A
libretto is the text used in an extended musical
work such as an
opera,
operetta,
masque,
oratorio and
cantata,
musical, and
ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to
refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as
mass,
requiem, and
sacred
cantata.
Libretto (pl. libretti), from
Italian, is the diminutive of the word
"libro" (book). A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or
scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains
all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the
plot.
The relationship of the
librettist (that is, the
writer of a libretto) to the
composer in
the creation of a musical work has varied over the centuries, as
have the sources and the writing techniques employed.
Relationship of composer and librettist
Libretti for operas, oratorios, and cantatas in the 17th and 18th
centuries generally were written by someone other than the
composer, often a well-known poet.
Metastasio (1698–1782) (real name Pietro
Trapassi) was one of the most highly regarded librettists in
Europe. His libretti were set many times by many different
composers. Another noted 18th century librettist was
Lorenzo da Ponte, who wrote the libretti
for three of
Mozart's
greatest operas, as well as for many other composers.
Eugène Scribe was one of the most
prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for
works by
Meyerbeer (with whom he
had a lasting collaboration),
Auber,
Bellini,
Donizetti,
Rossini and
Verdi. The French writers' duo
Henri Meilhac and
Ludovic Halévy wrote a large number of
opera and
operetta
libretti for the likes of
Jacques
Offenbach,
Jules Massenet and
Georges Bizet.
Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among
others,
Giuseppe Verdi and
Amilcare Ponchielli, composed two operas
of his own, by himself.
The libretto is not always written before the music. Some
composers, such as
Mikhail Glinka,
Alexander Serov,
Rimsky-Korsakov,
Puccini, and
Mascagni wrote passages of music without
text and subsequently had the librettist add words to the vocal
melody lines. (This has often been the case with American popular
song and musicals in the 20th century, as with
Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart's collaboration, although with the
later team of
Rodgers and
Hammerstein the lyrics were generally written first.)
Some composers wrote their own libretti.
Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this
regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events
into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas.
Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for
two of his best-known works,
La Damnation de Faust and
Les Troyens.
Alban Berg adapted
Georg Büchner's play
Woyzeck for the libretto of
Wozzeck.
Sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the
composer; this can involve adaptation, as was the case with
Rimsky-Korsakov and his
librettist Bel'sky, or an entirely original work. In the case of
musicals, the music, the lyrics, and the "book" (i.e., the spoken
dialogue and the stage directions) may each have their own author.
Thus, a musical such as
Fiddler on
the Roof has a composer (
Jerry Bock),
a lyricist (
Sheldon Harnick), and
the writer of the "book" (
Joseph
Stein).
Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel
those of spoken
dramas for stage or screen.
There are
the preliminary steps of selecting or suggesting a subject and
developing a sketch of the action in the form of a scenario, as well as revisions that might come
about when the work is in production, as with out-of-town tryouts
for Broadway
musicals, or changes made for a specific local
audience. A famous case of the latter is Wagner's 1861
revision of the original 1845 Dresden
version of
his opera Tannhäuser for
Paris.
Literary characteristics
The opera libretto from its inception (ca. 1600) was written in
verse, and this continued well into the 19th century, although
genres of musical theater with spoken dialogue have typically
alternated verse in the musical numbers with spoken prose. Since
the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to
prose or free verse libretti. Much of the
recitative of
George
Gershwin's opera
Porgy and
Bess, for instance, is merely
DuBose and
Dorothy
Heyward's play
Porgy set to music
as written - in prose - with the lyrics of the
arias,
duets,
trio and
choruses
written in verse.
The libretto of a musical, on the other hand, is almost always
written in prose (except for the song lyrics). The libretto of a
musical, if the musical is adapted from a play, may even borrow
their source's original dialogue liberally - much as
Oklahoma! used dialogue from
Lynn Riggs's
Green Grow the Lilacs,
Carousel used dialogue
from
Ferenc Molnar's
Liliom,
My Fair
Lady took most of its dialogue word-for-word from
George Bernard Shaw's
Pygmalion, and the 1954 musical
version of
Peter Pan used
J.M. Barrie's
dialogue.
Language and translation

Henry Purcell (1659–1695) whose operas
were written to English libretti
As the
originating language of opera, Italian dominated that genre in
Europe (except in France) well through the 18th century, and even
into the next century in Russia, for example, when the Italian
opera troupe in Saint
Petersburg
was
challenged by the emerging native Russian repertory.
Significant exceptions before 1800 can be
found in Purcell's works, German opera
of Hamburg
during the
Baroque, ballad opera and Singspiel of the 18th century, etc.
Just as with literature and song, the libretto has its share of
problems and challenges with
translation. In the past (and even today),
foreign musical stage works with spoken dialogue, especially
comedies, were sometimes performed with the sung portions in the
original language and the spoken dialogue in the vernacular.
However, this reinforces the idea that the words to the songs do
not matter, a common misconception in those who do not really
understand musicals or operettas. This does not really harm
musicals such as the old
Betty Grable -
Don Ameche -
Carmen Miranda vehicles, but it is especially
misleading in translations of musicals such as
Show Boat,
The Wizard of Oz,
My Fair Lady or
Carousel, in which the lyrics to
the songs and the spoken text are often or always closely
integrated, and the lyrics serve to actually further the plot, not
merely to provide words to a nice song. Availability of printed or
projected translations today makes singing in the original language
more practical, although one cannot discount the desire to hear a
sung drama in one's own language.
The
Spanish words
libretista (playwright, script writer or screen writer)
and
libreto (script or screen play), which are used in the
Hispanic TV and cinema industry, derived their meanings from the
original operatic sense.
Status of librettists and the libretto
Librettists have historically received less prominent credit than
the composer.In some 17th-century operas still being performed, the
name of the librettist was not even recorded. As the printing of
libretti for sale at performances became more common,these records
often survive better than music left in manuscript. But even in
late 18th-century London, reviews rarely mentioned the name of the
librettist,as
Lorenzo da Ponte
lamented in his Memoirs.
By the 20th century some librettists became recognized as part of
famous collaborations, as with
Gilbert and Sullivan. Today the
composer (past or present) of the musical score to an opera or
operetta is usually given top billing for the completed work, and
the writer of the lyrics relegated to second place or a mere
footnote, a notable exception being
Gertrude Stein, who received top billing for
Four Saints in Three
Acts. Another exception was
Alberto Franchetti's 1906 opera
La figlia di Iorio which
was a close rendering of a highly successful play by its
librettist,
Gabriele D'Annunzio,
a celebrated Italian poet, novelist, and dramatist of the day. In
some cases, the operatic adaptation has become more famous than the
literary text on which it was based, as with
Claude Debussy's
Pelléas et
Mélisande after a play by
Maurice Maeterlinck.
On the other hand, the affiliation of a poor libretto to great
music has sometimes given the libretto's author a kind of
accidental immortality. Certainly it is common for works of
classical music to be
admired in spite of, rather than because of, their libretti. An
example is
Mozart's inept librettist
Varesco.
The question of which is more important in opera — the music or the
words — has been debated over time, and forms the basis of — of all
things — an opera, specifically Strauss's last,
Capriccio.
Publication of libretti
Libretti have been made available in several formats, some more
nearly complete than others. The text — i.e., the spoken dialogue,
sung lyrics, and stage directions, as applicable — is commonly
published separately from the music (such a booklet is usually
included with sound recordings of most operas). Sometimes
(particularly for
operas in the
public domain) this format is supplemented
with melodic excerpts of
musical
notation for important
numbers.
Printed
scores for operas naturally
contain the entire libretto, although there can exist significant
differences between the score and the separately printed text. More
often than not, this involves the extra repetition of words or
phrases from the libretto in the actual score. For example, in the
aria '
Nessun dorma'
from Puccini's
Turandot, the final
lines in the libretto are "Tramontate, stelle!All'alba, vincerò!"
(Fade, you stars! At dawn, I will win!). However, in the score they
are sung as "Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba,
vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"
Because the modern musical tends to be published in two separate
but intersecting formats (i.e., the book and lyrics, with all the
words, and the piano-vocal score, with all the musical material,
including some spoken cues), both are needed in order to make a
thorough reading of an entire show.
See also
External links