Rossini's reform: The controversy surrounding the use of embellishment

This dissertation discusses the evolution of Rossini's intricate vocal writing style. In 1824 the French biographer Stendhal provided a monologue of Rossini's reasoning behind his florid tunes. The monologue however was fictitious and may have contributed to a blurred understanding of the composer's style amongst later researchers. Twentieth-century historian Rodolfo Celletti, however, based his hypothesis about the evolution of Rossini's coloratura on comprehensive, historical research. To understand where Rossini music lies within the wavering trends in ornamentation, this dissertation presents a brief historical account of ornamentation in solo vocal music in Italy from the early Baroque to the early nineteenth century. Next, the two hypotheses of Rossini's reform are presented and discussed. The link between form and ornamentation in Rossini arias will then be presented. Finally, two Rossini arias are analysed in an effort to clearly point out the techniques that he uses in creating such elaborate vocal lines and draw conclusions to the validity of the hypotheses of Stendhal and Celletti.