Even when modern composers strove to respect the tenets of canonical composition by adopting symmetrical dispositions of phrases, they failed to reach a sufficient degree of novelty: This lamentable tendency was noticeable also in Hector Berlioz and, more interestingly, in Richard Wagner, whose operas, Chorley held, “we have heard rapturously bepraised, because they contain no tunes which any one can carry away.” 3ģ Chorley’s idea of melody involved form and symmetry, features dear to Rossini but neglected by Bellini and his successors under the pretence of “dramatizing the style.” Melodic dramatisation, on the other hand, consisted of vocal passages-shapeless recitatives-which merely functioned as the dramatic expression of the crudest passions and were devoid of any melodic interest compounding this degradation was the intolerable volume of the orchestra, increased for dramatic effect, which reminded Chorley of the janissary bands, with the strident sound of the wind instruments, the massive boom of the drums and the metallic clash of cymbals. In his analysis of the current state of the musical and dramatic arts, Chorley referred to what, in his eyes, appeared to be a widespread tendency all over Europe: getting rid of what was essential, melody, and emphasising what he thought to be of secondary importance, shapeless dramatisation. Dramatic expression was to be understood as an additional ingredient left to the singer’s acting skills.

2 Chorley defined melody not only as the true foundation of Italian Opera, but also as a condition for success in the more rational German musical drama where melody, even if associated with the orchestra rather than with the voice, could not be neglected.

1846 verdi opera