Baroque Agead

Tu se’ morta is a piece sung by Orpheus accompanied by a basso continuo after he is told of Eurydice’s death. Orpheus wants to bring her back from Hell as he offers a distressed goodbye to the earth, sky and sun. The style of singing is simple and intended to bring a dramatic delivery to the audience. The vocal line is rhythmically free and the phrases are more irregular. The song is flexible because it is suggesting a sad and passionate farewell to the person he loves. To express this farewell, the song reaches the climax several different times and then drops away.
Dido’s Lament is also accompanied by a basso continuo and has a mournful setting as well. The song opens with a descending chromatic line, the ground bass, which is repeated eleven different times throughout the piece. Dido repeats “Remember Me” several times as well also reaches the highest note of the aria. The dynamics were constant and not notated and the tempi were slow and constant. The woman who sang the song portrays a haunting and sorrowful mood for the listener. The song comes to a conclusion with a descending violin melody which expresses the tragedy.
There are several similarities in these pieces. One of the main similarities is that both songs give the listener a haunting, sorrowful, distressed and sad feeling. Although one song is expressing the sorrow of a loved one’s death and the other is expressing the tragedy of one’s fate; they both put off a sad vibe. They both at one point or another reach a climax and then drop, which keeps the listener entertained and interested in the song. Tu se’ morta and Dido’s Lament are both accompanied by a basso continuo.

Last but not least, the texture of both of these pieces is homophonic. The main difference, in my opinion, is how different they sound from one another because one is sung by a female and the other by a male. The deep, powerful voice of Orpheus as he sung Tu se’ morta compared to the high, thrill voice of the female who sung Dido’s Lament puts a whole new outlook on the songs. Even though both songs give a haunting feeling to the listener just the fact that one is a female and the other is male changed the mood slightly.
In my opinion, it is hard to point out many differences. All in all, both pieces were interesting. The intensity of both Tu Se’ Morta and Dido’s Lament were compelling and put the listener in the exact mood that they were portraying. Haunting, sorrowful, sad and depressed was the mood I felt after listening to both. Personally, Dido’s Lament was my favorite out of the two. Her chromatic notes which created tension and stress kept the song fascinating and the want to hear more. In conclusion, both pieces were wonderful, but Dido’ Lament was absolutely amazing to the ears!