The phrase ''dramma per musica'' (also spelled ''drama per musica'';

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, literally: 'play (or drama) for music', plural: ''drammi per musica'') is commonly found after the title in Italian opera librettos beginning in the 17th century and continuing into the 18th century. It indicates that the text was intended to be set to music by a composer.''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. By extension it has also been used to refer to the musical setting itself, but this is less common. In the 18th century, ''dramma per musica'' came to be most commonly used for librettos of serious Italian operas, today known as ''

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...

'' (a term that was little-used when they were created), while the term ''

dramma giocoso ''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The g ...

'' began to be used for the librettos of comic operas. Examples of librettos having the label ''dramma per musica'' are those for Cavalli's '' Xerse'' (1654) and '' Erismena'' (1655),

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

's '' Tito Manlio'' (1719), Mysliveček's '' Il Bellerofonte'' (1767), Gluck's '' Paride ed Elena'' (1770), Salieri's '' Armida'' (1779),

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

Idomeneo (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', Köchel catalogue, K. 366) is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Vares ...

'' (1781)See :File:Mozart - Idomeneo - italian title page of the libretto - Munich 1781.png and Rossini's ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

'' (1816),See :File:Rossini's opera 'Otello', 1823 libretto, title page – IA otelloossiailmor530beri.jpg as well as numerous libretti written by Pietro Metastasio. Variant phrases, such as ''dramma in musica'', which emphasised the musical setting, or ''dramma musicale'', are also seen. Sometimes recent authors have used these phrases to mean 'drama through music', referring to "musico-dramatic effects achieved by the composer".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dramma Per Musica Opera genres Italian opera terminology

See also

References