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Servante maîtresse : comédie en deux actes mêlée d'ariettes

Description: The intermezzo La serva padrona first appeared between the acts of Pergolesi’s Il prigioniero superbo in 1733. This was the standard way in which to present an intermezzo. The work served as comic relief in the midst of more solemn opera serie, and incorporated elements of the improvisational commedia del’arte tradition. For instance, the few characters are drawn from stock types, such as the servant Serpina.
Date: 1755
Creator: Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista, 1710-1736 & Federico, Gennaro Antonio, 18th cent
Partner: UNT Music Library

Épreuve villageoise : opéra bouffon en deux actes en vers

Description: L’épreuve villageoise started out as Théodore et Paulin before Grétry convinced Desforges to rewrite the libretto. The original three-act opera was reduced to two acts, and the improbabilities of the original plot were reworked. Théodore et Paulin received one performance at Versailles on 5 March 1784, but it was never published. L’épreuve villageoise appeared at the Comédie-Italienne on 24 June 1784. This revision remained one of the most popular of Grétry’s opéra-comiques, receiving perf… more
Date: 1784
Creator: Grétry, André Ernest Modeste, 1741-1813 & Desforges, M. (Pierre-Jean-Baptiste), 1746-1806
Partner: UNT Music Library

Songs in the new opera call'd Arsinoe, queen of Cyprus

Description: Thomas Clayton’s first opera, Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus, premiered at Drury Lane in London on 16 January 1705. The opera initially enjoyed success, but two years later, Clayton’s second opera was not well-received. Part of Arsinoe’s popularity may have been due to Catherine Tofts' portrayal of the title character; Toft would later become a star of the English stage.
Date: 1705
Creator: Clayton, Thomas, 1673-1725
Partner: UNT Music Library

Atys : tragédie lyrique en trois actes

Description: The story of Atys was first known operatically through Lully’s opera that premiered in 1676 at the court of St Germain-en-Laye. Marmontel adapted Quinault’s libretto and modified it by removing the prologue and divertissements. He also altered the plot; in lieu of Ovid’s metamorphic ending (to which Quinault had adhered), Atys commits suicide.
Date: 1780
Creator: Piccinni, Niccolò, 1728-1800; Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688 & Marmontel, Jean François, 1723-1799
Partner: UNT Music Library

Serva padrona : intermezzo

Description: The intermezzo La serva padrona first appeared between the acts of Pergolesi’s Il prigioniero superbo in 1733. This was the standard way in which to present an intermezzo. The work served as comic relief in the midst of more solemn opera serie, and incorporated elements of the improvisational commedia del’arte tradition. For instance, the few characters are drawn from stock types, such as the servant Serpina.
Date: [1804,1805]
Creator: Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista, 1710-1736
Partner: UNT Music Library

Buona figliuola : opera comica

Description: Goldoni turned to Samuel Richardson’s novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) as the inspiration for his La buona figliuola. In 1750, he wrote the play Pamela nubile and then turned it into a libretto for Duni. Although Duni’s La buona figliuola (1756) was a failure, Piccinni’s setting in 1760 was a huge success. The hilarious comedy coupled with Piccinni’s sentimental treatment of Cecchina contributed to the popularity of the opera, which still receives performances to this day. Typical of… more
Date: 1767
Creator: Piccinni, Niccolò, 1728-1800; Goldoni, Carlo, 1707-1793 & Richardson, Samuel, 1689-1761
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Tractatus de musica

Description: The present volume is a 1875 compendium of various Latin music treatises by Johannes Tinctoris gathered from manuscript sources from Brussels, Bologna and Gand. The present edition, edited by Charles Coussemaker, comprises ten of the twelve surviving manuscripts of Tinctoris's theoretical works. According to Oxford Music, these were written in the first few years of his employment at Ferrante's court and demonstrate Tinctoris's intellectual and pedagogical mastery of music theory. They also dem… more
Date: 1875
Creator: Tinctoris, Johannes, d. 1511.
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Pigmalion

Description: This is the 1773 edition of the libretto to the comic opera and vaudeville, "Pigmalion" by Charles-François Panard and Thomas Laffichard. The opera premiered at the Paris Opéra Comique in 1735 . The plot is an adaptation of Ovid's story of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with a statue that he carved. Operatic and ballet representation of the subject of Pigmalion (or Pygmalion) became famous after Antoine Houdar de la Motte's entrée "La sculpture" for the ballet "Le triomphe des arts," … more
Date: 1773
Creator: Panard, Charles-François, d. 1765.
Partner: UNT Music Library

Platée : comédie-ballet

Description: Jacques Autreau’s play Platée, ou Junon jalouse was based on a story by a second-century Greek author named Pausanias who chronicled his travels (including rituals and traditions) in ten books that represent the different regions of Greece. At the time Le Valois d’Orville appropriated Autreau’s drama for a libretto, it was uncommon for French court operas to include comic features, and even Autreau’s spoken play lacked the comic tone of the opera. Yet, the humor extends beyond the plot; for i… more
Date: 1749
Creator: Rameau, Jean Philippe, 1683-1764 & Le Valois d'Orville, Adrien-Joseph
Partner: UNT Music Library

Tom Jones; comedie lyrique en trois actes

Description: Philidor’s Tom Jones is representative of the continental interest in English literature. Henry Fielding’s homonymous novel served as the foundation for Philidor’s opera, but Philidor pared down the story quite a bit, especially downplaying Tom’s philandering ways. Many secondary characters and situations were also cut, a common technique that librettists employ when adapting prose writings to the stage. Thus, a central plot unfolds in a manner that the audience can follow, and the length re… more
Date: 1766
Creator: Philidor, F. D. (François Danican), 1726-1795; Poinsinet, Antoine Alexandre Henri, 1735-1769; Davesne, Bertin, 1714-1742 & Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754
Partner: UNT Music Library

Dardanus : nouvelle tragédie

Description: Dardanus went through a number of revisions from the time of its premiere in 1739 until its final eighteenth-century run at the Opéra in 1771. The version in the Virtual Rare Book Room was first performed in 1744; the last three acts exhibit extensive plot changes from the first edition. The final version in 1760 received the most positive acclaim, especially compared to the criticisms that were made about the nonsensical plot of the first version. By this point, however, the polemic between… more
Date: 1744
Creator: Rameau, Jean Philippe, 1683-1764 & La Bruère, Le Clerc de, 1714-1754
Partner: UNT Music Library

Didon; tragédie lyrique en trois actes

Description: With Didon, Piccinni demonstrated his ability to combine both Italian and French styles to create a compelling tragédie lyrique. The opera includes lyrical Italian melodies and a second-act finale, as well as French choruses and numbers that transition continuously without pauses. Didon was premiered at Fountainebleau on 16 October 1783, and it remained one of Piccinni’s most popular French operas, with performances through the first part of the nineteenth century. The story of Dido had been… more
Date: 1815
Creator: Piccinni, Niccolò, 1728-1800 & Marmontel, Jean François, 1723-1799
Partner: UNT Music Library

Iphigénie en Tauride. Tragédie lirique en quatre actes

Description: The contrast between Piccinni and Gluck can perhaps best be illustrated with Iphigénie en Tauride, as Piccinni’s opera appeared just two years after Gluck’s work on the same subject. In fact, supporters of Piccinni (“Piccinnistes”) hoped that the Italian composer would demonstrate the superiority of his style with Iphigénie, and scholars have used these settings to illustrate the difference between the two composers.
Date: 1781
Creator: Piccinni, Niccolò, 1728-1800 & Dubreil, Alphonse Ducongé, 1734-1801
Partner: UNT Music Library

Alceste: tragedie opera en trois actes

Description: According to Grove Music, "when Admetus, King of Pherae in Thessaly, is ill and about to die an oracle announces that he will be saved if someone else is willing to die in his stead. His wife Alcestis displays her conjugal devotion by offering herself; she dies and Admetus recovers. Under the influence of tragédie lyrique, Calzabigi enriched his libretto with choruses, ballets and opportunities for impressive scenery."
Date: 1776
Creator: Gluck, Christoph Willibald, Ritter von, 1714-1787; Calzabigi, Ranieri de, 1714-1795 & Du Roullet, François Louis Gaud Lebland, marquis, 1716-1786
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 2

Description: This is a copy of the second volume of "Dictionary of Music and Musicians," edited by Sir George Grove. This volume, published in 1880, is an encyclopedic work that contains the biographies of well-known composers as well as articles contributed by various authors on music topics, concepts and definitions starting alphabetically from: "I" (improperia) to "P" (plain song). The names of contributing authors appear in a list on pp.[v]-vii, signed "Bedford Street, Covent Garden, October 1, 1880." … more
Date: 1880
Creator: Grove, George, Sir, 1820-1900.
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 3

Description: This is a copy of the third volume of "Dictionary of Music and Musicians," edited by Sir George Grove. This volume, published in 1883, is an encyclopedic work that contains the biographies of well-known composers as well as articles contributed by various authors on music topics, concepts and definitions starting alphabetically from: "P" (Planché, James Robinson) to "S" (the title of the Medieval rota, "Sume is icumen in"). The names of contributing authors appear in a list on pp.[v]-vii, sign… more
Date: 1883
Creator: Grove, George, Sir, 1820-1900.
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Storia Della Musica: Volume 1

Description: Copy of the first of three volumes of "Storia della musica" (Music History) containing eleven chapters and three dissertations. The text describes various topics related to music history including music classification, early music in biblical descriptions, music theories, singing and harmonies, church music, and musical notations.
Date: 1757
Creator: Martini, Giovanni Battista, 1706-1784
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

The Padlock

Description: This is a copy of a ca. 1768 edition of Isaac Bickerstaff libretto for the two-act English comic opera "The Paddlock" by Charles Dibdin. The plot is an adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes's "El celoso extremeño" (translated as, The Jealous Estremaduran). The t.p. features a vignette signed by IJ Taylor [possibly by the London engraver Isaac Taylor (1730-1807)] with four infants. The one at the center is holding several keys and is playing horse riding with a walking stick that has a padlock attac… more
Date: 1768
Creator: Bickerstaff, Isaac, 1735-1812
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Storia Della Musica: Volume 2

Description: Copy of the second of three volumes of "Storia della musica" (Music History) containing nine chapters and three dissertations that talk about music in relation to ancient Greece, such as Greek mythological figures and festivals, Greek theories of music, and unique features of ancient Greek music.
Date: 1770
Creator: Martini, Giovanni Battista, 1706-1784
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 1

Description: This is a copy of the first volume of "Dictionary of Music and Musicians," edited by Sir George Grove. This volume, published in 1879, is an encyclopedic work that contains the biographies of well-known composers as well as articles contributed by various authors on music topics, concepts and definitions starting alphabetically from: "A" (i.e., the sixth note in the scale of C major) to "I" (impromptu). The names of contributing authors appear in a list on pp.[vii]-viii), signed "Bedford Stree… more
Date: 1879
Creator: Grove, George, Sir, 1820-1900.
Partner: UNT Music Library

Panurge dans l'Isle des Lanternes : comédie lirique en trois actes

Description: Panurge, like Colinette à la cour, features recitative, rather than spoken dialogue. In his memoirs, Grétry recognized Panurge for being the first comic opera to enjoy a successful run at the Opéra, and he saw it as a turning point for this theater, which traditionally presented serious plots (Grétry, Memoires; ou, Essais sur la musique, 377). The overture to Panurge was featured on concerts in the nineteenth century, and although the opera eventually disappeared from the repertoire, its long… more
Date: 1785
Creator: Grétry, André Ernest Modeste, 1741-1813 & Morel de Chédeville, Etienne, 1747-1814
Partner: UNT Music Library

Tancrède: tragédie

Description: André Campra’s Tancrède, which premiered on 7 November 1702, is his best-known tragédie en musique, with a run of performances until 1764, and high praise by noteworthy music personalities such as Rameau. While the music critic La Cerf de la Viéville wrote positive comments about Tancrède, he was bothered by the opera’s use of low voices, which defied the tradition of employing castrati parts. Additionally, the role of Clorinda was written for a well-known contralto named Mademoiselle Maupin… more
Date: 1702
Creator: Campra, André, 1660-1744; Danchet, Antoine, 1671-1748. & Tasso, Torquato, 1544-1595
Partner: UNT Music Library

Les amours des dieux : ballet heroique

Description: Mouret’s Les amours des dieux is classified as a ballet-heroïque, a type of opéra-ballet that was popular during the first half of the eighteenth century. Although the term ballet-heroïque suggests the prevalence of dance, drawing on the divertissement tradition, singing and acting are also integral parts of this genre. What distinguishes the opéra-ballet from the tragedie en musique is the use of separate plots for each entrée (comparable to an act). The segments are not entirely independent… more
Date: 1727
Creator: Mouret, Jean Joseph, 1682-1738
Partner: UNT Music Library

Devil to pay: or, The wives metamorphos'd

Description: English libretto to Charles Coffey's ballad opera The devil to pay or, The wives metamorphos'd. The Devil to Pay is an adaptation of Thomas Jevon’s play The Devil of a Wife (1686). Nearly fifty years later, the ballad opera appeared at Drury Lane with Charles Coffey and John Mottley each responsible for half of the three acts. However, a much shorter and more well-received one-act version, edited by Theophilus Cibber, is represented in the printed libretto. Today Coffey is generally the onl… more
Date: 1732
Creator: Coffey, Charles, d. 1745; Mottley, John, 1692-1750 & Jevon, Thomas, 1652-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library
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