An ambiguous partnership of word and tone: media “confrontation” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni

Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni is generally recognised as the greatest work dealing with the theme of Don Juan. It is also extremely complex and raises in an unusually challenging way the significance of the figure of Don Giovanni. This article examines the relevance of Nicholas Cook’s theory regardin...

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Main Author: Martina Viljoen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2006-08-01
Series:Acta Academica
Online Access:http://196.255.246.28/index.php/aa/article/view/1087
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author Martina Viljoen
author_facet Martina Viljoen
author_sort Martina Viljoen
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description Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni is generally recognised as the greatest work dealing with the theme of Don Juan. It is also extremely complex and raises in an unusually challenging way the significance of the figure of Don Giovanni. This article examines the relevance of Nicholas Cook’s theory regarding the analysis of musical multimedia. Focusing also on the works of Wye Jamison Allanbrook and Leonard Ratner that have a bearing on the topic, it explores Mozart’s ingenious deployment of musical expression, style, and syntax in the opera as primary agents in the construction of human character. Cook’s “contest” model postulates that the projection of Don Giovanni’s character owes its complexity to a remarkably ambiguous partnership of word and tone, resulting in what may be called a “contradiction” of musical and verbal meaning.
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spelling doaj.art-7dcbb5eac4b8450db6a72c3ac99b543f2024-03-18T11:07:05ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Academica0587-24052415-04792006-08-0138210.38140/aa.v38i2.1087An ambiguous partnership of word and tone: media “confrontation” in Mozart’s Don GiovanniMartina Viljoen0University of the Free State Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni is generally recognised as the greatest work dealing with the theme of Don Juan. It is also extremely complex and raises in an unusually challenging way the significance of the figure of Don Giovanni. This article examines the relevance of Nicholas Cook’s theory regarding the analysis of musical multimedia. Focusing also on the works of Wye Jamison Allanbrook and Leonard Ratner that have a bearing on the topic, it explores Mozart’s ingenious deployment of musical expression, style, and syntax in the opera as primary agents in the construction of human character. Cook’s “contest” model postulates that the projection of Don Giovanni’s character owes its complexity to a remarkably ambiguous partnership of word and tone, resulting in what may be called a “contradiction” of musical and verbal meaning. http://196.255.246.28/index.php/aa/article/view/1087
spellingShingle Martina Viljoen
An ambiguous partnership of word and tone: media “confrontation” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni
Acta Academica
title An ambiguous partnership of word and tone: media “confrontation” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni
title_full An ambiguous partnership of word and tone: media “confrontation” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni
title_fullStr An ambiguous partnership of word and tone: media “confrontation” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni
title_full_unstemmed An ambiguous partnership of word and tone: media “confrontation” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni
title_short An ambiguous partnership of word and tone: media “confrontation” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni
title_sort ambiguous partnership of word and tone media confrontation in mozart s don giovanni
url http://196.255.246.28/index.php/aa/article/view/1087
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