Nationalism
in music is a topic we once looked at here on Clef Notes. But what about the
opposite of nationalism, or the evocation of a distant land, by use of borrowed
melodies, native instruments, etc.? This idea is known as exoticism and, though
used throughout history, it gained popularity during the late nineteenth
century.
Exoticism
is an interesting concept because, while composers were successful in creating
sounds different from what their Western audiences were used to hearing, they
were not always accurate in creating authentic music from these distant
regions. Many of the exotic melodies that became popular during this time
period depicted more of the composer’s own idea of what these foreign melodies
should sound like rather than the actual music of different cultures.
This
month, I’d like to look at various examples of exoticism in music, starting off
with a few operatic examples this week. Today, let’s look at Bizet’s Carmen (1874), an opera set in Spain and
based on a novel by Prosper Mérimée.
While to us, Spain sits in close proximity to where the opera was
composed in France, audiences of Bizet’s time looked at Spanish elements as
exotic and exciting.
Carmen takes place in
Seville during the mid-nineteenth century and is a tale about how the soldier
Don José leaves behind his morals and innocent love for the provocative
gypsy-girl Carmen.
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| Courtesy of wikimedia.org |
Bizet
conveys his own ideas about Spain in multiple ways. Above you can see an image
of Carmen in bright, alluring colors. He also casts Spain in a dark sense,
ending his opera with a gruesome murder. Bizet uses musical elements to give
audiences a dose of Spanish flare. Several of Carmen’s arias use titles from
Spanish dances such as “Habanera” and “Seguidilla.” Bizet incorporates
augmented seconds associated with gypsy music and the Phrygian mode, adding to
the Spanish flavor.
Just
for fun, enjoy one more “Carmen” video, courtesy of The Muppets:
