Examples Of Opera Buffa And Hope In The Shawshank Redemption

Opera Buffa and Hope in The Shawshank Redemption What does one imagine when viewing a comic opera? Servants outwitting their masters? A happy ending? However, would one imagine a comic opera in a maximum-security prison? In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne plays an duet from Mozart’s comic opera, The Marriage to Fiagaro, as its Enlightened ideals represent Andy’s prison experience and its Classical characteristics evoke a sense of hope in the repressed prison. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro reflects the social and musical influence of the Classical period. Socially, The Marriage of Fiagaro reflects the ideals of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was â€Å"was a period that saw the institutions of Europe—religious,†¦show more content†¦Common characteristics of classical music include strong dynamics, changing rhythms, simplistic melodies, and homophony (Tomlinson and Kerman 155-158). When focusing on the aria played i n The Shawshank Redemption, one hears the â€Å"natural use of the voice. We’re not asking the voice to do anything that it really doesn’t want to do, and it’s naturally dramatic† (Greenberg). The homophonic music accompanies Susanna’s aria, but does not over power her voice; it is simple. The changing rhythms and dynamics express Susanna’s emotions as music during the Enlightenment was considered â€Å"akin to the motions of the human soul, from which it follows that music is able to apprehend and convey the impulses and moods of the human soul† (Lang 96). These feelings, however, are not those of the Church or government institution; they are the feelings of a servant who wants to marry Fiagaro and the Countess, who is conspiring against her husband. Another introduction in comic opera was the ensemble, â€Å"a number sung by two or more people† (Tomlinson and Kerman 189). The ensemble allows the characters, Susanna and the C ountess, to express their emotions simultaneously. Musically, the duet in The Marriage of Fiagaro incorporates the popular characteristics of the Classical period to express the natural emotions of two women. The Shawshank Redemption is a critically acclaimed movie that addresses topics such as infidelity,