Madama Butterfly , an opera composed by Giacomo Puccini, is filled with excellent examples of exotic musical appeals. Puccini relies on conventional musical devices to assemble and study a wide range of Japanese music and recordings. As such, Puccini has incorporated several authentic Japanese melodies in Madama Butterfly . In particular, Act II of Madama Butterfly was very effective musically and dramatically.
In Act II of Madama Butterfly , two portions, in particular, demonstrate Puccini’s fascination with the visual aspect of music, namely, the flower duet and the aria sung by Cio Cio San. The flower duet describes Cio Cio San and Suzuki collecting decorations, which include flowers. The two were collecting flowers in order to decorate the house in preparation for the return of Pinkerton (Puccini, 2018). As the music modulates, it creates a sensation that the decorations that were collected by Cio Cio San and Suzuki are being scattered around the house to create a floral paradise. Puccini makes this sensation very dramatic. Musically, Puccini used greater musical fine-tuning. The first half of the flower duet is also nicely fluent.
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The second portion, which is often referred to as the aria, was sung by Cio Cio San (Puccini, 2018). The aria describes what Cio Cio San will do if Pinkerton fails to return. By way of reply, Cio Cio San says that Pinkerton may return to her former occupation of geisha. As the music modulates, it takes on the angular melodic as well as the harmonic qualities of traditional Japanese music. Puccini made the angular melodic very dramatic. Musically, the aria was exceptionally well sung and Puccini used a greater musical fine-tuning. The aria sung by Cio Cio San returns to close the opera following the death of the singer (Puccini, 2018). Unlike how the music was played in Act II, this time, the aria is played stridently in unison by the whole orchestra. In fact, the music is played with no trace of harmony until the last note. As such, Act II of Madama Butterfly was very effective musically and dramatically.
References
Puccini, G. (2018). Madama Butterfly/Madam Butterfly . Alma Books.
