Monotonic scale phrase is marked by a descending glissando. Monotonic passages are also used in art music for stylistic effect. In Schubert's "Death and the Maiden", the character of Death generally employs monotonic recitation, described by one scholar as depicting "an inanimate being incapable of the lyricism of the living." In "La gazza ladra" (1817), Rossini represents Ninetta's simplicity and innocence with an almost monotone declamation at "A mio nome deh consegna questo anello", whereas in the Wolf's Glen scene of "Der Freischütz" (1821), Weber characterizes the powers of evil by having the invisible spirits sing in monotone, and denies song entirely
Fosca (opera) Fosca (opera) Fosca is an opera seria in four acts by Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Gomes to an Italian-language libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni based on 's 1869 novel "La festa delle Marie". The opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on February 16, 1873. It was a failure because of a dispute between lovers of bel canto and supporters of Wagnerian music-drama. Gomes revised it in 1877, and the premiere of the new version (this time described as a melodramma) on February 7, 1878, also at La Scala, was a success. Since then, performances of the opera, mostly in Brazil,