"Power & Grace in
Music, with a Note
on Sincerity"
from a Music: Aesthetic Realism
Presentation
of October 26, 1975
by Paul Abel
In
1946, Paul Abel began his career as an
airline pilot. Several years later, in
1949, Mr. Abel received his Master's
degree in Music at Syracuse University,
where he was on the faculty and
taught voice. In 1969, he began to
study Aesthetic Realism in New York City
in classes with its founder, Eli
Siegel. In 1975 he taught voice,
using the Aesthetic Realism point of
view. This is his point of view in
the essay presented here. What he
sees about Verdi's Rigoletto, I
believe, adds importantly to its beauty
and value. Also, the relation Mr.
Abel sees between the power of the famous
Quartet from Rigoletto to that of a jumbo
jet will surprise, thrill, and educate
those who read it now, and in future
years.--Editor
Just 40 years ago, there
appeared in my high school graduating
class prophesy, this statement:
Ten
years from now, Paul Abel will be making his
debut at the Metropolitan Opera House as the
Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto.
I
mention this, because it shows how long I
have been affected by and loved this
opera. Until I studied Aesthetic
Realism, it would never have occurred
to me to set down in any clear way why this
music affected me or why I loved it.
Aesthetic Realism says, “In reality,
opposites are one; art shows this.”
Music then, tells us what opposites have to
do with the structure of the world and man
as he wants to be. As The
Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known,
number 93 says:
Because
of this the world is given an everlasting,
sensible basis, for what could be more
sensible than to be calm and forceful at
once, reposeful and intense at once.
I
have been studying the truth of these
statements in classes with Eli
Siegel since 1969. The import of
them has made for larger emotions in me
about music, people, and the world, and
explains why I love the opera Rigoletto
more than ever, and in particular the
great Quartet from the last act
"Bella figlia dell'amore." The
opposites of power and grace are the very
heartbeat of this music. Here is the
opening melody of the quartet, sung by the
tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
(play) In the Saturday
Review of October 4, 1975 Roland
Gilette says of Verdi:
There
is, in whatever he touches, a strength and
sincerity that cannot fail to command our
admiration.
Mr.
Gilette speaks of strength, but there is no
mention of grace as inseparable from
it. This statement does not include
what Aesthetic Realism says is
central: “All
beauty
is a making one of opposites….” An
instance of this was made clear in recent
class when Eli Siegel said: “Any time you
hear beautiful music, you are seeing the
instantaneous presence of power and
grace. That is the main
proposition. The two are always
together and there is no exception to that.”
Sincerity is a word critics often
use in speaking of Verdi. When power
is together with grace, we have
sincerity. These are the hallmarks of
Verdi’s art and with Rigoletto
composed in 1850, his mastery asserted
itself abundantly. It is richly so in
the great Quartet, and reality loves it.
The Opera first performed in 1851 is based
on Victor Hugo’s play, Le Roi
s’amuse. The title is
usually translated as The King’s
Amusement. In the first Paris
season, Rigoletto was performed over one
hundred times. Victor Hugo resented
its popularity. But when he finally
heard the opera, he was forced to admit its
greatness. Of the famous Quartet he
exclaimed: “If I could only make four
characters in my plays speak at the same
time and have the audience grasp the words
and sentiments, I would obtain the very same
effect.”
You heard the mystery of the opposites in
the opening phrases of the Duke of
Mantua. He is a cold-hearted
libertine, but he sings one of the warmest,
most ravishing melodies in all opera.
In what appears to be ardent assertiveness,
coldness and warmth mingle. They can
be felt in the power and grace of the first
few notes as the composer combines the
melodic flow with what are technically call
grace notes or ornaments. These added
notes seem to be an impediment but they
really help the flow of the musical line,
which is essentially simple and
economic. It is based on these three
notes of the tonic chord, A-flat, B-flat,
F. Now listen, as these notes are
gathered into a rhythmic pattern with the
addition of grace notes. (play) Does this
melody say something of economy with
richness, making for beauty? Here it
is without grace notes. Notice that
their omission has interferes with the
instantaneous presence of power and
grace. (play) In the last
section of the melody, it rises a full
octave to a high sustained note, and there
are no ornaments. They are not
needed. They would interfere with the
power and sweetness of that long held high
note. The graceful decent of the
sighing, falling notes which follow and
round off the phrase is exactly right.
It verifies what Eli Siegel has said:
“Grace is the way a thing is done, making
you feel no more effort was used than
necessary and all that was needed was used.”
(play)
Before we look further at the music of the
Quartet, which occurs near the beginning
of the last act, let’s see what has gone
on before. Gilda, the daughter of
Rigoletto, has been seduced and abandoned
by the Duke of Mantua. As the
Quartet begins, the Duke is singing to
another woman, Maddalena, “Bella figlia
dell’a more,” which means “Fairest
daughter of love.” Gilda and her
father are outside the Inn. Inside
are the amorous Duke and the flirtatious
Maddalena. Critical comment often mentions
the buried emotional expressions of the
characters that blend into a harmonious
unity. Verdi, himself, hinted at the
Quartet’s greatness in this remark he made
to his first Rigoletto: “I never expect to
do better than the Quartet.”
To
page
2 of Music: Aesthetic Realism, with
a Note on Sincerity
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