But this change of style would not have marked a living progress if the opera itself, which was the common model, had not been transformed, at the same period, by the introduction of a new element which was to develop with unexpected rapidity: the symphonic element. What is lost as regards vocal polyphony is regained in instrumental symphony. The great conquest of Telemann, Hasse, Graun and Jommelli in opera was the recitativo accompagnato, the recitative scene with dramatic orchestration.[1] It was in this respect that they were revolutionists in the musical world. Once the orchestra was introduced into the drama it gained and kept the upper hand. In vain did people lament that the fine art of singing would be ruined. Those who supported it as against the old contrapuntal art did not fear to sacrifice it, at need, to the orchestra. Jommelli, so respectful of Metastasio in all other matters, opposed him with regard to this one point with immovable resolution.[2] One must read the complaints of the old musicians: "One no longer hears the voice; the orchestra is deafening."
- ↑ I will not say that they invented it. The accompagnato goes back to the earliest period of the Venetian opera and was used by Lully in his later works. But from the time of Leonardo Vinci and Hasse (about 1725–30) these great dramatic monologues, recited with orchestra, underwent a magnificent development.
- ↑ Not that Metastasio was inimical to the recitativo stromentale. He was too complete a poet-musician not to be conscious of its dramatic effect. He plainly acknowledged, in certain of his writings, the orchestra's power of interpreting the inward tragedy.
But this very power made him uneasy. The inward tragedy threatened to overflow and swamp the action; the poetry was in danger of being drowned by the music; and Metastasio, who had so fine a feeling for the equilibrium of all the theatrical elements, was bound to see that the proportion of the recitativo con strumenti must be strictly limited in each act.
