La Traviata - N4 Streta dell'introduzione

Description

Dawn approaches and the guests take their leave: the Stretta dell'introduzione is the music of this moment in Act I of Verdi's La Traviata. In Italian opera a stretta is the fast section placed at the close of a scene, and here it brings the whole party scene to a brilliant end. It is No. 4 in this series, and it is followed by the scene in which Violetta is left alone.

Set in A-flat major and 4/4, it is the music of the chorus bidding farewell, driving forward with the energetic rhythm a stretta calls for. The piano version has 1,403 notes, one of the lighter note counts among the Act I numbers. The range runs from B1 to G-sharp 6; as the bass goes below C2, it does not fit on a 61-key keyboard.

Keeping the rhythm lively while building toward the end is the task in this intermediate piece. With four flats in the key, lower the playback speed and read it while checking where the black keys fall. Repeat the places where the chorus melody enters with the A-B loop, and check how melody and accompaniment are shared through the hand colours, so you can shape the drive toward the scene's close.

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