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The entire production of Verdi's sacred music within his forward and backward-looking work history is summarized and commented on. The focus is on his Messa da Requiem (1874) and his Tre pezzi sacri (the late 1890s). Also addressed are his early works, such as Messa di Gloria (1833–35) and a Tantum Ergo (1836), as well as his contributions in the form of interludes in his operas and his first version of Libera me from the Requiem for Rossini (1869), the three Ave Marias from the 1880s (including one in the 4th act of the opera Otello) as well as a Pater Noster and a late sacred song for soprano and piano.

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Current and historical methods of metric analysis often assume that the first beat of a metric group is stronger than the second. This, however, is not the case in all repertoires. For example, a study by William Rothstein (2011) demonstrates that Verdi’s midcentury operas often place emphasis on even-numbered beats. This paper shows this metric trend to be even more prevalent in a corpus of 208 nineteenth-century operatic excerpts, (1809-1859). I present a formal model that classifies phrases according to anacrusis length and prosodic accent, showing where large-scale metric accents fall within a phrase. This model produces three metric types which align with Rosthstein’s (2011) previous work. Compositional and historical features (e.g., language, premiere date, librettist, etc.) were tracked alongside type in order to determine whether preferences for certain metric forms were more prevalent in certain contexts. This indeed was the case. For instance, use of even-emphasis meter increases over time, even though odd-emphasis meter remains most common. Individual composers also show a significantly distinguishable preference toward each type of meter. These results not only confirm that the highest concentration of even-emphasis meter occurs in Verdi’s midcentury operas (Rothstein 2011), but that Verdi is the primary user of this type overall. I also demonstrate that language and composer nationality do not significantly affect an excerpt's metric type; only Verdi shows distinction in these areas. With this finding, I argue against using nationalist language to identify metric types and instead propose suggestions that better-reflect an updated understanding of nineteenth-century metric conventions.

In music, the term verismo usually refers to a realistic or naturalistic movement in Italian operas of the late nineteenth century. From the dawn of Italian opera four features have been manifested--umanita (humanism), sincerity (sincerity), passione (passion), effetto (not only theatrical effect but the supreme dramatic moment). The elements of verismo are among the characteristics present in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi where they reached a zenith of development. It is upon these veristic aspects, as identified in the second chapter, that the operas Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci were based. Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and La Traviata richly exhibit these elements of verismo which have been identified in the fourth chapter.

My master's degree thesis is about the premiere held at La Scala Theatre in Milan, Italy of Nabucco by Giussepe Verdi. This thesis is made up of two parts: a theoretical part and a practical part. The theoretical part introduces the life of Verdi, the background of the "birth" of the Opera Nabucco, and the historical background of the time. This section will also discuss the history of the Babylon Captivity, which is the background of Nabucco. The history of Korea and Italy when (ruled over) will also be compared. Lastly Va Pensiero sull ali doroate, the very important aria of Nabucco, is examined. This thesis includes research on three different Nabuccos performed in the last two years in many different countries. The first is a collaboration by the Opera House of Royal Covent Garden of Britain and La Scala Theatre of Milano in 2013. This opera is very abstract and modernized, and presented with minimalist staging and costume. The second was held on Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, Belgium in 2013. This was an opera with very modern and fancy staging and costume like a musical compared to the first Nabucco. Also the opera was an adaptation of many problems of the present society. The third was a Nabucco performed in Kennedy Center by the Washington National Opera of Washington, U.S. in 2012. Beside the former two operas, it showed the quintessence of classic opera with an elaborate and magnificent scale of the stage, equipment, and costume. The three different recreations of Nabucco with historical accounts enabled me to work freely and more creatively. In the practical part, the overall concept of the recreation of Nabucco is shown. The concept describes how and when the inspirations come from, moreover the balance to the historical background tried. Compared to other works, the key concept is the contrast between two ethnic groups rather to the contrast between each character in the opera, and the traditional visual features of Jewish people used, as well as Babylon's. The main concept is the combination of historical and contemporary aspects. For example, in the case of Babylon, luxurious and decadent costumes partially inspired by the gold color of the Ishtar Gate used and in the case of Babylonian forces, the symbols that reminds one of Babylon attached to the present uniforms of military forces. Nabucco and his two daughters have significant differences. Abigaille is a woman with charisma and power, whereas Fenena is very thrifty and her mind is pure. Lastly, Zacharias and Ismael appear with typical Jewish costumes. The dramatical characteristics of opera is combined with the harmony of history and contemporary parts over the whole concepts of Nabucco. The costumes show the fundamental parts of people from each ethnic group over artistic factors.