Suor Angelica; see Il trittico
Il tabarro; see Il trittico
Tosca
ASO11 (1977), COH (1985), ENOG 16 (1982).
- Winterhoff, Hans-Jürgen. Analytische Untersuchungen zu Puccinis “Tosca.”
Kölner Beiträge zur Musikforschung, 72. Regensburg: Bosse, 1973. 136p.
ISBN 3-7649-2088-2. ML410 .P89 W788.
A musical and dramatic analysis of the opera’s structure and leading motives.
Shows how the music distinguishes between the world of Scarpia and that of
Tosca and Cavaradossi. Bibliography, no index. - Nicasio, Susan Vandiver. Tosca’s Rome: The Play and the Opera in Historical
Perspective. Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, 1999. ca. 344p. ISBN 0-226-57971-9.
Not seen. - Burton, Deborah. “An Analysis of Puccini’s Tosca: A Heuristic Approach to
the Unifying Elements of the Opera.” Ph.D. diss., U. of Michigan, 1995. 538p. - Burton, Deborah. “The Real Scarpia: Historical Sources for Tosca.”OQ10-2
(Winter 1993–1994): 67–86.
Using contemporary sources, Burton describes the historical environment for
the opera, including likely real-life models for the principal characters. There
was indeed a performance of a Te Deumin Rome, in the period of the story, to
celebrate the battle of Marengo (incorrectly reported, in life and in the opera,
to have been a defeat for Napoleon). - Burton, Deborah. “Tristan, Tosca (e Torchi).” In Giacomo Puccini(#1441),
127–145.
Notes several quotations from Wagner in the Puccini operas, some of them
first observed by Luigi Torchi in a 1900 article. Goes on to explain how the
Tristan “Liebesruhe Motiv”is the musical base on which Toscais constructed.
Identifies motives and their Wagnerian development into full structures. - Schoffman, Nachum. “Puccini’s Tosca: An Essay in Wagnerism.” MR53–4
(November 1992): 268–290.
A table of Tosca’s 25 musical motives, showing all their appearances and their
interrelationships. The author concludes that many are Wagnerian in concept
and function. - Atlas, Allan W. “Puccini’s Tosca: A New Point of View.” In Studies in the His-
tory of Music 3: The Creative Process,247–273 (New York: Broude, 1992;
ML1 .S899).
Another imaginative approach to macrostructure by Atlas (see #1484), finding
tonal relations as the basis for the large design. Unfortunately for this analysis,
and for so many like it, it runs into inconsistencies and disruptions of the plan.
The author is therefore required to explain those departures as special in-
stances of some kind: signs of emotional crisis, in this case.
Giacomo Puccini 283