Some compositional techniques
usually associated with German Romantic music, such as tonal pairing and the
frequent use of chromatic mediants, may have originated in Italian opera. These
techniques are traced from Rossini’s Tancredi (1813) to Verdi’s Il trovatore
(1853). Similarities to pre-tonal and twentieth-century neoclassical music are
considered. In studying and teaching nineteenth-century music, theorists should
broaden their focus beyond the Austro-German repertoire. The notion of “common
practice” is misleading and should be abandoned.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.