Mozart Marriage Of Figaro Essay

Popular ideologies and their influences have been captured through millennia in writing and literature, but it is really only in the past few hundred years that history has preserved enough musical notation to allow analysis of this art form for ideological significance. Thus, when considering the Enlightenment period, it is a particularly interesting to observe how the work of “classical” composers like Mozart embodied the idea of progress through reason, while criticizing existing social and political institutions. Both in his instrumental work, like Sonata No. 16 in C, and in his operas, such as The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart used forms and lyrics that captured the essence of the Enlightenment. Sonata No. 16 in C provides a great example of how music can rely on the idea of progress through reason. Unlike the virtuosic pieces of the Baroque era, 18th century music was characterized by balance, clarity, and intellectual weight. A product of this combination that Mozart used quite often was the
The mere fact that the story casts the servants as the heroes, and their masters as the villains is a criticism of the morals of the aristocracy. Consequently, the fact that these abused servants choose to fight back encourages the notion of free thought and further rejection of authority. Mozart also penned poignant if restrained lyrics in a key aria sung by Figaro, Se viol ballare, that seem to capture Figaro’s inability to reject the lecherous Count outright, but include his promise to turn his schemes, “roverscierò” or inside out. This piece and its threat expressed the frustrations of those faced with injustice during the Enlightenment era, including a pre-Revolution France, and figuratively criticized the existing social and political institutions that existed around Mozart at that