15 - An introduction to Verdi's working methods

Summary

For each of his operas, Verdi employed a complicated process that included many phases of creation and involved other individuals. Some aspects of this process remained remarkably consistent across his career. For example, despite changing conceptions of orchestration that emphasized families of instruments, Verdi continued the tradition of scoring primarily by pitch, putting violins and violas at the top of the page, cellos and basses at the bottom, other instruments in between generally in descending order of pitch range, and voices immediately above the cello line. Other procedures changed considerably over time and even from opera to opera. Consequently, any general discussion of Verdi's working methods quickly involves many exceptions, and scholars have understandably focused on the creation of single works while hesitating to postulate broad theories. In attempting this overview, I shall limit my discussion to the changes in Verdi's compositional circumstances across his career and the changes in his treatment of seven creative stages through which his works normally progressed.

Periods of composition

From the perspective of working conditions and methods, Verdi’s operas fall into four basic groups: 1) early: Oberto (1839) through La battaglia di Legnano (1849); 2) middle: Luisa Miller (1849) through Un ballo in maschera (1859); 3) “modern”:4 La forza del destino (1862) through Aida (1871); and 4) late: Simon Boccanegra (revised 1881) through Falstaff (1893). The coincidence of these groups with traditional stylistic groupings is striking and underscores the importance of considering working conditions and methods when providing an overview of his operas.5 Changes from one period to another involve his pace of composition; association with different librettists, theatres, cities, and performers; the degree of interference from censors; changes in political life and other factors external to the opera business; and Verdi’s own growth and maturity.