Music as Archetypes

 Hello and welcome to Suburban Takes #3! You know the drill.

All music is constructed of archetypes. 

Sitting on a piano bench, fingers poised above the keys, my teacher talks me through the structure of Clementi’s Sonatina in C major (the famous one – Op. 36, No. 1 of course). Never one good at musical interpretation, I could never get my mind to move past, focusing on the technical aspect of rhythms and notes as I played. The result? My playing fell flat, void of any emotion, and I was subject to our long lectures about “letting myself feel the music”, whatever that meant. Later, I found that all my nine-year-old brain really needed was a story to tell. Everything clicked when my teacher explained the three movements as a king, queen, and princess, all characters in a story. Allegro, movement one, was the stately king. A lively tempo and royal rhythms, I was meant to play loud and freely with impact. Next came movement two, Andante, and this was the beautiful queen. The key change to A minor showed her matureness, and the gentle melody contrasted the first movement. Lastly, my favorite, was Vivace, movement three. I loved this one the most as it was the energetic little princess. Here, the fast tempo and technical rhythms came together in a movement that was simply fun to play. The characterization of this piano piece helped me understand how my posture, control of dynamics, and changing tempos came together to tell a story. 

Upon learning about recitatif and its role in opera, I became interested in learning about archetypes in opera and their role in storytelling as well. In fact, recurring character types in opera do exist, and uniquely, they are related to the arrangement of the music. The tenor singer, the highest male voice, is traditionally the hero and love interest. The soprano, highest female voice, is usually an innocent heroine. The mezzo-soprano, a lower female voice with a darker, warmer sound, fittingly plays a seductive and often dangerous woman in the story. Next, the baritone, a low male voice, is an antagonist, representing evil and villainy, opposing the hero. Lastly, the bass is the lowest male voice and typically assigned to powerful, older figures like kings and priests. 

I hope you found this connection between music and archetypes as fascinating as I do! 

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