What is a libretto: the history of the term

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Oddly enough, but if we asked what a libretto is, a resident of the 17th-18th centuries, he would answer with full confidence that this is a book! Indeed, the name of this musical term is translated that way. Previously, the libretto was called the literary basis of opera, ballet and other dramatic works. This brochure was a kind of script, which described the action of the stage production. But it was not given to become a separate literary genre, because the plot described in the booklet was closely connected with the opera or musical itself. Later, this term began to be called individual musical works.

History of the libretto

Until the middle of the 18th century, all productions in this musical vein were staged, adhering to a certain scheme. This was due to the fact that most of the dramatic tasks were of the same type. Several composers in their works could use the samelibretto. But in the second half of the 18th century, even a separate type of activity appeared - composing musical accompaniment. The librettist had to come up with individual stories that were not similar to the previous ones. This person understood better than anyone what a libretto was, and, working together with the composer, he was ready to offer suitable options. Of course, it was necessary to understand and convey the original author's idea, the nature of the dramatic work. It can be said that the librettists faced a difficult task - to combine the verses, the musical component and the actions of the heroes of the production. For example, famous masters of this genre were R. Calzabidgi (Gluck used his services when working on Orpheus and Eurydice) and Da Lonte (collaborated with Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and other great composers).

What is a libretto in the 19th century?

In these times, professional authors began to be replaced by composers to write the literary foundations of operas, ballets and operettas. True, in order to understand what a libretto is and how to supplement the production with it, a considerable creative potential was required. Among the composers were those who continued to collaborate with the librettists, but trusted them to carry out other tasks. A person, for example, had to prepare only a poetic text.

Examples of productions and their authors

The basis for the libretto to this day are literary works, which are reworked in accordance with musical and stage requirements. For example, this feature can be seen incomparing Pushkin's "Queen of Spades" and Tchaikovsky's interpretation of it. Few works of this genre can be called autonomous, that is, written specifically for a particular production. It is known that the composer Richard Wagner wrote the libretto for all his works on his own. Alexander Serov, a Russian composer, had the same talent. He is the author of the libretto of the operas Judith and Rognada, although the latter was written in collaboration with the theater critic Dmitry Averkiev.

Relevance of the genre in modern times

Modern musical theater does not stand still and actively offers the audience new genres and performances. Of course, the most striking innovation was the musical. The libretto for this genre differs slightly, because this musical production is essentially a "come" from the American operetta. A musical is basically a musical interpretation of a literary work. True, it has more theatricality, supplemented by choreography, staged situations, and special plasticity of the actors. And, of course, music plays the main role in it, which means that the libretto in this case receives much more significance than it had before in the operetta.