Potpourri or Pot-Pourri (;

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, literally "putrid pot") is a kind of

musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a piece of music, such ...

structured as ABCDEF..., the same as

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music * Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People * Medley (surname), list of people with this n ...

or, sometimes,

fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcor ...

. It is often used in light, easy-going and popular types of music. This is a form of arrangement where the individual

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

are simply juxtaposed with no strong connection or relationship. This type of form is organized by the principle of non-

repetition Repetition may refer to: * Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...

. This is usually to be applied to a composition that consists of a string of favourite tunes, like a potpourri based on either some popular

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

, or a collection of

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

s, etc. The term has been in use since the beginning of the 18th century, or to be more specific, since it was used by the

music publisher Christophe Ballard (1641–1715) for the edition of a collection of pieces in 1711. In the 18th century the term was used in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for collections of songs which, with a thematic link, were sometimes given stage presentation. Later the term was used also for instrumental collections, like the "Potpourry français", a collection of originally unconnected dance pieces issued by the publisher Bouïn. Potpourris became especially popular in the 19th century. The opera

overture Overture (from French language, French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Be ...

s of

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

s, such as François-Adrien Boïeldieu (1775–1834),

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...

(1782–1871) and Ferdinand Hérold (1791–1833), or the

Englishman The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

(1842–1900) belong to this type.

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

called the

to his '' Die schweigsame Frau'' a "pot-pourri". The "overtures" to light modern stage works (e.g.

s or

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

) are almost always written in potpourri form, using airs from the work in question. There is usually some structure to the order presented though. The opening is usually a fanfare or majestic theme (presumably the supposed hoped-for most popular song number), followed by a romantic number, then a comical number; and finally a return to the opening theme or a variation thereof.

Additional examples

The Italian guitar virtuoso

Mauro Giuliani Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. Biography Although born in Bisceglie, Giuliani's cen ...

, (1781–1829) entitled a number of his works "potpourris": ''Potpourri'', Opp. 18, 26, 28, 31, 42, and ''Potpourri Romano'', Op. 108 There are many more pieces called "potpourris": * Louis Spohr: Potpourri No. 2 on themes by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

for violin, string quartet & double bass in B flat major, Op. 22 * Louis Spohr: Potpourri No. 4 on themes by Mozart for violin & string trio in B major, Op. 24 * Louis Spohr: Potpourri for

Clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...

and Orchestra on themes by von Winter in F major, Op. 80 *

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

: Grand potpourri for cello and orchestra, Op.20 * Johann Strauss: Potpourri Quadrille * Ernst Krenek: Potpourri, Op. 54 for symphony orchestra *

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...

, ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the ...

(Grand Potpourri)'' *

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera '' Robert le ...

's ''L'Africaine Potpourri'' *

André Rieu André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (; is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra. Rieu and his orchestra have turned classical and waltz music into a worldwide concert touring act. He r ...

: Opera Potpourri (2003) *

Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. He was a pupil of Mozart, Salieri and Clementi. He als ...

: Potpourri Op. 94 (Fantasie) for Viola and Orchestra * Karol Kurpinski: Potpourri in D minor for Piano Solo (1822 ca.)

Quotations

"If music is frozen architecture, then the potpourri is frozen coffee-table gossip... Potpourri is the art of adding apples to pears..." (''

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

: "Glosses on the Theories of Others" (1929), See "Style and Idea",

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

1985, p. 313–314'')

External links

COVER.INFO
– Large database of cover versions, potpourris/medleys, samples and other musical quotations

Bibliography

* M. Schönherr and K. Reinöhl: Johann Strauss Vater (London, 1954) * Andreas Ballsteadt: ''Potpourri''. In

Ludwig Finscher Ludwig Finscher (14 March 193030 June 2020) was a German musicologist. He was a professor of music history at the University of Heidelberg from 1981 to 1995 and editor of the encyclopedia '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart''. He is respect ...

(ed.): '' MGG'', Sachteil, vol. 7. * Till Gerrit Waidelich: ''Das Opern-Potpourri: Musikalisches Kaleidoskop, ars combinatoria oder musikimmanente Pornographie?'' In Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen/K. Pietschmann (ed.): ''Jenseits der Bühne: Bearbeitungs- und Rezeptionsformen der Oper im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert'' (''Schweizer Beiträge zur Musikforschung''; 15), Kassel 2010, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Potpourri Musical form Music medleys

Additional examples

Quotations

External links

See also

Bibliography