The pastoralization of Baroque opera: two operas and their contexts

This paper examines the pastoral genre as represented in operatic works from the early 18th century and juxtaposes them with pastoral works of other media: literature, including plays and poetry; painting; and architecture. Through this comparison, I will show that the musical pastoral must not be treated as a restrictive set of characteristics, but as a style or affect and as a way of looking at the world, and thus almost any artwork can be pastoralized. This examination and subsequent new definition will give the performer of Baroque music a better understanding of what the pastoral is, and how it might be recognized and interpreted.