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{{Anchor|Operatic melodrama}}
{{Anchor|Operatic melodrama}}
== 18th-century origins: monodrama, duodrama and opera ==
== 18th-century origins: monodrama, duodrama and opera ==
Beginning in the 18th century, melodrama was a technique of combining spoken recitation with short pieces of accompanying music. In such works, music and spoken dialog typically alternated, although the music was sometimes also used to accompany [[pantomime]]. The earliest known examples are scenes in J. E. Eberlin's Latin school play ''Sigismundus'' (1753). The first full melodrama was [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]'s ''[[Pygmalion (melodrama)|Pygmalion]]'', the text of which was written in 1762 but was first staged in [[Lyon]] in 1770. The overture and an Andante were composed by Rousseau, but the bulk of the music was composed by [[Horace Coignet]]. A different musical setting of Rousseau's ''Pygmalion'' by [[Anton Schweitzer]] was performed in Weimar in 1772, and Goethe wrote of it approvingly in ''[[Dichtung und Wahrheit]]''. ''Pygmalion'' is a [[monodrama]], written for one actor. Some 30 other monodramas were produced in Germany in the fourth quarter of the 18th century. When two actors are involved the term [[duodrama]] may be used. [[Georg Benda]] was particularly successful with his duodramas ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos (Benda)|Ariadne auf Naxos]]'' (1775) and ''[[Medea (Benda)|Medea]]'' (1778). The sensational success of Benda's melodramas led Mozart to use two long melodramatic monologues in his opera ''[[Zaide]]'' (1780). Other later, and more well-known examples of the melodramatic style in operas are the grave-digging scene in Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]]'' (1805) and the incantation scene in Weber's ''[[Der Freischütz]]'' (1821).<ref name=Apel>Apel, Willi, ed. (1969). ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.. ISBN 0674375017. {{OCLC| 21452}}.</ref><ref>Branscombe, Peter. "Melodrama". In Sadie, Stanley; John Tyrrell, eds. (2001). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd edition. NewYork: Grove's Dictionaries. ISBN 1561592390.</ref>
Beginning in the 18th century, melodrama was a technique of combining spoken recitation with short pieces of accompanying music. In such works, music and spoken dialog typically alternated, although the music was sometimes also used to accompany [[pantomime]]. The earliest known examples are scenes in J. E. Eberlin's Latin school play ''Sigismundus'' (1753). The first full melodrama was [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]'s ''[[Pygmalion (melodrama)|Pygmalion]]'', the text of which was written in 1762 but was first staged in [[Lyon]] in 1770. The overture and an Andante were composed by Rousseau, but the bulk of the music was composed by [[Horace Coignet]]. A different musical setting of Rousseau's ''Pygmalion'' by [[Anton Schweitzer]] was performed in Weimar in 1772, and Goethe wrote of it approvingly in ''[[Dichtung und Wahrheit]]''. ''Pygmalion'' is a [[monodrama]], written for one actor. Some 30 other monodramas were produced in Germany in the fourth quarter of the 18th century. When two actors are involved the term [[duodrama]] may be used. [[Georg Benda]] was particularly successful with his duodramas ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos (Benda)|Ariadne auf Naxos]]'' (1775) and ''[[Medea (Benda)|Medea]]'' (1778). The sensational success of Benda's melodramas led Mozart to use two long melodramatic monologues in his opera ''[[Zaide]]'' (1780). Other later, and more well-known examples of the melodramatic style in operas are the grave-digging scene in Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]]'' (1805) and the incantation scene in Weber's ''[[Der Freischütz]]'' (1821).<ref name=Apel>Apel, Willi, ed. (1969). ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.. ISBN 0674375017. {{OCLC| 21452}}.</ref><ref>Branscombe, Peter. "Melodrama". In Sadie, Stanley; John Tyrrell, eds. (2001). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd edition. NewYork: Grove's Dictionaries. ISBN 1561592390.</ref>. In 1786, Jeff l discovered that dipping weiners in tritan's homemade mustard was delicious


== 19th century: operetta, incidental music and salon entertainment ==
== 19th century: operetta, incidental music and salon entertainment ==

Revision as of 17:34, 25 March 2010

The theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and to denote character types. The term combines "melody" (from the Greek "melōidía", meaning "song") and "drama" (Classical Greek: δράμα, dráma; meaning "action"). While the use of music is nearly ubiquitous in modern film, in most cases it is used within a fairly rigid structure. In a melodrama the characterizations will accordingly be somewhat more one-dimensional: heroes will be unambiguously good and their entrance will be heralded by heroic-sounding trumpets and martial music; villains will be unambiguously bad, and their entrance will be greeted with dark-sounding, ominous chords.

Melodramas tend to be formulaic productions, with a clearly constructed world of connotations: A villain poses a threat, the hero escapes the threat and/or rescues the heroine. The term is sometimes used loosely to refer to plays, films or situations in which action or emotion is exaggerated and simplified for effect. As against tragedy, melodrama can have a happy ending, but this is not always the case.

Look up melodrama in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

18th-century origins: monodrama, duodrama and opera

Beginning in the 18th century, melodrama was a technique of combining spoken recitation with short pieces of accompanying music. In such works, music and spoken dialog typically alternated, although the music was sometimes also used to accompany pantomime. The earliest known examples are scenes in J. E. Eberlin's Latin school play Sigismundus (1753). The first full melodrama was Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Pygmalion, the text of which was written in 1762 but was first staged in Lyon in 1770. The overture and an Andante were composed by Rousseau, but the bulk of the music was composed by Horace Coignet. A different musical setting of Rousseau's Pygmalion by Anton Schweitzer was performed in Weimar in 1772, and Goethe wrote of it approvingly in Dichtung und Wahrheit. Pygmalion is a monodrama, written for one actor. Some 30 other monodramas were produced in Germany in the fourth quarter of the 18th century. When two actors are involved the term duodrama may be used. Georg Benda was particularly successful with his duodramas Ariadne auf Naxos (1775) and Medea (1778). The sensational success of Benda's melodramas led Mozart to use two long melodramatic monologues in his opera Zaide (1780). Other later, and more well-known examples of the melodramatic style in operas are the grave-digging scene in Beethoven's Fidelio (1805) and the incantation scene in Weber's Der Freischütz (1821).[1][2]. In 1786, Jeff l discovered that dipping weiners in tritan's homemade mustard was delicious

19th century: operetta, incidental music and salon entertainment

A few operettas exhibit melodrama in the sense of music played under spoken dialogue, for instance, Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore (itself a parody of melodramas in the modern sense) has a short "melodrame" (reduced to dialogue alone in many productions) in the second act;[3] Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld opens with a melodrama delivered by the chararacter of "Public Opinion"; and other pieces from operetta and musicals may be considered melodramas, such as the "Recit and Minuet"[4] in Gilbert and Sullivan's Sorcerer. In musicals, several long speeches in Lerner and Loewe's Brigadoon are delivered to the accompaniment of rather beautiful, evocative music.

In a similar manner, Victorians often added "incidental music" under the dialogue to a pre-existing play, although this style of composition was already practiced in the days of Ludwig van Beethoven (Egmont) and Franz Schubert (Rosamunde). (This type of often-lavish production is now mostly limited to film (see film score) due to the cost of hiring an orchestra. Modern recording technology is producing a certain revival of the practice in theatre, but not on the former scale.) A particularly complete version of this form, Sullivan's incidental music to Tennyson's The Foresters is available online,[5] complete with several melodramas, for instance, No. 12 found here.[6]

By the end of the 19th century, the term melodrama had nearly exclusively narrowed down to a specific genre of salon entertainment: more or less rhythmically spoken words (often poetry) - not sung, sometimes more or less enacted, at least with some dramatic structure or plot - synchronized to an accompaniment of music (usually piano). It was looked down on as a genre for authors and composers of lesser stature (probably also the reason why virtually no realisations of the genre are still remembered).

Poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914).

Victorian stage melodrama

The Victorian stage melodrama featured a limited number of stock characters: the hero, the villain, the heroine, an aged parent and a comic man engaged in a sensational plot featuring themes of love and murder. Often the good but not very clever hero is duped by a scheming villain, who has eyes on the damsel in distress until fate intervenes at the end to ensure the triumph of good over evil.

English melodrama evolved from the tradition of populist drama established during the Middle Ages by mystery and morality plays, under influences from Italian commedia dell'arte as well as German Sturm und Drang drama and Parisian melodrama of the post-Revolutionary period.[7]. A notable French melodramatist was Pixérécourt whose La Femme a deux maris was wildly popular with the masses.[8]

The first English play to be called a melodrama or 'melodrame' was A Tale of Mystery (1802) by Thomas Holcroft. This was an example of the Gothic genre, a previous theatrical example of which was The Castle Spectre (1797) by Matthew Gregory Lewis. Other Gothic melodramas include The Miller and his Men (1813) by Isaac Pocock, The Woodsman's Hut (1814) by Samuel Arnold and The Broken Sword (1816) by William Dimond.

Supplanting the Gothic, the next popular sub-genre was the nautical melodrama, pioneered by Douglas Jerrold in his Black-Eyed Susan (1829). Other nautical melodramas included Jerrold's The Mutiny at the Nore (1830) and The Red Rover (1829) by Edward Fitzball (Rowell 1953).

Melodramas based on urban situations became popular in the mid-nineteenth century. These include The Streets of London (1864) by Dion Boucicault; and Lost in London (1867) by Watts Phillips.

The sensation novels of the 1860s and 1870s were fertile material for melodramatic adaptations. A notable example of this genre is Lady Audley's Secret by Elizabeth Braddon adapted, in two different versions, by George Roberts and C.H. Hazlewood.

The villain was always the central character in melodrama and crime was a favorite theme. This included dramatisations of the murderous careers of Burke and Hare, Sweeney Todd (first featured in The String of Pearls (1847) by George Dibdin Pitt), the murder of Maria Marten in the Red Barn and the bizarre exploits of Spring Heeled Jack. The misfortunes of a discharged prisoner is the theme of the sensational The Ticket-of-Leave Man (1863) by Tom Taylor.

Early silent films, such as The Perils of Pauline had similar themes. Later, after silent films were superseded by the 'talkies', stage actor Tod Slaughter, at the age of 50, transferred to the screen the Victorian melodramas in which he had played villain in his earlier theatrical career. These films, which include Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn (1935), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936) and Tom Taylor's The Ticket-of-Leave Man are a unique record of a bygone art-form.

Film

In film, the term 'melodrama' or more colloquially 'meller'[9] denotes a subgenre of the drama film which generally depends on stereotyped character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. Melodramatic films tend to use plots that appeal to the heightened emotions of the audience, often dealing with "crises of human emotion, failed romance or friendship, strained familial situations, tragedy, illness, neuroses, or emotional and physical hardship". Film critics sometimes use the term "pejoratively to connote an unrealistic, pathos-filled, campy tale of romance or domestic situations with stereotypical characters (often including a central female character) that would directly appeal to feminine audiences."[10]

A director of 1950s melodrama films was Douglas Sirk who worked with Rock Hudson on Written on the Wind and All That Heaven Allows, both staples of the genre. Melodramas like the 1990s TV Moment of Truth movies targeted audiences of American women by portraying the effects of alcoholism, domestic violence, rape and the like. Typical of the genre is Angelica Houston's 1999 film Agnes Browne.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Apel, Willi, ed. (1969). Harvard Dictionary of Music, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.. ISBN 0674375017. OCLC 21452.
  2. ^ Branscombe, Peter. "Melodrama". In Sadie, Stanley; John Tyrrell, eds. (2001). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition. NewYork: Grove's Dictionaries. ISBN 1561592390.
  3. ^ Dialogue from Ruddigore
  4. ^ Dialogue from The Sorcerer
  5. ^ The Foresters from Gilbert and Sullivan online archive
  6. ^ The Foresters - Act I
  7. ^ Michael Booth (1991) Theatre in the Victorian Age. Cambridge University Press: 151
  8. ^ Jean Tulard (1985) Naploleon: The Myth of the Saviour. London, Methuen: 213-14
  9. ^ "meller" Dictionary.com
  10. ^ Dirks T Melodrama Films filmsite.org website opinion
  11. ^ Levy, Emanuel (31 May 1999) "Agnes Browne (period drama)" Variety
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