XIII. Philosophy and
Theory of Opera
Philosophy rests on definitions. To define opera has proved troublesome; the concept
appears to resolve into a polarity of drama-with-music on one end and music-with-
drama on the other. “Prima la musica, poi le parole?” Or the opposite? Consider this
definition from the New Harvard Dictionary of Music(#17): “A drama that is pri-
marily sung, accompanied by instruments, and presented theatrically.” And this from
NG(#19): “The generic term for musical dramatic works in which the actors sing
some or all of their parts.” And: “A vocal work sung by characters who also use
words and act their parts,” from Musical Morphology(#398). There is a continuum
suggested by the definitions, with the NGin a middle position, but few writers on the
subject represent that central area. Whatever their titles and announcements, they
cluster themselves around one or the other of the two poles: holding with drama as the
meaning-giver, or with music. Music is seen, au fond,to be the support system for the
text, or vice versa. One art swallows the other, as Susanne Langer puts it. The next
entries in this guide are grouped around the two points.
Emphasis on Drama
- Peri, Jacopo. Le musiche sopra L’Euridice. Florence, 1601.
This is the earliest opera for which a complete score has survived. In the fore-
word to the score, set to a text (published a year earlier) by Ottavio Rinuccini,
Peri set down the ideas of the Florentine Camerata (see #2438ff.). They and he
believed that the ancient Greeks and Romans “sang their tragedies through-
out” in a form between song and speech and “following the passions.” Quota-
tions are from the translation in Strunk,659–662. - Gluck, Christoph Willibald von. Alceste. Vienna: Giovanni Tomaso de Trat-
tern, 1769.
In his dedication to the score, published two years after the premiere of the
opera, Gluck explicated his views about “long disfigured” Italian opera and
what he—with librettist Raniero Calzabigi—was doing to reform it. “I
believed that my greatest labor should be devoted to seeking a beautiful sim-
plicity... nor did I judge it desirable to discover novelties if... not naturally