Solita forma

La solita forma is a term music scholars apply to the formal design of scenes in Italian opera of the 19th century from the bel canto era of Bellini and Rossini to the late operas of Giuseppe Verdi. It can also be called grand duet form and it is a general framework of melodramatic scene types, especially duets.^[1] The scene gradually progresses from an opening static lyric moment to a finale through several standard musical tempos and set pieces, gradually adding characters and adding or unravelling complexity in the plot. As composers wrote operas in short spans of time, the standardized form of scenes ensured a time-tested dramatic and musical structure. The term itself comes from a work of criticism by Abramo Basevi^[2]

Patterns

The form follows the basic pattern:

• Introductory music, usually instrumental
• recitative or dialogue to an initial or basic tempo
• Adagio/Cavatina/"Pezzo concertato"
• Tempo di mezzo (middle movement, interlude, often sounds "interrupting")
• Cabaletta and (in the case of the final scene of an act),
• Finale Stretta^[3]

Large arias within the scene fall into this basic pattern. Such arias are sometimes called cavatina/cabaletta arias:

• Cantabile
• Tempo di mezzo
• Cabaletta

An example of extended solita form may be found in act III of Verdi's La Traviata:

• Introduction: Prelude
• Recitative: "Annina? Comandante
• Adagio: Tenesta la promessa
• Tempo di Mezzo: offstage chorus "Largo a quadrupede"
• Cabaletta: Signora...che t'accade,

The form then starts over:

• Cantabile: Parigi, o cara
• Tempo di Mezzo: Ah, non più....Ah, Violetta! Voi? Signor
• Finale

References