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Why does Puccini quote “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Madama Butterfly?
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Madama Butterfly
Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, 1908.
In Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly, the composer incorporates musical motifs to distinguish between the cultural backgrounds of his characters.
To delineate the American characters, such as the naval officer B.F. Pinkerton, Puccini employs a forthright musical style and occasionally integrates fragments of the United States national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” This technique serves as a sonic marker of the American presence within the Japanese setting of the story.1