Dramaturgical Devices in Opera on the Example of a Fragment from Rachel Portman’s Play "The Little Prince"

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the dramatic techniques in the opera using the example of a fragment based on the music of “The Little Prince” by R. Portman. The methodology of the work includes analytical, structural-functional, generalising methods; musicological analysis to reveal individual dramatic techniques in the opera fragment. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the analysis of criticism regarding the specified opera, dramatic techniques and means of musical expression that were used by the composer for the logic of development of the selected scenes. Conclusions. Using the example of a fragment from the specified opera, dramatic techniques and means of musical expression were identified, with which the composer revealed the tension and enhanced emotional effect of individual scenes. Repetition of words and phrases is defined as means of dramatic emphasis. The words of the Stars repeated expressions that functioned as a dramatic device aimed at increasing emotional tension and emphasising the threatening context of the storm. They conveyed an atmosphere of gradually increasing expectation and anxiety. The increase in musical dynamics is a continuation of dramatic development. The change in tonality, the gradual addition of intervals became a means of reflecting the growth of uncertainty and anxiety. Chord sequences with diminished seventh chords corresponded to the dramatic principle of emotional culmination development. This emphasised the growth of tension in the storm scene. Variability of texture is a device for developing dramaturgy. The diminished seventh chord sounds in different textures (chord, decomposed chords). This reflects the gradual escalation of dramatic conflict. This device allows the musical texture to be gradually saturated and synchronised with the development of the stage action. The development of dramaturgy is achieved by expanding the musical texture through the deployment of choral parts: duet – trio – chorus – a dramatic technique for scaling the conflict. This allows the composer to create a mass effect with an increased sense of the inevitability of the storm and gives the scene an epic quality. Later, the theme of the storm becomes a symbol of the dramatic conflict, since the storm captures the Pilot with the plane – the culmination of the scene, subject to the dramatic logic of escalation. Its musical embodiment is harmoniously connected with the development of events, where each element – from the repetition of words to the choral parts – enhances the overall emotional and artistic effect. The dramatic techniques in this scene consist of a gradual aggravation of tension through the repetition of the text, a change in the harmonic structure, a variation in texture and an expansion of texture due to the choral parts. All this creates a multi-layered structure with a reflection of the drama of events, an active formation of the emotional state of the viewer.