Musical Humor and Antonín Dvořák’s Comic Operas

lt;p>Antonín Dvorák's masterful compositional strategies construct sonic humor in his six comic operas. He crafts musical slapstick, satire, parody, and merriment using clever orchestration and voicing techniques and incongruity. Narrative description and comprehensive music examples reveal an under-appreciated side of the composer's creative skills.

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lt;p>Antonín Dvorák was a clever and highly communicative humorist and musical dramatist. His masterful compositional strategies underscore, heighten, and construct sonic humor in his six (!!) comic operas. He crafts musical slapstick, satire, parody, and merriment using sudden breaks in rhythmic patterns, explosive harmonic shifts, excessive repetition, and startling pauses, as well as incongruous tempi, dynamics, range, and instrumentation. Dvorák also gives the orchestra its own "voice," breaking the metaphorical "fourth wall" to reveal humor outside of the characters' awareness. Narrative description and comprehensive music examples guide the reader through all six of Dvorák's works in this genre, revealing a significantly under-appreciated side of the composer's immense creative skills.