Dramma per musica (

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

, literally: ''drama for music'', plural: ''drammi per musica'') is a libretto. The term was used by dramatists in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and elsewhere between the mid-17th and mid-19th centuries. In modern times the same meaning of ''drama for music'' was conveyed through the Italian Greek-rooted word ''melodramma'' (from μέλος = song or music + δρᾶμα = scenic action). ''Dramma per musica'' never meant "drama ''through'' music", let alone

music drama is a German word that means a unity of prose and music. Initially coined by Theodor Mundt in 1833, it was most notably used by Richard Wagner, along with Gesamtkunstwerk, to define his operas. Usage Mundt formulated his definition explicitly ...

. A ''dramma per musica'' was thus originally (in Italy in the 17th century) a verse drama specifically written for the purpose of being set to music, in other words a libretto for an

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 ...

, usually a serious opera (a libretto meant for

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

, i.e. comic opera, would have been called a ''dramma giocoso''). By extension, the term came to be used also for the opera or operas which were composed to the libretto, and a variation, ''dramma in musica'', which emphasised the musical element, was sometimes preferred by composers. In the 18th century, these terms, along with ''dramma musicale'', came to be the most commonly used descriptions for serious Italian operas. Today, these are known as '' opera seria'', a term that was little-used when they were created. The terms continued to be used in the early 19th century after

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

's reforms had effectively ended the dominance of opera seria: for example, some of Rossini's later serious operas were designated "dramma in musica". Examples of ''drammi per musica'' are Cavalli's ''Xerse'' (1654), ''

Erismena ''Erismena'' is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli. First performed in Venice in 1655, it was designated as a ''dramma per musica''. Libretto The Italian libretto was by Aurelio Aureli, the only work by this writer for ...

'' (1655),

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

's ''

Tito Manlio Tito Manlio (; RV 738) is an opera in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi, to a libretto by Matteo Noris. It was written in celebration of the marriage of Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt (1671–1736),Eric Cross. "Tito Manlio." The New Grove Dictionary of ...

'' (1719), Mysliveček's ''

Il Bellerofonte ''Il Bellerofonte'' is an 18th-century Italian opera in three acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. It conforms to the serious type ( opera seria) that was typically set in the distant past. The libretto, based on the Greek legend of B ...

'' (1767), Gluck's ''

Paride ed Elena ' (; ''Paris and Helen'') is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. It is the third of Gluck's so-called reform operas for Vienna, following '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' and '' Alceste'', and the least often performed of the three. Like its predecess ...

'' (1770), Salieri's ''

Armida Armida is the fictional character of a Saracen sorceress, created by the Italian late Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso. Description In Tasso's epic ''Jerusalem Delivered'' ( it, Gerusalemme liberata, link=no), Rinaldo is a fierce and determ ...

'' (1779), Mozart's ''

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

'' (1781) and Rossini's '' Otello'' (1816), as well as numerous libretti written by

Pietro Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Met ...

References

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