1780-90 alone and furthering his knowledge of the latest styles in Italian opera. This dissertation examines the five drammi giocosi which Haydn wrote, beginning with Le pescatrici (1769) through to La fedelta premiata (1780), within the context of the dramma giocoso tradition. To fully understand this tradition, as well as Haydn's compositional style, the comic and serious genres are analysed first since they are the basis for the dramma giocoso. All these operas not only represent Haydn's development as an opera composer, but serve to exemplify the general changes in eighteenth-century Italian opera. Haydn is seen as an important part of this tradition, both as a borrower and as an innovator. In the first two drammi giocosi, Le pescatrici and L'incontro improvviso (1775), the characters are portrayed as stock character types and the structure of the libretto generally adheres to the separation of serious and comic characters. In these works Haydn follows the musical conventions for each character type with only slight deviations. It is in the last three drammi giocosi, Il mondo della luna (1777), La vera costanza (1778/79 and 1785) and La fedelta premiata that the characters are musically portrayed as multi-dimensional personalities with many belonging to the category of the mezzo carattere. The structure of the libretto is more realistic, no longer strictly following earlier formulas and contains social commentary with explicit criticism of the upper class. Through musical analysis Haydn is shown to be the consummate musical dramatist, as he both follows and subverts the tradition, while observing the exigencies of the libretto. / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Cycles of regeneration and decline in musical drama at the Académie Royale (the Opéra) can be associated with the names of a series of major composers. The first was Lully; 1774 marks the beginning of the "époque de Gluck". Gluck had already attempted the 'reform' of Italian opera in Vienna, with as its chief manifesto the preface (dedication) to Alceste, published in 1769 and translated into French about 1773. It has long been recognized that this reform owed something to the methods of Rameau (which were developed from Lully's). This study therefore opens with a comparison of Rameau and Gluck, showing the fundamental ways in which their methods and intentions differed. The "époche de Gluck" was not a sudden reversal of French operatic method, and one of its features - the introduction of the "international style" (basically Italian) of 18th-century music onto a stage which had generally tended to resist it - had been anticipated in several French operas, mostly mediocre resettings of old libretti but including distinguished works by Gossec and Philidor, composers whose talent Gluck recognized. Consideration of these works is followed by a discussion of the types of aria, recitative, and arioso used in Gluck's French operas, and of Iphigénie en Aulide, the work which definitely established the synthesis of French and Italian elements, and made a return to old French opera impossible while effectively forestalling the attempt to introduce a more purely Italian music. After adapting three of his existing operas, of which Alceste, on a subject also treated by Lully, was the most radically revised, Gluck directly challenged the founder of tragédie-lyrique by resetting Quinault's Armide with comparatively little alteration. Meanwhile various attempts were being made to introduce purely Italian music to France; arrangements of Sacchini were not played at the Opéra, but Piccinni was commissioned to set another, substantially altered, Quinault poem. Roland, J. C. Bach's Amadis, and subsequent resettings by Piccinni, Gossec, and Philidor, are measured in this study against Lully and each other. The controversy between the Gluckistes and Piccinnistes, a literary war in the tradition of the "Guerre des Boufions" raged fiercely from 1777 to the early 1780s. Artistically it came to a head in the two operas of Iphigénie en Tauride which, despite Piccinni's disclaimer of any desire to emulate Gluck, are in many ways comparable and revealing about the two composers' intentions and achievements. Piccinni was brought to Paris as apostle of Italian good taste and the melodic "Période"; but his French operas, far from opposing to Gluck's dramatic conception of opera the purely musical approach that had dominated in Italy for so long, are themseleves thoroughly, indeed strenously dramatic in intention. One consequence of this is that although many composers paid artistic homage to Gluck, the majority of their works resemble more closely those of Piccinni; Gluck was personally inimitable, and in any case belonged to an earlier generation. Moreover a critical study of "Piccinniste" melody suggests that elegance and adherence to the "Période" frequently produced music which, in terms of its own musical development and of the dramatic articulation to which it is supposed to contribute, is superficial; both Piccinni and Sacchini were more successful dramatically in the short forms and ariosi for which French precedent was stronger, than in the Italianate aria and recitativo accompagnato. The operatic genre most typical of the period, and the most successful, was tragédie-lyrique, frequently with Greek or 17th-century French dramas as model. The French composers, however, concentrated on comedy, pastoral, and non-tragic adventure operas. While Gluck's and Piccinni's pastoral operas were relative failures, successful composers of lighter genres, including Floquet and Grétry, were unequal to the challenge of tragedy. The later works of Philidor and Gossec kept the possibility of indigenous French opera alive, particularly as their work shows a closer relation to their own past (the 'chant français') than did their contemporaries'. With many points of interest, these works are uneven in quality; they include such oddities as Candeille's Fizarre, Dezède's "opéra féerie" Alcindor, and the "paysannerie larmoyante" Rosine by Gossec. The direct succession to Gluck was in the work of actual or intended pupils and shows strong symptoms of decadence, and exaggeration of techniques and passions. Lemoyne and Salieri both modified their manner after their first "horror" operas, Electre and Les Danides; the former declared himself Piccinniste but without making any significant change of style. Salieri also approaches Piccinni when less overtly copying Gluck, in his sober Les Horaces and exotic Tarare. Vogel's La Tolson d'Or, dedicated to Gluck, imitates his almost too closely in places, but elsewhere escapes into the (more Piccinnian) language of his own generation. Piccinni's last works met with varying degrees of success or failure; they show intermittently (in Didon and Pénélope) a deepening dramatic insight. His dramatic intentions - which led to the suggestion that he had become a Gluckiste - may have contributed to his eclipse, since the increasingly popular Italian cantibale had found a more consistent champion in Sacchini. The latter's musical gifts to some extent disguised his relative lack of interest in drama, a penchant which permits the discussion of him in this study to be comparatively brief.