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Rage Aria

Rage arias depict a character's rage in an opera. These arias are typically found in Opera Seria, which  emerged during the Baroque period. Rage aria’s typically have distinct musical characteristics of quick tempos, fast runs, and are short in length. A common composer of rage arias is George Frideric Handel in the Baroque period and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Classical period. 

History

Rage arias (also known as aria agitata, aria di strepito, aria di smania, and aria infuriata) are known for their use in opera seria. According to the Doctrine of affections, a theory of aesthetics that dictate emotions based on outward visible and auditory signs, each aria in an opera must have a single emotion. The doctrine of affects states that the emotions of rage, revenge, and fury lend themselves to complex musical gestures easier than gentle affects. However, composers must still be careful to maintain a good quality of singing. Many of these arias can be put into other opera categories because often rage turns into pride, haughtiness, or something that demands sympathy. While most commonly used in opera seria, rage arias are still present in opera buffa; however, these tend to lack the serious tone of arias found in opera seria. Often buffa arias poke fun at the character and their exaggerated anger, while seria arias have more concentrated rage. Women in pre-Enlightenment opera were portrayed having uncontrollable lust that must be punished and controlled by men. This shifted to a nurturing, dependent, domestic view during and after the Enlightenment in the late 18th century. With the desire to keep an element of real life, which now demanded sympathy for the woman’s position, these arias became increasingly difficult to write as over dramatized expressions of rage. While there is a difference in content based on the singer's gender, musically, arias in opera seria are very similar for both genders. This most likely comes from the old practice of castrati and women singing male roles. Men, typically basses, show more panic and turmoil than anger. In opera buffa the seriousness is cut by being boastful or hysteria, whereas in pure rage arias there is little variance in emotion.

Musical Form

Rage arias began as a type of da capo aria. Near the end of the 17th century italian opera began to shift to a pre-classical sound. This era of opera was much more structured and had a specific order of events which dictated the how the composer wrote the opera. Arias were nearly exclusively in da capo form and had shared themes throughout the entire opera. The function of the orchestra went from being an equal partner with the voice to being subservient to the singer and subsequently became much simpler harmonically. As opera continued to reform and change this structure was used less in favor of more artistic freedom from composers. In the 18th century arias were catagorized into one of five different types, as defined by Englishman John Brown. Rage aria falls under his definition of aria parlante. Arias in the genre are characterized by fast motion that prevents excessive ornamentation. These characteristics help express the passion the composer wishes to portray.

Commonly performed rage arias

• "No, No, I'll Take No Less" from Semele by George Frederic Handel
• "Largo al Factotum" from Barber of Saville by Gioachino Rossini
• "Der Hölle Rache" from The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart