Abstract

COTELLO, Beatriz. The Nymph Daphne in Opera history. Circe clás. mod. [online]. 2004, n.9, pp.101-121. ISSN 1851-1724.

This article deals with the origins of Opera, which started as a musical drama based on the legend of Daphne, and the subsequent musical versions of the text written originally by Ottavio Rinuccini, composed by Peri, Caccini and other musicians of the XVIIth Century. A brief discussion follows about the ideals and aspirations of the Camerata Fiorentina, a society of artists who met at the Palazzo Bardi in Florence at the end of the XVIth century and who are considered the intellectual fathers of Opera. The above mentioned musicians were members of this group, one of whose main leaders was Vincenzo Galilei who resumed his and the musical thinking of the Camerata in his Dialogo della Musica Antica e della Moderna. This theoretical work marks the break point between polyphonic and hetherophonic music, the former more appropriate for the church, the latter more capable of expressing human feelings. The belief, shared by the members of the Camerata, that Greek tragedy was sang in all its extension was later proved as untrue but it gave born to the opera as a side product. Daphne was also chosen as opera subject by Richard Strauss who composed a beautiful piece of music for a text written by Josef Georg, in 1934.

Keywords : Daphne; Opera; Camerata Fiorentina; Peri; Rinuccini.