Individual Librettists
- Engelbert, Barbara. “Wystan Hugh Auden, 1907–1973: Seine Opern-aesthetis-
che Anschaung in seine Tätigkeit als Librettist.” Ph.D. diss., U. of Cologne,
- Weisstein, Ulrich. “Reflections on a Golden Age: W. H. Auden’s Theory of
Opera.” Comparative Literature22 (1970): 108–124.
Offers “guidelines for an understanding of Auden’s poetic theory... and rea-
sons for his choice of opera and the dance as the preferred artistic media of our
age.” Auden preferred universal subjects: “a secondary world” but one which
has “something significant to say... about our present life.” His views are
compared to those of Kierkegaard (see #1312) and found similar. Auden was
modest about the role of the libretto, considering it “a private letter to the
composer,” which the composer would use as it seemed fit. He definitely
opposed the Gluckian view of music in the service of poetry, favoring instead
the Mozartian idea of poetry being “the obedient daughter” of the music. - Tintori, Giampiero, ed. Arrigo Boito: Musicista e letterato. N.p.: Nuove Edi-
zioni, 1986. 199p. ML410 .B694 A85.
A collection of essays on Boito, with a chapter by Michele Girardi on “Verdi e
Boito: Due artisti fra tradizione e rinnovamento.” Includes a catalogue of his
musical and literary works. - Borwick, Susan. “Weill’s and Brecht’s Theories on Music in Drama.” Journal
of Musicological Research4 (1982): 39–67.
“Both men were practitioners first and theoreticians only second.” They did
not define concepts and were not consistent in “thought or terminology.” Bor-
wick gives special attention to the term “gestus”—to which they each gave dif-
ferent meanings. List of 47 essays by Weill or Brecht, 43 backnotes. - Borwick, Susan [Susan Harden]. “The Music for the Stage Collaborations of
Weill and Brecht.” Ph.D. diss., U. of North Carolina, 1972, 252 p. - Wagner, Gottfried. Weill und Brecht: Das musikalische Zeittheater.Munich:
Kindler, 1977. 338p. ISBN 3-4630-0706-1. ML410 .W518 W17.
Working relationship between Weill and Brecht, their theories (including their
use of “gestus”), analysis of the operas with musical examples, political back-
ground in the Weimar Republic. Backnotes, bibliography, name index. - Brizi, Bruno. “Teoria e prassi melodrammatica di G. F. Busenello e L’incoron-
azione di Poppea.” In Muraro (#2575), 51–74.
An examination of Busenello’s prefaces and prologues, concluding that his
basic principle was that the libretto should follow the requirements of the
music. With a metric and lingustic analysis of portions of L’incoronazione.
See also #1236.
Libretti and Librettists 55