Dear Chris,
I am writing in response to your operatic request (below).
My suspicion is that Figaro is using 'hands' and his cubits, although I
don't know what these might have been called in Italy at that time.
Let me explain my suspicions.
In the notes below I am working from this text:
'(misurando) Cinque ... Dieci ... Venti ... Trenta ... Trentasei ...
quarantatre'.
A hand is about 100�millimetres (across the knuckles) and this can be
readily used to estimate many measures � it's very handy � but it's not
really suitable to measure a room for fitting a bed large enough for
Figaro's ambitions. For this Figaro might use his cubit, which is usually
'Cinque' hands long.
To measure the room Figaro could use his cubit � the distance from the point
of his elbow to the tip of his longest finger � for most men this is about
five hands (about 500�mm), and this would also give us the first word of the
opera, 'Cinque'.
If Figaro showed his bent arm � his cubit � while gesturing toward his
cubit's length from his elbow to his longest finger while singing 'Cinque'
then this would make excellent dramatic sense. Alternatively, Figaro could
measure the cubit of one arm (500�mm) with the palm of his other hand to
prove that there are indeed 'Cinque' hands to one of his cubits.
The second word of the opera can then be demonstrated by Figaro placing the
tips of his two longest fingers (one on his right hand and one on his left
hand) together with his elbows pointing to either side of his body � the
distance between his elbows is then 'Dieci' hand widths (2 x 500�mm =
1000�mm or one metre).
If Figaro now moves along a wall of the room measuring from elbow to elbow
the logical words for him to sing would be: 'Venti ... Trenta' and then to
estimate any remaining lengths as follows:
'Trentasei' is three 'Dieci' (elbow to elbow) plus a cubit ('Cinque), plus
two hands;
'quarantatre' is four 'Dieci' plus four hands or 'Dieci' plus one cubit
('Cinque) minus one hand.
One satisfying part of this conjecture is that these measure would then
describe a room 3.7 metres by 4.4 metres, which sounds like a reasonable
size for a bedroom in a castle.
Another satisfaction comes from the inbuilt operatic gestures that are
possible based on this conjecture, and that they could well fit within the
constraints of the 16 bars of music.
By the way, there is no way that either the composer, Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (1756 - 1791), or the librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte (1749 - 1838),
would have known about metres when "Le Nozze de Figaro" had its 'prima
rappresentazione' at the Burgtheater in Vienna on '1. maggio 1786', the
metric system of measurements was not thought of until 1790 at the earliest.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
PS Just before I sent this I received an e-mail from an associate in the
USA, Bill Potts, which said in part, 'The usual unit of linear measure in
18th Century Italy was the bracco, or arm.' I suspect that this supports my
conjecture that Figaro would have used his cubit (his bracco) of five hands
(Cinque) to measure the bedroom. Thanks for that, Bill.
on 2002-07-04 07.38, [EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> I've been sent the following request. I've got a limited amount of
> information on old Italian units, but I thought I'd broadcast this in
> case anyone has more info:
>
>> Hello, my name is Matt Murphy. I am directing Mozart's "Le Nozze de Figaro"
>> and I have a question about a unit of measurement. Maybe somebody there can
>> help me!
>>
>> At the beginning of the opera, Figaro is measuring an area within a certain
>> room of the castle to see if his bed will fit nicely into that area. Its the
>> first words of the opera-he sings consecutively, Five(cinque), 10, 20, 30,
>> 37, and 43. Now, I would like to be logical about this, and I can't see any
>> way to make him actually be measuring a length comparable to 43 feet for a
>> bed, let alone covering that large of an area in the 16 bars that Mozart
>> allows for! So I am wondering what Italian unit of measurement at the end of
>> the 18th century would have made logical sense for the librettist Lorenzo Da
>> Ponte to go as high as 43 when measuring for a bed. Any ideas?
>>
>> One final question, what would Figaro have been using for a measuring device
>> at the end of the 18th century? Could it have been something that folded out
>> to be a large measuring stick, or would he have just had something like a
>> stick or a sword or something "barbaric" like that. If you can help me with
>> these questions, I promise the opera Gods will shine on you, and when we get
>> our production up and running your name will be big and bold under the
>> special thanks in the program!
>>
>> Thank you for your time and knowledge.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Matt
