Notes On The Local Colour Of The Opera "Richard Coeur-de-lion"

The local colour was a term that had generally appeared in the field of Western opera criticism since the 20 th century,which was used to refer to a sort of overall atmosphere in operas and was achieved by the cooperation of music and drama.Unlike its literal meaning,the category covered by local colour was also complex,including both the meaning of time and the meaning of space.This atmosphere originated in “Opéra Comique” during the eighteenth century and had a profound impact on later European opera.Therefore,the article will focus on Grétry’s most representative work,“Richard Coeur-de-lion”,starting from text reading,music analysis and sociological analysis to explore the applications and values of the local colour in the work.More precisely,the first chapter is about analysis of the concept of local colour,which mainly discusses its fundamental attributes and content categories.Chapter Two focuses on the local colour in the script.Firstly,the script was based on a real historical event,and its author had creatively adapted it according to personal preferences and public attitudes,which depicted many medieval images,such as knights and castles.Secondly,in addition to historical facts,the script of also was a true reflection of French society in the 18 thcentury,not only reflecting author’s critical attitudes towards monarchy but also critical attitudes towards privileged classes.In chapter three,the argument is mainly based on the music of “Richard Coeur-de-lion” and uses the musical analysis to research local colour in the opera.The fundamental part is that the music in the opera contained massive ancient elements,which mainly reflected in the chorus and inter-instrument parts of the opera.Grétry achieved the purpose of constructing the local colour by incorporating archaic structures and old counterpoint styles for the chorus.At the same time,in some instrumental interludes,Grétry did not incorporate retro techniques in music but he used the musical features in the second half of the 18 th century to restore the ancient images depicted in the script,such as battles using cold weapons and noisy proms.Also,although the opera was set in Austria,the characters and events had a close relationship with France,and the music could make audiences get a strong sense of French style.Therefore the national characters of the music should arouse our attention,eg “Romance” integrated into the opera,“vaudeville” implied in the opera as a whole and some arias that were closely related to the music style during French Revolution and reflected the political situation of the time.The fourth chapter mainly talks about the value of the local colour in “Richard Coeur-de-lion”.The method of integrating national and retroelements in the opera was not only an early manifestation of the romanticism obviously but also a masterpiece of the serious tendency of “Opéra Comique”.Besides,there are some judgements about the opera’s limitations.The local colour in “Richard Coeur-de-lion” was influenced by social factors and showed a little compromise towards public opinions and aesthetic consciousness.The reason for the compromise was that both the composer and the scriptwriter were restrained by a sort of identical thought derived from the public.