This very brief chorus of three deep voices, of great dramatic force, marks a particularly moving moment in Monteverdi's opera "The Coronation of Poppea". Evoking the disciples' imploration "Don't die, Seneca", a fully chromatic ascending motif, repeated six times in imitations, provokes an irresistible translation of an octave; two measures in homophony bring a firm and unexpected conclusion. The period notation has been preserved: the whole note as a unit of time (the measures are also doubled, which in reality gives measures that should be numbered six-one), the use of the keys of C to the alto and the tenor (avoiding the use of additional lines), the absence of indication of tempo and nuances (which opens up numerous interpretation perspectives). Automatic translation.
9 bars, 1 page.
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MONTEVERDI C. : La mort de Sénèque.