Astbury, Katherine (2011) Music in Pixérécourt's early melodramas. In: Hibberd, Sarah, (ed.) Melodramatic voices : understanding music drama. Ashgate interdisciplinary studies in opera . Farnham : Ashgate, pp. 15-26. ISBN 9781409400820

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Abstract

The genre of melodrame a grand spectacle that emerged in the boulevard theatres of Paris in the 1790s - and which was quickly exported abroad - expressed the moral struggle between good and evil through a drama of heightened emotions. Physical gesture, mise en scene and music were as important in communicating meaning and passion as spoken dialogue. The premise of this volume is the idea that the melodramatic aesthetic is central to our understanding of nineteenth-century music drama, broadly defined as spoken plays with music, operas and other hybrid genres that combine music with text and/or image. This relationship is examined closely, and its evolution in the twentieth century in selected operas, musicals and films, is understood as an extension of this nineteenth-century aesthetic. The book therefore develops our understanding of opera in the context of melodrama's broader influence on musical culture during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The book will appeal to those interested in film studies, drama, theatre and modern languages as well as music and opera.

Item Type:	Book Item
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > French Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Pixérécourt, R.-C. Guilbert de (René-Charles Guilbert), 1773-1844 -- Criticism and interpretation, Melodrama, French -- History and criticism, Musical theater -- History and criticism
Series Name:	Ashgate interdisciplinary studies in opera
Publisher:	Ashgate
Place of Publication:	Farnham
ISBN:	9781409400820
Book Title:	Melodramatic voices : understanding music drama
Editor:	Hibberd, Sarah
Official Date:	November 2011
Dates:	Date Event November 2011 Published
Number of Pages:	291
Page Range:	pp. 15-26
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit:	28 July 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access:	28 July 2016

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