âtre-Italien until 1836. His two greatest operas from this period were Le Comte Ory (which was an opéra comique) and Guillaume Tell which was based on a play by Schiller. These works have beautifully flowing tunes (like Italian opera) as well as grand drama (like French opera).
Retirement[change | change source]
In 1829, at the age of 37, Rossini decided to retire. He had lots of money but his health was not particularly good. Although he wrote a few small pieces of music he never composed another opera. He went back to Bologna, although he returned to Paris nearly 20 years later with his wife. Here his health improved and he wrote a little music. His Petite messe solennelle for 12 voices, two pianos and harmonium is still performed today. When he died in 1868 thousands of people came to his funeral.
Rossini’s place in music history[change | change source]
Rossini was a composer of the classical period. He was brought up hearing 18th century opera, and much of his best known music is still Classical in style, but he developed a lot as he matured and was writing in a more Romantic way by the end of his career. He gradually stopped writing music which has set numbers all the time: music divided sharply into arias and recitative. His recitative became more expressive and was accompanied by the orchestra instead of by a harpsichord. This helped to make his music more continuous. He did not often write for castrati as they were going out of fashion. The chorus have an important part in the drama of his operas (in 18th century opera they just used to comment on what was going on).