Ronell Warmuth

Dr. O’Donnell
WNO Intensive
July 3rd, 2019
Va, dal furor portata KV 2; Mozart
This piece has many different nuances that are spread across this concert aria. Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart composed this piece when he was nine-years-old. This piece was written in
London during the Mozart family grand tour in 1765. The words used in the piece are from the
opera ​Metastasio’s Ezio​, act two, scene four. The singer of this piece is supposed to hold a very
strong fury against the traitor. For instance, the literal translation of Ma ti sovvenga ingrata is but
you are ungrateful. The listener can tell that the ‘character’ is disappointed and angry at the
person they are singing about. Massimo is not happy about his trust being taken for granted, all
the while, being betrayed in the process. The vocal line in this piece is dependant on the mood
set by the orchestral accompaniment. These slight nuances create character throughout the work.
In the first phrase of the aria, the listener is able to hear that the introduction holds tension
within the plot. Thus, making the character - sing about their problem. In the first measure all
instruments have a unison rhythmic and melodic line. However, in the second measure there are
two instrumental sections that break off. The violas start a syncopated rhythm on octave Gs
while the horn one and two drone an octave G. Due to the rhythmic and tonal change, the
orchestral accompianment’s tension starts to rise simply in 2 measures. Additionally, Mozart
wrote an eighth note on the and of four within measure two. This was to give emphasis on the
first note of measure three. Fortifying this rhythm in measure 5, Mozart included a triplitized
sixteenth note pick up to the violin one’s F. It is almost written as a turn. Falling into the next
measure. In measure five, both of the violin sections and the violoncello e basso now all share
different rhythmic patterns than used before in the last four measures. There are dotted quarter
notes used in the violin ones, ensuring that there is stress on the first and third macro beat. All
the while, the violin twos have a sixteenth note sequence starting on the supertone of C. This
then finally resolves to the tonic of the key, C major. This rhythmic differentiation is also present
in the violoncello e basso in the same measure.
 The eighth note repetition on G gives off a different color to the chord, which is then
defined in the octave leap of measure five. In the sixth measure, the downbeat is a second
inversion c chord, which is then resolved to a root c major chord cadence. In the following
phrases, this is the first time accidentals are placed within the score. Meaning that Mozart is now
adding more flavor and modulation to the theme. This is also the first time that Mozart
implements extreme dynamics, such as: Fortepiano, forte, piano, marcato, three quarter note
slurs, and ascending octave leaps. The tenor vocal part starts on the tonic of the scale, C. In the
vocal line, Mozart decides to include a dotted eighth note in the piece for the first time. This is a
time where the theme used in the introduction comes back, though with slight changed. Though,
this happens, it does not make the lines of the piece itinerant. There tends to be a, or multiple
instrument(s) that often play in octave unison with the vocal part throughout the piece.
The sequences written in the score continue to add a flare to the theme. In measure 22,
Mozart marks forte and piano dynamics alternated between measures till measure 26. This shows
the contrast between words that need to be either emphasized or supported. In measure 23, the
orchestra doubles the rhythm sung by the tenor in sixteenth note skip and step motion that
gradually descends. This goes all the way to the downbeat of measure 26. The sixteenth note
passage is continued till th/e fermata at measure 28. These themes are then carried out for the rest
of the piece.