Everything about Singspiel totally explained
For the racehorse, see Singspiel (horse).
Singspiel ("song-play") (plural Singspiele) is a form of
German-language music drama, regarded as a genre of
opera. It is characterized by
spoken dialogue, sometimes performed over music, interspersed with
ensembles,
popular songs,
ballads and
arias (which were often folk-like and
strophic in nature).
Origins
The first
Singspiele were probably translations of
English ballad operas from the late
18th century. In 1736 the
Prussian ambassador to England commissioned a translation of the ballad opera
The Devil to Pay. This was successfully performed in the 1740s in
Hamburg and
Leipzig. A further version of this was made by
Johann Hiller and C. F. Weisse in 1766, the first of a string of such collaborations which led to them being called 'the fathers of the German Singspiel'.
French comic operas (
Opéra comique) were also frequently transcribed into the
German, as well.
Singspiele were considered popular
entertainment, and were usually performed by traveling troupes, rather than by established companies within metropolitan centers.
Singspiel plots are generally comic or romantic in nature, and frequently include elements of
magic, fantastical creatures, and comically exaggerated characterizations of good and evil.
Development of the Singspiel
While tragedy was a less frequent
motif, it should be noted that most of the
Singspiele that are still part of the modern operatic canon were those written on more serious themes, such as
Ludwig van Beethoven's
Fidelio, or
Carl Maria von Weber's
Der Freischütz
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart touched the genre under an imperial commission for the New National Theatre in
Vienna with
Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1782. He continued to write in the genre, with works such as
Zaide,
Der Schauspieldirektor and
Die Zauberflöte, although some argue that because the latter incorporates a significant number of elements from various other musical and dramatic genres, it's a work that defies such a clear-cut classification.
Singspiel is considered the predecessor of
German romantic opera, and many of the genre’s composers, such as Beethoven and Weber, paved the way to the more complex operatic style associated with
Wagner,
Richard Strauss and others. As a result of this evolution, however,
Singspiel itself had become basically obsolete by the end of the
19th century. More directly it may be seen as the ancestor of the
operettas of
von Suppé,
Johann Strauss II and their successors.
In the 20th century,
Kurt Weill entitled his work
Mahagonny (1927) as a 'Songspiel' (
sic).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Singspiel'.
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