"Rough Jointing" (Die harte Fügung) as an Organizational Principle
in Mascagni's 'Cavalleria Rusticana'

Ji Yeon Lee, University of Houston

As an operatic genre, "verismo" is known for musical elements such as crying-out voices, continuous musical flow, and strong emotional intensity. Less discussed, however, are the ways in which the principles of verismo are reflected in the music's formal organization. The present paper takes one step towards this topic by delving into "rough jointing" (die harte Fügung), a concept proposed by Hans Joachim Wagner (1999), and applying it to analysis of a duet in Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. The analysis demonstrates how understanding rough jointing illuminates the duet's architectural organization, consequently broadening the understanding of verismo beyond its narrowly defined realism.