Barcarolle

Notable examples

The barcarolle found a natural home in opera, where its deceptively simple, folk-like charm could enhance a scene. Beyond the famous example by Offenbach, composers like Paisiello, Weber, and Rossini also crafted arias in this style. Donizetti opened his opera Marino Faliero with a barcarolle for a gondolier and chorus, setting the Venetian mood. Verdi wove one into Un ballo in maschera, heard in Richard's atmospheric Act I aria "Di’ tu se fidele il flutto m’aspetta." The well-known Neapolitan barcarolle "Santa Lucia" first appeared in print in 1849. Even Sultan Abdulaziz of the Ottoman Empire, who reigned from 1830 to 1876, composed a piece called "La Gondole Barcarolle." Arthur Sullivan used the barcarolle for Sir Joseph Porter's barge arrival in H.M.S. Pinafore, and again for the trio "My well-loved lord and guardian dear" in Iolanthe. Though Schubert never used the term, the style echoes in songs like the haunting "Auf dem Wasser zu singen" (D.774). Many other composers contributed notable barcarolles. Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in G, Opus 79, features one in its second movement. Mendelssohn wrote three "Venetian Gondola Songs" within his Songs Without Words. Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons includes a barcarolle for June. Charles-Valentin Alkan produced several from his chants, Opp. 38a, 38b, 65, 67, and 70. Camille Saint-Saëns composed one for violin, cello, harmonium (or organ), and piano. Béla Bartók included a "Barcarolla" in his suite Out of Doors. Moritz Moszkowski wrote one as Op. 27, no. 1. Further examples come from Anton Rubinstein, Mily Balakirev, Alexander Glazunov, Edward MacDowell, Mel Bonis, and Ethelbert Nevin. Gabriel Fauré created a series of thirteen barcarolles for solo piano.