Analysis: La Donna É Mobile
Analysis: La Donna é Mobile
La Donna é Mobile is unquestionably the most famous aria in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto, a story in which Rigoletto, a jester, attempts to enact revenge on the Duke of Mantua for seducing his daughter, Gilda. In this aria, the Duke sings about the flighty nature of women and their incredibly unstable emotions, belittling their intelligence and dismissing them as shallow, fickle, and one-sided. Not only is the chord progression and rhythm indicative of ridicule, the wording itself reinforces the Duke’s own promiscuity and adds a layer of irony to the piece. The aria is written in 3/8 time in the key of B Major, and consists of several similar musical phrases that repeat almost exactly in the second verse. The Duke has a tenor voice that is paired up with an orchestra. The higher tenor voice of the Duke and the main rhythmic cell, measures 11-12, gives the music a frivolous quality reminiscent of a dance. The lively tempo and frequent use of staccato notes reinforces that interpretation.
The chord progression of the aria also helps to showcase the Duke’s flippant nature. The chords are mostly major and the melodic structure relies predominantly on the tonic and dominant chords, B and D major, often in a pattern of I-V-V-I. Verdi gives the piece its lighthearted feel by using primarily strong major chords and several internal authentic cadences. As a whole, this aria is incredibly ironic not only because of the Duke’s blatant hypocrisy, but also because of its placement in the opera. Although he is singing about the inconsistency, fickle nature, and wavering attentions of women, the Duke seems almost completely unaware that he himself fits the description that he is giving. The climax of the piece, which occurs at the end on a prolonged high note, describes women as “never the same,” which may have double meaning: that women’s emotions are never the same, a statement which also describes the Duke, or that the women
La Donna é Mobile is unquestionably the most famous aria in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto, a story in which Rigoletto, a jester, attempts to enact revenge on the Duke of Mantua for seducing his daughter, Gilda. In this aria, the Duke sings about the flighty nature of women and their incredibly unstable emotions, belittling their intelligence and dismissing them as shallow, fickle, and one-sided. Not only is the chord progression and rhythm indicative of ridicule, the wording itself reinforces the Duke’s own promiscuity and adds a layer of irony to the piece. The aria is written in 3/8 time in the key of B Major, and consists of several similar musical phrases that repeat almost exactly in the second verse. The Duke has a tenor voice that is paired up with an orchestra. The higher tenor voice of the Duke and the main rhythmic cell, measures 11-12, gives the music a frivolous quality reminiscent of a dance. The lively tempo and frequent use of staccato notes reinforces that interpretation.
The chord progression of the aria also helps to showcase the Duke’s flippant nature. The chords are mostly major and the melodic structure relies predominantly on the tonic and dominant chords, B and D major, often in a pattern of I-V-V-I. Verdi gives the piece its lighthearted feel by using primarily strong major chords and several internal authentic cadences. As a whole, this aria is incredibly ironic not only because of the Duke’s blatant hypocrisy, but also because of its placement in the opera. Although he is singing about the inconsistency, fickle nature, and wavering attentions of women, the Duke seems almost completely unaware that he himself fits the description that he is giving. The climax of the piece, which occurs at the end on a prolonged high note, describes women as “never the same,” which may have double meaning: that women’s emotions are never the same, a statement which also describes the Duke, or that the women