Editing Tosca (section)

=== General style ===
By the end of the 19th century the classic form of opera structure, in which [[aria]]s, [[duet]]s and other set-piece vocal numbers are interspersed with passages of [[recitative]] or dialogue, had been largely abandoned, even in Italy. Operas were "[[through-composed]]", with a continuous stream of music which in some cases eliminated all identifiable set-pieces. In what critic [[Edward Greenfield]] calls the "Grand Tune" concept, Puccini retains a limited number of set-pieces, distinguished from their musical surroundings by their memorable melodies. Even in the passages linking these "Grand Tunes", Puccini maintains a strong degree of lyricism and only rarely resorts to recitative.<ref>Greenfield, pp. 148–150</ref>

Budden describes ''Tosca'' as the most [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]] of Puccini's scores, in its use of musical [[leitmotif]]s. Unlike Wagner, Puccini does not develop or modify his motifs, nor weave them into the music symphonically, but uses them to refer to characters, objects and ideas, and as reminders within the narrative.<ref name="Fisher27">Fisher, pp. 27–28</ref> The most potent of these motifs is the sequence of three very loud and strident chords which open the opera and which represent the evil character of Scarpia—or perhaps, Charles Osborne proposes, the violent atmosphere that pervades the entire opera.<ref name="Os137">Osborne, pp. 137–138</ref> Budden has suggested that Scarpia's tyranny, lechery and lust form "the dynamic engine that ignites the drama".<ref name="BuddenOMO">{{cite dictionary | author-link = Julian Budden | last = Budden | first = Julian | title = Tosca | url = http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/O005948?q=Tosca&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1 | dictionary = Oxford Music Online | access-date = 28 June 2010 }} {{subscription required}}</ref> Other motifs identify Tosca herself, the love of Tosca and Cavaradossi, the fugitive Angelotti, the semi-comical character of the sacristan in act 1 and the theme of torture in act 2.<ref name="BuddenOMO" /><ref name="Fisher33">Fisher, pp. 33–35</ref>