Concerning the Issue of the Main Protagonist in 17th Century Italian Oratorio

Abstract

The aim of the article is to examine the phenomenon of the main protagonist from the perspective
of his tragic nature as an expression of the concentrated essence of baroque ethics and aesthetics
as manifested in the culminating stage of the development of 17th century oratorio (San Giovanni
Battista by Alessandro Stradella) and on the stage of the genre’s exhaustion (Agar et Ismaele Esiliati
by Alessandro Scarlatti). The principle of “relative clarity” (to use the expression of Heinrich
Wölfflin) became fundamental in considering the features of baroque aesthetics in music. This
principle manifested itself in various aspects of the oratorio: in its concept, drama, interpretation
of the main characters, and the very genre. Conceptually, this principle is expressed in the chief
protagonist’s moral hesitation about a decision which was made (as in the oratorios Herode and
Abramo). Dramatically, it manifested itself in the move made by the developmental functions upon
the expositional ones – as in the oratorio San Giovanni Battista – or in the application of two
different focuses of vision on the part of the same protagonist, such as Herode (Herod), Salome,
Abramo (Abraham) or Sara (Sarah): this is shown most vividly in the expositions of the first and
second acts of the oratorio Agar et Ismaele Esiliati. In the interpretation of the main characters the
transmission of the principle of “relative clarity” was demonstrated in the interpersonal conflict: in
Stradella’s oratorio, it is directly expressed between John the Baptist, on the one hand, and Herod
and Salome, on the other hand, and indirectly – between San Giovanni Battista (John the Baptist),
on the other hand, and Herodiade (Herodias) and the Consigliere (Herod’s counselor), on the other
hand; in Scarlatti’s work – between Abramo and Sara, on the one hand, and Agar (Hagar) and
Ismaele (Ishmael), on the other hand. At the same time, the psychological state of most characters
is characterized by explosive emotions, which often reach the level of intrapersonal conflict. In
Stradella’s work, Herode experiences such feelings (there are indications that Salome undergoes
them in some of their aspects, as well); and in Scarlatti’s oratorio a similar “counter-feeling” (a
term coined by Lev Vygotsky) is crystallized in the actions of Abramo. The principle of “relative
clarity” was also reflected in a peculiar mutation on the part of the oratorio as a genre, in which the
chorus (featuring one of its main attributes) is reduced to a minimal level – as in the oratorio San
Giovanni Battista, or is completely absent – as in the oratorio Agar et Ismaele Esiliati.

Keywords: Alessandro Stradella, Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian oratorio, tragic, baroque hero, San
Giovanni Battista (John the Baptist), Herode, Herodiade, Salome, Abramo, Sara, Agar, Ismaele,
intrapersonal conflict, “relative clarity.”