Characters, Key Relations and Tonal Structure in 'Il trovatore'

Author(s): William Drabkin

Source: Music Analysis, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Jul., 1982), pp. 143-153
Published by: Wiley
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WILLIAM DRABKIN

CHARACTERS, KEY RELATIONS

AND TONAL STRUCTURE IN
IL TROVA TORE

I
In thispaper I intendto use principlesof tonalanalysisto discoverfurther
evidence of dramaticand musical unityin the score of II trovatore.'I say
'furtherevidence' because I believe thatPierluigiPetrobelli'sarticle'Towards an Explanation of the Dramatic Structureof II trovatore'already
demonstratesan underlyingtonal logic at workin this classic nineteenthcenturyItalian melodrama.In focussingon tonalityI shall be developing
only one of the manythemesin Petrobelli'sstudy; and yetthis seems the
best place to start.For not only are pitch and key relationsof the utmost
importanceforhis discussion,therealso seem to be good reasons forany
investigationintothe score of an opera to beginwiththe elementsof pitch,
just as we usually begin with the pitch domain in the analysisof purely
instrumental
music. In particular,it is sometimesfoundin studyingopera
that charactersare associated with certainpitches,tonalitiesor melodies:
that a sequence of events or emotionsis associated with,and even illustratedby,a chordprogressionor successionof keys;2 and thata home key,
if it exists-that is, if it seems usefulto identify-canprovidea focalpoint
for the unity of drama and music. With regard to this last point, the
maturestage worksof Mozart immediatelycome to mind: one thinksin
particularof Don Giovannias an opera whose action is welded to a tonal
hierarchybased on D, thatis, an opera whichis 'in the key of D'.3 In the
Verdi canon a case can be made out for the originalversionof Macbeth
(1847) as an F minoropera.
Italian
Despite the recent upsurge in studies of nineteenth-century
opera, and of Verdi in particular,Petrobelli'sarticlehas not been widely
commentedon, and its possible significanceforthe analysisof otherVerdi
scores is yet to be takenup. JulianBudden, in the second volume of The
Operas of Verdi(1978), mentionsa fewof Petrobelli'sideas in the chapter
on II trovatorebut does not discuss them systematically.In his bibliographyfor The VerdiCompanion(1979), AndrewPorterliststhe articleas
the only item on Il trovatoreamong the studies of individualworks; but
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143

WILLIAM

DRABKIN

thereis no mentionof it elsewherein the volume. Even in the mostrecent

published discussionsof Verdi's dramaticand structuraluses of tonality,
the extended forumon Un ballo in -mascherapublished in 19th-Century
Music4 and an articleon Macbeth,5Petrobelli'sargumentsare totallyignored.
Petrobelliclaims thatthereis not a singleelementof musical expression
that escapes the networkof musical and dramatic relationshipsin the
opera; thus his studyis broaderthanmy developmentof some of its ideas
mightotherwisesuggest.But it was in observationson pitch and tonality
thathe was able to lay the foundationsfora largerview of the work.In his
discussionof otherelements-notablyrhythm,in whichhe confinedhimself to associatingcertainmotifswith particularcharacters-he gave insightinto specificpoints in the score, but this in itselfdid not lead to a
ofit.
moreencompassingunderstanding
From these commentsI do not wish to implythatwhat we are seeking
is one of those'instantaneous'viewsof the entirescore,somethingof which
Tovey and his followerswould have certainlydisapproved. We might
begin by examiningjust such a view, provided by Siegmund Levarie in
the firstround of the Ballo forum.6In exemplifyingwhat he calls the
'tonal flow' across an opera, Levarie places II trovatorehalfwaybetween
operas like Don Giovanni, which begin and end in the same key, and
operas like Tristanin which a tonic is implied only by a cadentialsweep
linkingthe opening key with the finalchord of the opera. Following the
analysisof AlfredLorenz,' Levarie describesthe tonal flowacross Tristan
as an imperfectcadence, IV-V, in E major, since the opera begins witha
preludein A major and ends in B majorwithIsolde's Liebestod.Reasoning
in the same way, Levarie assertsthat II trovatorebegins in E major and
ends in E b minor,so thatthe tonal flowof the entireworkamountsto an
Neapolitan cadence, thatis, withE underenharmonicallyre-interpreted
stood as Fb. The succinctnessof this view of the opera is not itselfa
reason for faultingit. But its ultimatevalue will depend on the way in
which dramatic and tonal events support Levarie's two-chord
thatNeapolencapsulationof the harmony,forexampleby demonstrating
itanrelationsare importantor by showingthatit is usefulto thinkofEb as
a tonic in some largersense than as 'the finalchord of the opera'. (One
inferenceto be made fromLevarie's assertion,that Eb is tonallymore
importantthanE, is quite at odds withPetrobelli'sview ofthe opera.)

II
Before discussing the special qualities of Petrobelli's study of the tonal
design of II trovatore,I should like to investigate two premises on which it
is built. One of these is strongly supported by Verdi's famous letter to his
librettist Salvatore Cammarano, in which he outlined the scenario and
assigned to Azucena the role of principal character-in effect,the subject
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TONAL STRUCTURE IN

II trovatore

of the opera. The other is based on the writingsof the late Gabriele
Baldini on Verdi's opera libretti,in particularhis remarkson symmetry
in
Il trovatore.8
The firstof these premises asserts that the principal characterof the
drama,the gipsyAzucena, is markedby an emotionalambivalencearound
which the entire drama unfolds: her amor filiale which drives her to
avenge her mother'scruel death,and her amormaternowhichis manifested by her love for Manrico. In tonal terms,she is representedby what
Petrobellicalls the 'sonority'of B, in effect,the pitch-classB; and her two
conflictingemotions are expressed by the tonalitiesof E minor and G
major,respectively.These keysare of course closelyassociated,as relative
keys. But what is crucialto the analysisis thatthe chordsof E minorand
G major sharethenote B and thusstandin a pivotalrelationto each other.
The other premise regardingtonalityhas to do with the concept of
symmetryand with the notion that parallel events in the drama are also
reflectedin the music. This view continuesthe trendof thoughtbegun by
Baldini, who observed that the division of II trovatoreinto fouracts-or
parts, as Verdi himselfcalled them-results in a large-scalesymmetrical
design.The opera dividesintotwo dramaticallyequivalenthalves,the first
(Acts I and II) ending with Manrico's rescue of Leonora and, appropriately,the biggestmusical ensembleof the opera, the second half(Acts III
and IV) endingwiththe deaths of these two characters.At the next level,
each of these halves divides furtherinto two parts,the second of whichis
longerthan the first:Act II is about twice as long as Act I, Act IV twice
as long as Act III.
This architecturalview of the drama, a view in which space (i.e. the
lapse of measuredtime) is of fundamentalimportance,has led Petrobelli
to observe parallels to this architectureon a musical level. For instance,
the firstscenes of Act I and Act II begin with an account of the preliminariesof the plot (a retellingof everything
thathas takenplace before
the curtaingoes up forthe firsttime in the opera) and continuewiththe
evocation of horrorwhich results fromthese events. The events are of
course recounteddifferently,
by Ferrandoto the soldiersand retainerson
behalf of the Count, and by Azucena to the gipsies and Manrico very
much on her own behalf(or on behalfof her mother).But howeverdifferently the storyis told-thereby leading to a differentset of images of
horrorin each instance-the unfoldingof tonalityis always fromE minor
to A minor. This musical parallelismover roughlyequal portionsof the
scorecan hardlybe regardedas fortuitous.
Before consideringways in which this view of the opera may be expanded, I shall commenton threefeaturesthat help distinguishit from
most previous writingson opera: the significanceof melody,analysison
different
levels,and the searchforlarge-scaleunity.
(1) The significance
of melody: In its regard for melody, Petrobelli's
analysis marks a significantadvance over well-knowntonal analyses of
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WILLIAM

DRABKIN

opera-Lorenz on Wagner,Levarie on Figaro (1952) and now on Ballo-in thatit seeks to explainnot merelywhysome set numberis in a particular key but also why its melody mightemphasize a particularnote. For
example, Azucena's 'Stride la vampa' begins with repeatedB's and ends
witha long trillon the same B just beforethe finalcadence. The emphasis
of B in this canzone is a directconsequence of Verdi's associationof the
pitch-classB withthe characterofAzucena.
levels: Though Petrobelli's study in no way
(2) Analysis on dzfferent
purportsto offeron all-encompassinglayeranalysis of the score, it does
account for tonal events which take place over largerspans of music as
well as in shorterpassages, and it also explains how-at times-the same
tonal eventcan take place on different
levels.9We see this in particularin
Verdi's use of E minorand G major as twin keys,demarcatingadjacent
sectionsof music of various sizes and formats.As one would expect,this
procedurecan be heardmostoftenin Azucena's music."'
But it is by no means necessaryforAzucena to be presentand singing
forthis veryimportantkey relationto be used: twice at the beginningof
the opera, Verdi modulates from E to G." In the first of these
modulations-in the passage immediatelybeforeFerrando's ballata, there
is a change in the subject of the text,fromFerrando's warningsabout the
imminentthreatof the troubadour'sreturnto the palace grounds,to the
soldiers' pleas to be retold the storyof Count Luna's youngerbrother.
This passage covers some thirtybars of the introductionin a moderate
of B. It
tempo,and the modulationis again achievedby a re-interpretation
can thus be thoughtof as illustratinga two-facedview of Manrico as seen
by his enemiesin the opera, one whichparallelsthe two sides of Azucena's
personality:B as the fifthof the scale of E representingthe threatening
troubadour('All'erta!'), B as the thirdof the scale of G representingthe
old Count Luna's helpless child Garzia ('Dalle gravi palpebre'). This
introductionis followedby the ballata, in which the modulationfromE
minor to G major is telescoped into the space of two shortphrases in a
quick tempo. This second modulationis a local phenomenon,too briefto
profitfrom an explicit pivot-noterelation,and serves to highlightthe
words'zingara' and 'fanciullo'.
(3) Large-scale unity: Petrobelli's analysis seeks to relate features
far apart in the opera, in places where one might not have otherwise
looked for importantmusical relationshipsunless a memorable tune
or motifwere being quoted literally.One of his most excitingdiscoveries
concernsa lyricalphrase sung by Leonora in her Act I cavatina,whichhe
identifieswitha similarbut by no means identicalmelodic idea given to
Azucena in Act III, both phrases being impassioned expressions of love
for Manrico (see Petrobelli, Exs 6 and 7). The relationship between these
phrases is one of melodic shape, and as such it does not appear to have a
specifically tonal significance; in fact Petrobelli asserts that the one is an
'almost literal transposition' of the other. But I think that by adopting a

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TONAL STRUCTURE IN

II trovatore

wider view of tonalityin the opera we shall be able to attacheven greater

meaningto therelationbetweenthesephrases.

III
My expansionof Petrobelli'sideas beginsby consideringtheprincipalway
in which Verdi's statedintentionsin conceivingthe opera-his predominant interestin the ambivalentcharacterof Azucena-fall short of his
actual achievementsin the finalcomposition,where Leonora has as big a
musical role to play as Azucena or indeed anyoneelse.'2 Thus the polarity
of E minorand G major,clear-cutthoughtotallycontainedwithina single
character,seems bland in comparison with the potential tonal voltage
betweenAzucena and Leonora, whose music moves in Ab major and keys
closely related to it: the parallel key of Ab minor,the relativekey of F
minorand its parallel major. The primarydiatonicscales associated with
thesetwowomenare thusmaximallycontrastingas seven-notecollections:
E- F? - G - A - B - C - D and Ab - BL - C - Db - EL - F - G. It
must follow fromthis that these two scales, taken together,cover the
completechromaticscale. The questionarises: does Verdi make thefullest
use of this tonal differential
betweenAzucena and Leonora, not only as a
means of contrastbut also as a way of creatinga fulltonal spectrumto be
broughtinto play in the course of the opera? Budden, in his chapteron II
trovatore,seems to be answeringthis question only partlyin the affirmative:
Most striking
ofall,eachwomaninhabits
herownsphereoftonalityLeonoramovesin A flatand in itsrelatedkeys,AzucenahoversambiguouslybetweenE minorand G major,thefirstassociatedwithher
thirstforrevenge,the secondwithher love forManrico; and her
influence
reachesto A minorand C majoras well.Againit mustbe
emphasizedthatin Verdievenwhenkeysare exploitedit is merelyas
contrasted
systemsof pitchdesignedto keep the dramaticelements
there
is no attemptto use theirmanifoldrelationships
as a
apart;
ofstructure.13
principle
Beforelookingfurtherinto the contrastbetweenAzucena and Leonora
and what it might mean in tonal terms, let us observe that even the
polaritywithinAzucena's personality,betweenE minorand G major,tells
only halfthe storyof keyrelationshipsidentifiedwiththe gipsyworld. As
Budden intimatesin the passage quoted above, we ought also to include
the mediantrelationshipon the otherside of E minor,namelybetweenE
minorand C major. The keyof C is oftenassociatedin the opera withthe
hardinessand courageous spiritof the gipsies, and as such it makes its
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147

WILLIAM

DRABKIN

most powerfulappearance at Manrico's moment of greatesteloquence

and, symbolically,his utmostdisplay of courage: the aria 'Di quella pira'
of thisotherside of the
whichconcludesAct III. The tonal representation
E commonto both
of
with
world
arises
out
a
also
relation,
pivotal
gipsy
chords. And so it is possible, by the simple use of one pivot note or
the other,for E minor to yield to eitherits submediantor its mediant
(G - B - D/E - G - B/C - E - G).'4
the parallel
This dual polaritybuilt aroundE minorfurtherstrengthens
betweenthe openingscenes in Acts I and II whichPetrobellihas already
deduced. For, as we have seen, Verdi uses G major as a secondarykey in
the two places where the text refersto the Count's youngerbrother:bs
51-59 of the Introduction,and bs 9-16 of the refrainof Ferrando's ballata. Now ifwe lookat thecorresponding
places in Act II, Scene 1,wherethe
text depicts the rigours of gipsy life and the sufferingsof Azucena's
mother,we findharmonicmovementfromE minor to C major, with E
clearlyused as a pivotnote: in the gipsies' opening'anvil' chorus('Chi del
gitano i giorni abbella?'; vocal score, p. 54, system1), and in the third
phrase of Azucena's canzone ('Urli di gioia'; vocal score, p. 59, system
1).15
By this tonal design Verdi not only pins down the dramaticparallels
betweenthe two scenes,but also-by introducingC major as an important
secondarykey-implies a centralrole forE minoramong the threekeys
associatedwiththe gipsies.Thus the largesttonalpolarityin the opera can
be regardedas the oppositionof an E minoraxis and thekeyof Ab major:
G major
E minor *

Ab major

C Major
One may wish to argue thatthispolaritywould be best leftalone, thatit is
best to keep Azucena's and Leonora's very differentrelationshipswith
Manrico completelyseparate, hence musically unrelated. Yet the fact
cannot be ignoredthat the criticalmomentsin the action,thoughfew in
number,hinge upon the love of these two women for Manrico and his
equal love for them. It seems hardly coincidentalthat the moment of
Manrico's unexpectedrescue of Leonora fromher threatenedabduction
fromthe convent(finaleof Act II) and the momenthe realizes that he
must leave Leonora to go to his mother's rescue (end of Act III) should
both be marked in the score with a chord whose appearance is intentionally surprising and whose resolution shows a clear link to one or the other
poles of tonal opposition in the opera. The chord in question is E major;
and we can regard it as a union of elements from both poles, namely the

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TONAL STRUCTURE IN

II trovatore

root and fifthof E minor,and the root of the Ab chord re-interpreted

enharmonically as G?(E - G - B + Ab - C - Eb = E - G? - B).

This enharmonicrelationshipis farmore thana theoreticalabstraction;

Verdi actually puts it into practice at an early stage in the opera. In
Leonora's 'Tacea la notte' in Act I, the finalAb of the second stropheof
the cavatina is convertedto
in the ensuingdialogue with Ines (vocal
G:
score,p. 26, system4). The effectcould hardlybe more dramatic:as Ines
expresses her doubts about Leonora's ideal love affairwith the troubadour, the harmonyswervesfromAb into A minor,by way of an intermediary E major (= Fb major) chord:
Ex.1
Leonora:L

Clel

ser

b
Ine:

Ouan - to nar-ras

- ti

di

tur-ba - men - to

(violins)

But local dramaticexigencyis not the only reason for this enharmonic
change. By makingthe music for this dialogue tonallyremotefromAb,
Verdi is able to returnto it forthe cabaletta('Di tale amor'; vocal score,p.
28, system4) as a fresh-sounding
key. This scena is the only one in the
in
which
both
a
elements
of
opera
two-partmusical structure-cavatina
and cabaletta-are in the same key; and its special tonal design enables
Verdi to identifyLeonora unambiguouslywiththe keyof Ab while at the
same timeensuringthatthe second Ab sectiondoes not sound like a mere
tonal 'prolongation'of thefirst.
The effectof the modulationin Ex. 1 is to place the pitch-classAb/G?
in a new intervallicenvironment:insteadof being bounded fromabove by
a tone (T) and frombelow by a semitone(S), it is bounded frombelow by
a tone and fromabove by a semitone: in ALbmajor 7 - i -2 = G- Ab
- Bb = S, T, and in A minor 6 - $7 - 1 = F

-G#-

A = T, S. It

is thisexchangeof positionwithinthe diatonicscale which,I believe,gives

these modulations by pivot their dramatic power. It may be noted in
of the pivot is usually a sufpassing that enharmonicre-interpretation
ficientconditionfor this exchange of tone and semitone,but it is by no
means a necessaryone. In two passages cited by Kerman in the Ballo
forum,16F major is followedby DLbmajor withthe same consequencefor

the pitch-class F. This is fully exploited in the earlier passage, the love
duet in Act II, where Riccardo's persuasive wooing in F major is the
perfect foil for Amelia's response in D b expressing her fear, anguish and
guilt. The contrast of mood is highlighted by the use of F as a melodic
pivot in the vocal parts.
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149

WILLIAM

DRABKIN

IV
Insofaras the openingkeyof II trovatoreis specificallyE major,whichwe
can regard as a union of the two main tonal forces,it is a legitimate
fortheunfoldingof tonalityin the opera. Such a view of the
starting-point
tonal design would, I admit, quite rightly be seen as static and
uninteresting-indeed, irritatinglymannered-were it not possible to
show an interactionbetweenthisgeneralunifyingkeyand the two specific
areas of characterization:E minorand its relatedkeysand A major. For
this reason it is importantto look more closely at two criticalmoments
wheretheE major chordis introduced.
In the big ensembleof the opera, the finaleof Act II, the chordappears
at the momentof Manrico's unexpectedarrivalon stage and his rescue of
Leonora fromCount Luna's soldiers(vocal score, p. 117, system2). It is
spelt as an F b major chord and functionsas the flattenedsubmediantof
Ab (Ex. 2); thus it preparesus forLeonora's solo (climaxingin 'Sei tu dal
ciel disceso .. .'), which sets the mood of the remainder of the scene:
Ex.2

Ab:

The other criticalpassage involvingE major occurs at the end of Act

III, when Manrico announcesthathe will go to the rescue of his mother.
Here Verdi shows the relationshipof E major to the tonal forcesassociated
withthe gipsyworld,thatis, as the major mediantof C major. The chord
is introducedat the momentRuiz concludes his agitatedreportof Azucena's captureand impendingdoom ('Accesa e girala pira'; vocal score,p.
173, system3 to p. 174, system1). His melodic line climaxeson the final
note,E, whichis sung to the word 'pira'. This E is takenover,in turn,by
both Leonora and Manrico, and it ultimatelybecomes the firstmelody
note of Manrico's 'Di quella pira'. Thus the connectionbetweenthe surprise E major chordand the subsequenttonality-C major-is emphasized
by a pivotwhichis bothmusicaland verbal.
Ex. 3
Ruiz:

150

la

- ra

o
Leo nora
tu

fre-

Manrico:
E ;I
.

deg-gioaquegl-a
.

Manr co:

Di

pi

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TONAL STRUCTURE IN II

trovatore

A finalword about the two main femalecharactersis furthersupportfor

the importanceof E major and the enharmonicrelationbetweenG? and
A b. The charactersnever meet in the drama, and it is appropriatethat
their tonal areas are maximallydistantfromeach other. However, Petrobelli has called our attentionto one close musical correspondencebetween them, in the two phrases expressingtheir love for Manrico (see
Petrobelli,Exs 6 and 7 and commentary).Here the word 'almost' is crucial, since what makes the relationshipso extraordinaryis the very fact
thatone phrase is not a literaltranspositionof the other.The relationship
between them is really based on two interpretations
of the same pitchin
different
harmonic
Both
class, G?/Ab,
settings.
phrases startwith the
same note, repeatedseveraltimes,consonantin its local surroundingsbut
unstablein the contextof the entirephrase: Leonora's Ab is the key-note
of Ab major,but it is harmonizedby an F minorchord; Azucena's G?, as
the thirdscale-stepof E major,is melodicallyunstable.In both phrasesa
stable outcomeis reachedat the end, as Ex. 4 indicates:
Ex.4
(a)

Leonora, Act I scene 2

Ab:

VI

(b) Azucena,

(I)

E:

Act II

scene 2

In attempting to extend Petrobelli's tonal view of II trovatore,I have taken

the relation of the music to the drama beyond the identification of
characters with specific pitch-classes and related tonalities. I have felt

in self-determination
themain characterspresthat,howeverunwaveringly
ent themselvesin the course of the drama, theydo confrontone another
on stage (excepting,literally,Leonora and Azucena) and interactmusically; and this interactionis manifestedby chordprogressionsand modulations.The affinity
betweenE minorand G major throughthe pivot-note
B is the clearesttonal relationin the score and the obvious starting-point
forestablishinga more extensivesystem.In order to include Leonora in
this scheme it is necessaryto invoke the enharmonicequivalence of G#
and Ab, though Verdi has himselfestablished this at the earliest opportunity;to Ab major we can also associate the relativekey of F minor,
whichis featuredin Act IV.
Since the tonal systemis circular,it is alwayspossible to travelbetween
two keysin eitherof two directions,and an enharmonicre-interpretation
can shorten the distance between remotelyrelated keys. The critical
eventsin the score of II trovatoremay be thoughtof as dividingthe tonal
circleintothreeequal arcs whose boundarypointsare markedby C, E and
Ab major: the keysof E minorand G major are placed close to C to form
the 'E minoraxis' describedearlier:
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151

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DRABKIN

E (opening tonalityof opera;

pivotal chord in
Acts II and III)

AZUCENA

(amor materno) G

e (amorfiliale)

(despair) f
LEONORA

(gipsy courage, C
Manrico's heroism)

A (heroism)

The primacyof E lies in the factthatthe parallel key relationbetweenE

minorand E major linkstwo of the threetonal regionsalong the circle. It
is this special connectionwhich enables E major not only to be used as a
tonal referencepoint for all the forcesof good in the opera, but also to
clarify-bymeans of its parallelminor-the centralrole of the characterof
Azucena.
NOTES
1. This is an expanded versionof a paper read at the second biennial Conference on Nineteenth-Century
Music, Cambridge,July1980.
2. See JosephKerman's observationson the move fromF to D b twice in Un
ballo in maschera,in 'Viewpoint',19th-Century
Music, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1978, p.
190.
3. See in particularAlfredLorenz, 'Das Finale in Mozarts Meisteropern',Die
Musik, Vol. 19, 1927, pp. 621-32.
4. Siegmund Levarie, 'Key Relations in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera',19thCenturyMusic, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1978, pp. 143-7; Kerman, 'Viewpoint', ibid.,
pp. 186-91; furtherrepliesby Guy A. Marco and Levarie, ibid.,Vol. 3, No.
1, 1979,pp. 83-9.
5. ElliottAntokoletz,'Verdi's Dramatic Use of Harmonyand Tonalityin Macbeth',In TheoryOnly,Vol. 4, No. 6, Nov.-Dec. 1978, pp. 17-28.
6. Levarie, 'Key Relations',p. 143.
7. Lorenz, Der musikalische
Aufbau von Richard Wagners'Tristan und Isolde',
Vol. 2 of Das Geheimnisder Form bei Richard Wagner(Berlin, 1926).
8. Gabriele Baldini, The Story of Guiseppe Verdi, trans. Roger Parker
(Cambridge: CUP, 1980), Ch. 5 ('I1ltrovatore'),especiallypp. 212-14.
9. The idea is also developedin Antokoletz'sstudyof Macbeth.
10. For instance,withinone long sectionof Act II framedin A minor,in which
Azucena recountsthe storyof her motherto Manrico, the tonalitymoves to
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TONAL STRUCTURE IN

II trovatore

G major fora discretesix-barphrase ('Ei distruggeasiin pianto') and thenvia the pivot B-to a second discrete passage in E minor (a recall of the
'Stride la vampa' music).
11. It may be objectedthat,at the beginningof the opera, themodulationis from
E major ratherthan E minor.The reasonforthis, I believe, is that it was an
essentialpartof Verdi's overallstrategyto begin the opera in themajormode,
withG? as thethirddegreeof the scale; I discuss thispointlateron.
12. At the 1980 conference(see note 1 above) JulianBudden reportedhis discovery of a librettofromabout 1850 for a Trovatorein which the part of
Leonora was indeed reducedto a comprimaria.
He believes thatthe existence
of this slightlyearlierlibrettomay have promptedVerdi to rethinkthe scenario forhis Trovatoreand expand therole of theheroine.
13. JulianBudden, The Operasof Verdi,Vol. 2 (London: Cassell, 1978), p. 70.
14 The twofoldpossibilityfor modulation from E minor by pivot-notehelps
explain why Verdi chose B as the pitch-classto representAzucena. Both B
and G can serveas a pivotfromE minorto G major; but since G can also be
used betweenE minorand C major,thatnote would be capable of introducing an elementof ambiguityinto Verdi's modulatoryprocedures.No such
ambiguityis possible with B or E, since each is common to just two of the
threechords. I am gratefulto Dr Eric Graebnerforcalling this point to my
attention.
15. Note, too, thatin orderto emphasizeC major Verdi departedfroma 'normal'
harmonization.In the Anvil Chorus, a C-pedal is prolongedfor a full eight
bars, throughoutthe phrase 'Chi del gitano i giorni abbella?', and thus
clashes with the dominant-seventh
chord on G. In the thirdphrase of Azuan
almost
modal
harmonisation
resultsfromthe composer's
canzone,
cena's
under-emphasisof G major (note especiallythe bass F ? at 'intorno').
16. Kerman, 'Viewpoint',p. 190.

MUSIC ANALYSIS 1 :2, 1982

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