Edith Hall and Rosie Wyles (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres ...
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This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres from Portugal in the West to the Euphrates, Gaul to North Africa, solo male dancing stars—the ancient forerunners of Nijinsky, Nureyev and Baryshnikov—stunned their intercultural and cross‐class audiences with their erotic costumes, gestural delicacy, and dazzling athleticism. In sixteen specially commissioned and complementary studies, the leading world specialists explore the all aspects of the ancient pantomime dancer's performance skills, popularity, and social impact, while paying special attention to the texts that formed the basis of this distinctive art form. The book argues that the core elements that underlay pantomime performances were the presence of a solo male dancer, masked, who used his body rather than speech in an evocation of a mythical story, accompanied by music; however, the venues in which pantomime performances took place, their scale, tone, and selection of additional personnel, could vary enormously. The book pays particular attention to the texts or ‘libretti’ of pantomime, which were sung by accompanying choirs, to the impact of pantomime on ancient aesthetics and rhetoric, and the importance of the medium at the time when modern ballet was invented in the Early Modern period. An appendix of key sources in translation, from Xenophon to Macrobius, assists the reader to identify the most important evidential documents, and includes a translation of A Syriac text on pantomime by Jacob of Sarugh.Less
This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres from Portugal in the West to the Euphrates, Gaul to North Africa, solo male dancing stars—the ancient forerunners of Nijinsky, Nureyev and Baryshnikov—stunned their intercultural and cross‐class audiences with their erotic costumes, gestural delicacy, and dazzling athleticism. In sixteen specially commissioned and complementary studies, the leading world specialists explore the all aspects of the ancient pantomime dancer's performance skills, popularity, and social impact, while paying special attention to the texts that formed the basis of this distinctive art form. The book argues that the core elements that underlay pantomime performances were the presence of a solo male dancer, masked, who used his body rather than speech in an evocation of a mythical story, accompanied by music; however, the venues in which pantomime performances took place, their scale, tone, and selection of additional personnel, could vary enormously. The book pays particular attention to the texts or ‘libretti’ of pantomime, which were sung by accompanying choirs, to the impact of pantomime on ancient aesthetics and rhetoric, and the importance of the medium at the time when modern ballet was invented in the Early Modern period. An appendix of key sources in translation, from Xenophon to Macrobius, assists the reader to identify the most important evidential documents, and includes a translation of A Syriac text on pantomime by Jacob of Sarugh.
John Jory
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The poets Statius and Lucan are both said to have written pantomimes, and this chapter considers the relationship of pantomime art to poetic texts. The chapter underlines the importance of the ...
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The poets Statius and Lucan are both said to have written pantomimes, and this chapter considers the relationship of pantomime art to poetic texts. The chapter underlines the importance of the enunciated narrative to the performance. The chapter considers a wide range of evidence about the libretti of pantomime, from disparaging comments on the quality of the words composed specifically for the pantomime dancer, to the alleged small fragments embedded in authors including Petronius. The chapter considers the possible reasons for the apparent wholesale loss of the words which accompanied pantomime, and discusses what sort of poetry and verse forms would have been most suitable; in adapting the text for a tragedy, for example, monologue would have proved much more practicable than stichomythia. The performance evidence relating to Bathyllus and Pylades, the pantomime dancers credited with introducing the art form in the reign of Augustus, is given detailed attention.Less
The poets Statius and Lucan are both said to have written pantomimes, and this chapter considers the relationship of pantomime art to poetic texts. The chapter underlines the importance of the enunciated narrative to the performance. The chapter considers a wide range of evidence about the libretti of pantomime, from disparaging comments on the quality of the words composed specifically for the pantomime dancer, to the alleged small fragments embedded in authors including Petronius. The chapter considers the possible reasons for the apparent wholesale loss of the words which accompanied pantomime, and discusses what sort of poetry and verse forms would have been most suitable; in adapting the text for a tragedy, for example, monologue would have proved much more practicable than stichomythia. The performance evidence relating to Bathyllus and Pylades, the pantomime dancers credited with introducing the art form in the reign of Augustus, is given detailed attention.
Yvette Hunt
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter concentrates on the themes chosen for the earlier pantomimes performed in Rome at the time of Augustus' public endorsement of the medium. It suggests that the literary sources can be ...
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This chapter concentrates on the themes chosen for the earlier pantomimes performed in Rome at the time of Augustus' public endorsement of the medium. It suggests that the literary sources can be usefully supplemented by thinking about two aspects of Augustus' relationship with pantomime that have hitherto received little attention. The first is the particular myths and symbols that Augustan propaganda utilised in Public Relations activities, such as the Roman Games, and architectural decoration (Apollo, Mars and Venus, the Danaids and the Niobids); the second is the incorporation of pantomime in festivals held in his honour, such as the Augustalia and the Sebasta Games held in Naples.Less
This chapter concentrates on the themes chosen for the earlier pantomimes performed in Rome at the time of Augustus' public endorsement of the medium. It suggests that the literary sources can be usefully supplemented by thinking about two aspects of Augustus' relationship with pantomime that have hitherto received little attention. The first is the particular myths and symbols that Augustan propaganda utilised in Public Relations activities, such as the Roman Games, and architectural decoration (Apollo, Mars and Venus, the Danaids and the Niobids); the second is the incorporation of pantomime in festivals held in his honour, such as the Augustalia and the Sebasta Games held in Naples.
Costas Panayotakis
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter looks at the sources that assert that three sequences from the Aeneid were performed in pantomime—those dealing with Dido, Turnus, and the katabasis to the Underworld (tales dealing with ...
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This chapter looks at the sources that assert that three sequences from the Aeneid were performed in pantomime—those dealing with Dido, Turnus, and the katabasis to the Underworld (tales dealing with love, death, violence, and vivid spectacle): Macrobius, for example, says that the love story of Dido and Aeneas is kept alive by the incessant gestures and songs of the actors; whilst Augustine suggests that the majority of his readers would be familiar with the episode between Aeneas and Anchises in the Underworld through performances of it in the theatre. Panayotakis argues that Virgil's poetry was important to the development of pantomime and of Latin literary aesthetics. This chapter engages with the issue of pantomime libretti.Less
This chapter looks at the sources that assert that three sequences from the Aeneid were performed in pantomime—those dealing with Dido, Turnus, and the katabasis to the Underworld (tales dealing with love, death, violence, and vivid spectacle): Macrobius, for example, says that the love story of Dido and Aeneas is kept alive by the incessant gestures and songs of the actors; whilst Augustine suggests that the majority of his readers would be familiar with the episode between Aeneas and Anchises in the Underworld through performances of it in the theatre. Panayotakis argues that Virgil's poetry was important to the development of pantomime and of Latin literary aesthetics. This chapter engages with the issue of pantomime libretti.
Jonathan Glixon and Beth Glixon
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195154160
- eISBN:
- 9780199868483
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195154160.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This book explores public opera in its infancy, from 1637 to 1677, when theater owners and impresarios, drawing on the models of the already existent theaters for comedy, established Venice as the ...
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This book explores public opera in its infancy, from 1637 to 1677, when theater owners and impresarios, drawing on the models of the already existent theaters for comedy, established Venice as the operatic capital of Europe. Based on new documentation, the book studies all of the components necessary for opera production, from the financial backing and the issue of patronage to the commissioning and creation of the libretto and score; the recruitment and employment of singers, dancers, and instrumentalists; the production of the scenery and the costumes; and the nature of the audience. The book examines the challenges faced by four separate Venetian theaters during the 17th century, focusing on the progress of Marco Faustini, the Venetian impresario most well known today. Faustini — a lawyer by profession — made his way from one of Venice's smallest theaters to one of the largest and most important, and his advancement provides a personal view of an impresario and his partners, who ranged from Venetian patricians to artisans. Throughout the book, Venice emerges as a city that prized novelty over economy, with new repertory, scenery, costumes, and expensive singers the rule rather than the exception.Less
This book explores public opera in its infancy, from 1637 to 1677, when theater owners and impresarios, drawing on the models of the already existent theaters for comedy, established Venice as the operatic capital of Europe. Based on new documentation, the book studies all of the components necessary for opera production, from the financial backing and the issue of patronage to the commissioning and creation of the libretto and score; the recruitment and employment of singers, dancers, and instrumentalists; the production of the scenery and the costumes; and the nature of the audience. The book examines the challenges faced by four separate Venetian theaters during the 17th century, focusing on the progress of Marco Faustini, the Venetian impresario most well known today. Faustini — a lawyer by profession — made his way from one of Venice's smallest theaters to one of the largest and most important, and his advancement provides a personal view of an impresario and his partners, who ranged from Venetian patricians to artisans. Throughout the book, Venice emerges as a city that prized novelty over economy, with new repertory, scenery, costumes, and expensive singers the rule rather than the exception.
Jennifer Ingleheart
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The strong visual appeal of Ovid's Metamorphoses has long invited comparison with the pleasures of pantomime, most influentially in a publication by Galinsky. In the study of Ovid's references from ...
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The strong visual appeal of Ovid's Metamorphoses has long invited comparison with the pleasures of pantomime, most influentially in a publication by Galinsky. In the study of Ovid's references from exile to his poetry being ‘danced in the crowded theatres’, this chapter argues in detail that the obvious text for pantomime realisation is the Metamorphoses, rather than the Heroides (as has occasionally been claimed); through close attention to the detail in Ovid's poetry, it explores how the subject‐matter of that epic, with its compact vignettes of action, emotive rhetoric, exotic settings, and underlying emphasis on bodily transformation, must have been suggestive to pantomime dancers. Furthermore the chapter argues that there is plenty of action which could easily be represented through movement, gesture, and basic stage props. The discussion incorporates the crucial evidence of Jacob of Sarugh about pantomime performances of the myth of Apollo and Daphne. This chapter engages with the issue of pantomime libretti.Less
The strong visual appeal of Ovid's Metamorphoses has long invited comparison with the pleasures of pantomime, most influentially in a publication by Galinsky. In the study of Ovid's references from exile to his poetry being ‘danced in the crowded theatres’, this chapter argues in detail that the obvious text for pantomime realisation is the Metamorphoses, rather than the Heroides (as has occasionally been claimed); through close attention to the detail in Ovid's poetry, it explores how the subject‐matter of that epic, with its compact vignettes of action, emotive rhetoric, exotic settings, and underlying emphasis on bodily transformation, must have been suggestive to pantomime dancers. Furthermore the chapter argues that there is plenty of action which could easily be represented through movement, gesture, and basic stage props. The discussion incorporates the crucial evidence of Jacob of Sarugh about pantomime performances of the myth of Apollo and Daphne. This chapter engages with the issue of pantomime libretti.
Bernhard Zimmermann
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter offers a challenge to the classification of Seneca's tragedies as ‘rhetorical tragedies’ or declamations. Although the idea that Seneca's tragedies might have been partially danced had ...
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This chapter offers a challenge to the classification of Seneca's tragedies as ‘rhetorical tragedies’ or declamations. Although the idea that Seneca's tragedies might have been partially danced had been suggested as early as the 1920s, the chapter argues that Seneca's tragedies contain several types of passage that point precisely to the character of a fabula saltata (‘danced story’), and that this suggests that even if Seneca did not write them specifically for pantomime performance, that is as libretti, he may have been influenced by the new aesthetics and conventions of the popular medium in the composition of these scenes. He may have been visualising, as he wrote, a theatrical performance with dance and music rather than a recitation. He may have hoped that his new kind of tragedy, suited to the taste of the Neronian period, could offer a substitute for the popular genres of theatre.Less
This chapter offers a challenge to the classification of Seneca's tragedies as ‘rhetorical tragedies’ or declamations. Although the idea that Seneca's tragedies might have been partially danced had been suggested as early as the 1920s, the chapter argues that Seneca's tragedies contain several types of passage that point precisely to the character of a fabula saltata (‘danced story’), and that this suggests that even if Seneca did not write them specifically for pantomime performance, that is as libretti, he may have been influenced by the new aesthetics and conventions of the popular medium in the composition of these scenes. He may have been visualising, as he wrote, a theatrical performance with dance and music rather than a recitation. He may have hoped that his new kind of tragedy, suited to the taste of the Neronian period, could offer a substitute for the popular genres of theatre.
Alessandra Zanobi
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In the development of the study of the affinity between parts of Senecan tragedy and what we know about the texts (libretti) danced in pantomime, the author of this chapter (a trained dancer herself) ...
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In the development of the study of the affinity between parts of Senecan tragedy and what we know about the texts (libretti) danced in pantomime, the author of this chapter (a trained dancer herself) looks at three features in the dramas that have often been criticised: their loose dramatic structure, running commentaries on another participant's actions, and lengthy narrative set‐pieces. In close readings of key texts from several plays, including Troades, Agamemnon and Hercules Furens, the chapter shows how apparently intractable problems related to the possibility of staging the plays disappear entirely if pantomimic performances formed part of the entertainment; moreover, the very verse construction, rhythm, and style display features that would offer great potential for choreographic realization by a dancer. This has important implications for our understanding of Seneca's dramaturgy.Less
In the development of the study of the affinity between parts of Senecan tragedy and what we know about the texts (libretti) danced in pantomime, the author of this chapter (a trained dancer herself) looks at three features in the dramas that have often been criticised: their loose dramatic structure, running commentaries on another participant's actions, and lengthy narrative set‐pieces. In close readings of key texts from several plays, including Troades, Agamemnon and Hercules Furens, the chapter shows how apparently intractable problems related to the possibility of staging the plays disappear entirely if pantomimic performances formed part of the entertainment; moreover, the very verse construction, rhythm, and style display features that would offer great potential for choreographic realization by a dancer. This has important implications for our understanding of Seneca's dramaturgy.
Edith Hall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
There is a possibility that one pantomime libretto based on a canonical tragedy does in fact survive. The candidate is a Latin hexameter poem, preserved only in a Barcelona papyrus, on the theme of ...
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There is a possibility that one pantomime libretto based on a canonical tragedy does in fact survive. The candidate is a Latin hexameter poem, preserved only in a Barcelona papyrus, on the theme of Alcestis' death, familiar to the ancient world above all from Euripides' Alcestis. The metre of the poem is shared by the Aeneid, which is known to have been performed by pantomime dancers, and the theme, the death of Alcestis, is known from other sources to have attracted practitioners of the medium. Moreover, the structure of the narrative, which entails five separate sections devoted to five characters in the myth, culminating in the protracted death of the heroine, offers exactly the successive changes of role and emotive vignettes that would facilitate a pantomime performance. The chapter suggests some criteria of style that could be used to assess the suitability of verse for danced realization, and offers a brief account of a modern Italian experiment in recreating the art of the pantomime through a danced realization of this very text.Less
There is a possibility that one pantomime libretto based on a canonical tragedy does in fact survive. The candidate is a Latin hexameter poem, preserved only in a Barcelona papyrus, on the theme of Alcestis' death, familiar to the ancient world above all from Euripides' Alcestis. The metre of the poem is shared by the Aeneid, which is known to have been performed by pantomime dancers, and the theme, the death of Alcestis, is known from other sources to have attracted practitioners of the medium. Moreover, the structure of the narrative, which entails five separate sections devoted to five characters in the myth, culminating in the protracted death of the heroine, offers exactly the successive changes of role and emotive vignettes that would facilitate a pantomime performance. The chapter suggests some criteria of style that could be used to assess the suitability of verse for danced realization, and offers a brief account of a modern Italian experiment in recreating the art of the pantomime through a danced realization of this very text.
Steven Huebner
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195189544
- eISBN:
- 9780199868476
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189544.003.0014
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter focuses on Saint-SaËns's opera, Henry VIII. It is argued that Henry VIII became the composer's second most popular operatic work but its appearances at the Opéra were sporadic until ...
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This chapter focuses on Saint-SaËns's opera, Henry VIII. It is argued that Henry VIII became the composer's second most popular operatic work but its appearances at the Opéra were sporadic until 1917, when it fell from the repertory. Rejuvenation of grand opera through a synthesis of leitmotif and a melodic style indebted to Gounod became understood in many quarters as merely another manifestation of eclecticism.Less
This chapter focuses on Saint-SaËns's opera, Henry VIII. It is argued that Henry VIII became the composer's second most popular operatic work but its appearances at the Opéra were sporadic until 1917, when it fell from the repertory. Rejuvenation of grand opera through a synthesis of leitmotif and a melodic style indebted to Gounod became understood in many quarters as merely another manifestation of eclecticism.
Steven Huebner
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195189544
- eISBN:
- 9780199868476
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189544.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter focuses on Massenet's ThaÏs. According to Louis Gallet's preface to the first edition of the ThaÏs libretto, Massenet made an exceptional request when they started the project: he asked ...
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This chapter focuses on Massenet's ThaÏs. According to Louis Gallet's preface to the first edition of the ThaÏs libretto, Massenet made an exceptional request when they started the project: he asked for a prose libretto. The composer thereby threw his hat into the ring of a polemic that attracted enough attention in the press at the fin de siècle to warrant an overview of the main positions here; text setting, moreover, inevitably had implications for the definition of national musical territory.Less
This chapter focuses on Massenet's ThaÏs. According to Louis Gallet's preface to the first edition of the ThaÏs libretto, Massenet made an exceptional request when they started the project: he asked for a prose libretto. The composer thereby threw his hat into the ring of a polemic that attracted enough attention in the press at the fin de siècle to warrant an overview of the main positions here; text setting, moreover, inevitably had implications for the definition of national musical territory.
Beth L. Glixon and Jonathan E. Glixon
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195154160
- eISBN:
- 9780199868483
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195154160.003.0011
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter explores questions regarding the audience, ticket sales, attendance figures, and the patronage of opera in Venice. Opera boxes are viewed in this chapter not so much as a form of income ...
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This chapter explores questions regarding the audience, ticket sales, attendance figures, and the patronage of opera in Venice. Opera boxes are viewed in this chapter not so much as a form of income for the theater, but as a means of displaying social status. For several theaters, especially S. Aponal, surviving records and accounts allow for a study of the boxholders, and audiences consisting of a mix of Venetian patricians, Venetian cittadini and businessmen, and foreigners can be observed. Ambassadors, moreover, had special privileges in the granting of opera boxes. The chapter concludes with an examination of opera and patronage, making reference to previous theories of public opera espoused by Claudio Annibaldi, Lorenzo Bianconi, and Thomas Walker. The book concludes that opera in Venice was made possible only through the participation of a wide range of artisans, merchants, cittadini, and patricians, nearly all of whom risked losing money on this expensive entertainment.Less
This chapter explores questions regarding the audience, ticket sales, attendance figures, and the patronage of opera in Venice. Opera boxes are viewed in this chapter not so much as a form of income for the theater, but as a means of displaying social status. For several theaters, especially S. Aponal, surviving records and accounts allow for a study of the boxholders, and audiences consisting of a mix of Venetian patricians, Venetian cittadini and businessmen, and foreigners can be observed. Ambassadors, moreover, had special privileges in the granting of opera boxes. The chapter concludes with an examination of opera and patronage, making reference to previous theories of public opera espoused by Claudio Annibaldi, Lorenzo Bianconi, and Thomas Walker. The book concludes that opera in Venice was made possible only through the participation of a wide range of artisans, merchants, cittadini, and patricians, nearly all of whom risked losing money on this expensive entertainment.
David Manning
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195182392
- eISBN:
- 9780199851485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182392.003.0090
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
The libretto of this Morality is a free adaptation of John Bunyan's allegory. The text is chiefly from Bunyan, with additions from the Psalms and other parts of the Bible. The words of Lord Lechery's ...
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The libretto of this Morality is a free adaptation of John Bunyan's allegory. The text is chiefly from Bunyan, with additions from the Psalms and other parts of the Bible. The words of Lord Lechery's song in Act Three are by Ursula Wood. For stage purposes a good deal of adaptation and simplification of the original has been necessary: thus, The Pilgrim's Progress's early domestic happiness has been omitted; his two companions, Faithful and Hopeful, do not appear; there are only three Shepherds; and Mr By-Ends has been provided with a wife. For this purpose the libretto has utilized the escape, described later, from Doubting Castle. Incidentally, the name Pilgrim is used throughout the libretto as being of more universal significance than Bunyan's title.Less
The libretto of this Morality is a free adaptation of John Bunyan's allegory. The text is chiefly from Bunyan, with additions from the Psalms and other parts of the Bible. The words of Lord Lechery's song in Act Three are by Ursula Wood. For stage purposes a good deal of adaptation and simplification of the original has been necessary: thus, The Pilgrim's Progress's early domestic happiness has been omitted; his two companions, Faithful and Hopeful, do not appear; there are only three Shepherds; and Mr By-Ends has been provided with a wife. For this purpose the libretto has utilized the escape, described later, from Doubting Castle. Incidentally, the name Pilgrim is used throughout the libretto as being of more universal significance than Bunyan's title.
Peter Kivy
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562800
- eISBN:
- 9780191721298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562800.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This chapter begins with a discussion of Salieri's opera, or, rather, Casti's libretto, which holds the key to the origins of musical formalism in the late 18th century, and to the origins of the ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of Salieri's opera, or, rather, Casti's libretto, which holds the key to the origins of musical formalism in the late 18th century, and to the origins of the focus of this book — the ancient quarrel between music and literature. It argues that the first wave of musical interpreters of the new absolute music, faced with the phenomenon of a rapidly growing instrumental repertoire, turned to the familiar, if somewhat less than commonplace practice of writing words to precomposed music, for their interpretive method. What was heard by these interpreters in absolute music was wordless drama. And, as interpreters, they became the composers' (sometimes unwelcome) librettists. But while narrative, dramatic interpretations may have been the more abundant, critics and theoreticians were also struggling with another concept of absolute music that would lead to Hanslick's formalism, and other formalisms to come. It was the concept of absolute music as a pure sonic structure with no secret or underlying meaning at all.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of Salieri's opera, or, rather, Casti's libretto, which holds the key to the origins of musical formalism in the late 18th century, and to the origins of the focus of this book — the ancient quarrel between music and literature. It argues that the first wave of musical interpreters of the new absolute music, faced with the phenomenon of a rapidly growing instrumental repertoire, turned to the familiar, if somewhat less than commonplace practice of writing words to precomposed music, for their interpretive method. What was heard by these interpreters in absolute music was wordless drama. And, as interpreters, they became the composers' (sometimes unwelcome) librettists. But while narrative, dramatic interpretations may have been the more abundant, critics and theoreticians were also struggling with another concept of absolute music that would lead to Hanslick's formalism, and other formalisms to come. It was the concept of absolute music as a pure sonic structure with no secret or underlying meaning at all.
Eric Salzman and Thomas Desi
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195099362
- eISBN:
- 9780199864737
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195099362.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
This chapter begins by tracing the old and widespread association of music and language through the history of traditional opera to the early 20th century. It then discusses some of the specific uses ...
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This chapter begins by tracing the old and widespread association of music and language through the history of traditional opera to the early 20th century. It then discusses some of the specific uses of words in music: storytelling, the libretto, and musical dramaturgy. Modern treatments include both linear and non-linear storytelling, the dynamics of subject matter often including contemporary news events and personalities as well as social situations. Spoken text with music (“melodrama”) and the issue of whether music itself can tell stories are discussed. The chapter ends with a section on “no sense or nonsense”, or how music theater sometimes moves away from storytelling to found text, and even to abandon words completely.Less
This chapter begins by tracing the old and widespread association of music and language through the history of traditional opera to the early 20th century. It then discusses some of the specific uses of words in music: storytelling, the libretto, and musical dramaturgy. Modern treatments include both linear and non-linear storytelling, the dynamics of subject matter often including contemporary news events and personalities as well as social situations. Spoken text with music (“melodrama”) and the issue of whether music itself can tell stories are discussed. The chapter ends with a section on “no sense or nonsense”, or how music theater sometimes moves away from storytelling to found text, and even to abandon words completely.
Keith Garebian
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199732494
- eISBN:
- 9780199894482
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732494.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This book is the most detailed production history to date of the original Broadway version of Cabaret, showing primarily how the show evolved from Christopher Isherwood's Berlin stories (especially ...
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This book is the most detailed production history to date of the original Broadway version of Cabaret, showing primarily how the show evolved from Christopher Isherwood's Berlin stories (especially the Sally Bowles novella), into John van Druten's stage play, a British film adaptation, and then the Broadway musical, conceived and directed by Harold Prince as an early concept musical or metamusical. The book shows how Prince was able to find his central metaphor that was appropriate to Weimar society as well as to American society in the sixties. It places this cabaret metaphor within a contextual history of cabaret. Tracing the gradual evolution of Joe Masteroff's libretto (through three versions), the book analyzes the musical's main metaphor, structure, music and lyrics (John Kander and Fred Ebb), design (sets by Boris Aronson, lighting by Jean Rosenthal, costumes by Patricia Zipprodt), choreography (Ron Field), casting, and rehearsals, arguing that though the original version was limited by social and political mores of its day, it set a new standard and path for the American musical, drawing attention to its own theatrical artifice (including camp). The book ends with an examination of the first London version (1968), Bob Fosse's 1972 film version, Hal Prince's 1987 Broadway remount, Sam Mendes's stunning 1998 production, Rufus Norris's London reimagining (2006), and Amanda Dehnert's new investigation for the Stratford Festival of Canada (2006), and it speculates on what the future holds for this musical. The book contains forty illustrations, full cast credits, and a bibliography.Less
This book is the most detailed production history to date of the original Broadway version of Cabaret, showing primarily how the show evolved from Christopher Isherwood's Berlin stories (especially the Sally Bowles novella), into John van Druten's stage play, a British film adaptation, and then the Broadway musical, conceived and directed by Harold Prince as an early concept musical or metamusical. The book shows how Prince was able to find his central metaphor that was appropriate to Weimar society as well as to American society in the sixties. It places this cabaret metaphor within a contextual history of cabaret. Tracing the gradual evolution of Joe Masteroff's libretto (through three versions), the book analyzes the musical's main metaphor, structure, music and lyrics (John Kander and Fred Ebb), design (sets by Boris Aronson, lighting by Jean Rosenthal, costumes by Patricia Zipprodt), choreography (Ron Field), casting, and rehearsals, arguing that though the original version was limited by social and political mores of its day, it set a new standard and path for the American musical, drawing attention to its own theatrical artifice (including camp). The book ends with an examination of the first London version (1968), Bob Fosse's 1972 film version, Hal Prince's 1987 Broadway remount, Sam Mendes's stunning 1998 production, Rufus Norris's London reimagining (2006), and Amanda Dehnert's new investigation for the Stratford Festival of Canada (2006), and it speculates on what the future holds for this musical. The book contains forty illustrations, full cast credits, and a bibliography.
Deborah W. Rooke
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199279289
- eISBN:
- 9780191738050
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279289.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Handel's Israelite oratorios are today little known among non-specialists, but in their own day they were unique, pioneering and extremely popular. Dating from the period 1732–52, they combine the ...
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Handel's Israelite oratorios are today little known among non-specialists, but in their own day they were unique, pioneering and extremely popular. Dating from the period 1732–52, they combine the musical conventions of Italian opera with dramatic plots in English that are adaptations of Old Testament narratives. They are thus a form of biblical interpretation, but to date, there has been no thoroughgoing study of the theological ideas or the attitudes towards the biblical text that might be conveyed in the oratorios' libretti. This book therefore aims to fill that gap from an interdisciplinary perspective. Combining the insights of present-day biblical studies with those of Handelian studies, it examines the libretti of ten oratorios—Esther, Deborah, Athalia, Saul, Samson, Joseph and his Brethren, Judas Macchabaeus, Solomon, Susanna, and Jephtha—and evaluates the relationship between each libretto and the biblical story on which it is based. It comments on each biblical text from a modern scholarly perspective, and then compares the modern interpretation with the version of the biblical narrative that appears in the relevant libretto. Where the libretto is based on a prior dramatic or literary adaptation of the biblical narrative, the book also discusses the prior adaptation and how it relates to both the biblical text and the corresponding oratorio libretto. In this way the distinctive nuances of the oratorio libretti are highlighted, and each libretto is then analysed and interpreted in the light of eighteenth-century religion, scholarship, culture, and politics. The result is a fascinating exploration not only of the oratorio libretti but also of how culture and context determines the nature of biblical interpretation.Less
Handel's Israelite oratorios are today little known among non-specialists, but in their own day they were unique, pioneering and extremely popular. Dating from the period 1732–52, they combine the musical conventions of Italian opera with dramatic plots in English that are adaptations of Old Testament narratives. They are thus a form of biblical interpretation, but to date, there has been no thoroughgoing study of the theological ideas or the attitudes towards the biblical text that might be conveyed in the oratorios' libretti. This book therefore aims to fill that gap from an interdisciplinary perspective. Combining the insights of present-day biblical studies with those of Handelian studies, it examines the libretti of ten oratorios—Esther, Deborah, Athalia, Saul, Samson, Joseph and his Brethren, Judas Macchabaeus, Solomon, Susanna, and Jephtha—and evaluates the relationship between each libretto and the biblical story on which it is based. It comments on each biblical text from a modern scholarly perspective, and then compares the modern interpretation with the version of the biblical narrative that appears in the relevant libretto. Where the libretto is based on a prior dramatic or literary adaptation of the biblical narrative, the book also discusses the prior adaptation and how it relates to both the biblical text and the corresponding oratorio libretto. In this way the distinctive nuances of the oratorio libretti are highlighted, and each libretto is then analysed and interpreted in the light of eighteenth-century religion, scholarship, culture, and politics. The result is a fascinating exploration not only of the oratorio libretti but also of how culture and context determines the nature of biblical interpretation.
Deborah W. Rooke
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199279289
- eISBN:
- 9780191738050
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279289.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This introductory chapter outlines how Handel came to develop Israelite oratorio in the context of his career as an opera impresario. It then goes on to define ‘Israelite oratorio’, describing the ...
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This introductory chapter outlines how Handel came to develop Israelite oratorio in the context of his career as an opera impresario. It then goes on to define ‘Israelite oratorio’, describing the genre's formal elements and locating Israelite oratorio in relation to the already‐existing genres of opera seria and oratorio. It describes the role of the librettist and the many variables that had to be taken account of when writing a libretto. Finally, it considers Israelite oratorio's use of biblical subject‐matter. Others have argued that under the so‐called ‘British Israel’ paradigm, biblical topics were used to comment on contemporary political situations, but the manner of the topics' use in the libretti can also reveal much about eighteenth‐century religious and theological concerns. It is these in particular that the present study aims to elucidate, by comparing the libretti with their biblical sources and then setting them in their eighteenth‐century context.Less
This introductory chapter outlines how Handel came to develop Israelite oratorio in the context of his career as an opera impresario. It then goes on to define ‘Israelite oratorio’, describing the genre's formal elements and locating Israelite oratorio in relation to the already‐existing genres of opera seria and oratorio. It describes the role of the librettist and the many variables that had to be taken account of when writing a libretto. Finally, it considers Israelite oratorio's use of biblical subject‐matter. Others have argued that under the so‐called ‘British Israel’ paradigm, biblical topics were used to comment on contemporary political situations, but the manner of the topics' use in the libretti can also reveal much about eighteenth‐century religious and theological concerns. It is these in particular that the present study aims to elucidate, by comparing the libretti with their biblical sources and then setting them in their eighteenth‐century context.
Keith Garebian
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199732494
- eISBN:
- 9780199894482
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732494.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This chapter details Harold Prince's main motive for undertaking the show: the degenerative sociopolitical climate of Berlin in the thirties and the moral questions this provoked even in a ...
More
This chapter details Harold Prince's main motive for undertaking the show: the degenerative sociopolitical climate of Berlin in the thirties and the moral questions this provoked even in a contemporary audience. The chapter traces the gradual evolution of the Joe Masteroff libretto, showing radical differences in the three versions (second, rehearsal, final) that are found in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The differences extend to the music, characterization, dramatic incidents, and expressionistic devices, with an ever-increasing focus on private lives shaken by events in the public world. Taking up the final version, the chapter analyzes the musical's structure, and it ends with Harold Prince's struggle to find the central metaphor for the show.Less
This chapter details Harold Prince's main motive for undertaking the show: the degenerative sociopolitical climate of Berlin in the thirties and the moral questions this provoked even in a contemporary audience. The chapter traces the gradual evolution of the Joe Masteroff libretto, showing radical differences in the three versions (second, rehearsal, final) that are found in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The differences extend to the music, characterization, dramatic incidents, and expressionistic devices, with an ever-increasing focus on private lives shaken by events in the public world. Taking up the final version, the chapter analyzes the musical's structure, and it ends with Harold Prince's struggle to find the central metaphor for the show.
Keith Garebian
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199732494
- eISBN:
- 9780199894482
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732494.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This chapter provides a detailed examination of the show's music and lyrics (including material cut from the final version) by John Kander and Fred Ebb. The examination includes potted biographies of ...
More
This chapter provides a detailed examination of the show's music and lyrics (including material cut from the final version) by John Kander and Fred Ebb. The examination includes potted biographies of the composers as well as an account of their collaboration on this musical, with details about the problems linked to characterization and incident. The main argument is that the songs comment on the book scenes but without being limited to commentary. They are in the mood of the story, and their primary purpose is point of view. They are entertaining even as they reflect the moral decline of Germany and many of the characters, and they draw attention to their theatrical artifice (including camp, which is examined in a historical gay context). Accordingly, the four basic elements of camp (irony, aestheticism, exaggeration, and humor) are analyzed as found in the musicalLess
This chapter provides a detailed examination of the show's music and lyrics (including material cut from the final version) by John Kander and Fred Ebb. The examination includes potted biographies of the composers as well as an account of their collaboration on this musical, with details about the problems linked to characterization and incident. The main argument is that the songs comment on the book scenes but without being limited to commentary. They are in the mood of the story, and their primary purpose is point of view. They are entertaining even as they reflect the moral decline of Germany and many of the characters, and they draw attention to their theatrical artifice (including camp, which is examined in a historical gay context). Accordingly, the four basic elements of camp (irony, aestheticism, exaggeration, and humor) are analyzed as found in the musical