Artikel

Het Oeuvre van Da Ponte-Mozart: terreinverkenning voor een inhoudsanalyse

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Abstract

The of this work study of Da is Ponte-Mozart: a content analysis An introduction of the librettos to a content of the analysis so called— „Italian operas”, Le Nozze di Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787) and Cosi fan tutte (1790), which are the product of the artistic collaboration between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and his most famous text-writer, the Venetian „philosophe” Lorenzo DaPonte (1749-1838). More specifically, the ana¬ lysis is concerned with the kind of social relation which is defined in American sociological works as „patron-client relation”. In chapter I, the possibilities and problems arising from the making of a „blueprint” for a sociology of the opera are examined. The opera must be viewed, not only as a very complex artistic activity, but also as a specific „medium” or „language”, composed of a series of constituting parts like the libretto, the music, the scenic realization and last but not least, the musical and lyrical interpretation. Most of these components are studied by specialists formed in disciplines like the sociology of the literary work and the theatre, art criticism and semiotics. The author tries to define the specific object of a sociology of the opera. This sociology must pay attention to all kinds of social processes influencing the creation of the opera and study and explain the opera in the context of the ideas of its time. The sociologist must examine how the social relations, ideologies and mutations of the period are reflected in the opera and in the incorporated system of signs and symbols. Finally, a sociology of the opera must be interested in the possible influence of the opera on artistic, social and also political life. In such a conception, a sociology of the opera is very close to the sociology of knowledge and the sociologist can largely use the material collected in other fields of the social sciences (history of music, linguistics, semiotics, etc.). In chapter II, the author underlines the importance of the contribution made by Lorenzo DaPonte to the operatic oeuvre of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and explains why the study of „patron-client relations” must be considered as a very important and highly representative aspect of the culture of the Enlightenment. Patron-client relations in the operas by Da Ponte-Mozart are examined on three different levels. In the first place, the are the „master-servant” relations, a very classic topic of the theatre since the ancient Greek and Roman comedies; on a broader level, this study will examine the antagonism between the social classes. This aspect of opera works is largely influenced by the ideas of freedom and social inequality proclaimed by the „philosophes” of the Enlightenment. Finally, attention is paid to the fact that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte, like most artists worked in a patron-client relation, the system of the „patronage in arts” being one of the most important institutions of the artistic world in the ancien Régime. Chapter III is devoted to some methodological problems. Content analysis as a research technique has mostly been developed in the field of the study of newspapers and magazines. The author discusses the possibility of applying this method to literary works and points out the precautions that must be taken. The crucial problem is the necessity of interrelating the analysed content and the social, political and cultural context in which the literary work has been produced. A future contribution should be devoted entirely to the results of this analysis.

How to Cite:

Van Parys, G., (1982) “Het Oeuvre van Da Ponte-Mozart: terreinverkenning voor een inhoudsanalyse”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 27(2), 103–127. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.94817