Libretto is a musical term. The meaning of the word libretto

The reason for this seems obvious to a large extent: for example, the majority of ballet works are staged so that the viewer watching the performance from the audience can understand from the movements of the actors what it is about. we're talking about in the play. Opera is a different matter. A significant part of the works performed today on the world's best stages are examples of the so-called opera classics, which include operas written several centuries ago in Italy, France or Spain. Moreover, such works are usually performed in the original language, so it may be difficult for an uninitiated person who is not familiar with the plot underlying the opera to understand what exactly is being said.

In order to compose general idea about this, perhaps it is enough to familiarize yourself with summary opera by purchasing the program in the theater lobby. However, the laconic text presented in it is not able to give a complete picture of all the intricacies of the plot. Therefore, an attentive viewer, planning to visit the famous opera, will take the trouble to read its libretto.

Moreover, the word “libretto” is not identical to the literary work on the basis of which the opera may have been written. For example, the libretto of the opera “War and Peace” is noticeably different from the original by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. One of these differences is that the texts of operas are written primarily. Some fragments of the libretto may contain musical notations of the most remarkable passages of the musical work for which they were created.

Examples

In some cases, the composer himself acts as the author of the libretto for his opera, using a well-known literary work: this is what Alexander Borodin did, for example, when creating the opera “Prince Igor”. And some composers even use the original work as a libretto, like, for example, Alexander Dargomyzhsky, who used Alexander Pushkin’s “The Stone Guest” for this purpose.

Libretto

(Italian libretto, lit. - little book).
1) The verbal text is musical and dramatic. works - operas, operettas, in the past also cantatas and oratorios. Name due to the fact that opera L. from the end. 17th century often issued for visitors to the t-row in the form of small books. L. cannot be considered as independent. lit.-dramatic production; representing a literary-dramatic the basis of the opera, they acquire their true meaning and reveal their merits only in unity with music, when staging works. Up to mid. 18th century in L.'s composition a certain scheme prevailed, due to the uniformity of musical and dramatic. tasks. Therefore, the same successful L. was often used repeatedly. composers. Later, literary works are, as a rule, created by the librettist in close contact with the composer, sometimes in his presence. participation, which ensures the individual nature of the concept and a closer unity of action, words and music (these are the L. created by R. Calzabigi for Gluck’s “Orpheus and Eurydice”, L. Da Ponte for Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, M. I. Tchaikovsky - to “The Queen of Spades” by Tchaikovsky, V.I. Belsky - to “Tsar Saltan”, “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia” and “The Golden Cockerel” by Rimsky-Korsakov, etc.). Since the 19th century. some outstanding composers, possessed literary and dramatic. talent, they created the literature of their operas independently, without resorting to the help of a librettist or using it partially, for example. for the preparation of poetic texts (G. Berlioz, R. Wagner, A. Boito, M. P. Mussorgsky, in the 20th century - S. S. Prokofiev, K. Orff, J. F. Malipiero, G. C. Menotti and etc.).
Basic The source of L.'s plots is art. literature - folk (myths, legends, epics, fairy tales) and professional (poems, novels, short stories, dramatic plays, etc.). L., not having any lit. prototypes are found relatively rarely (L. Meyerbeer's opera "Robert the Devil", written by E. Scribe; L. of the opera "Khovanshchina" by Mussorgsky, created by the composer himself, and some others). When processing literary works into L. b. h. undergo significant changes: sometimes only the plot is borrowed, in other cases it is used general composition , partly the text. Often, the very concept of production changes significantly. (" Queen of Spades
"by A. S. Pushkin and P. I. Tchaikovsky). Cases of using dramatic works in L. in full or with a slight reduction and addition of the text in the 19th and early 20th centuries were isolated ("The Stone Guest" by Dargomyzhsky according to Pushkin, “Pelleas and Mélisande” by Debussy according to Maeterlinck, “Salome” by R. Strauss according to Wilde, etc.), in modern opera they occur quite often, without representing the phenomenon. Types of L., their features are extremely diverse both in content and in terms of general construction , the use of poetry and prose. text, the presence or absence of division of the text into numbers, etc. The history of L. is inextricably linked with the history of opera in all its genres and nationalities. varieties. Each historically specific type of opera (for example, Italian opera seria and opera buffa, French “grand” and comic opera, German Singspiel, Russian historical and fairy-tale opera, epic opera, etc.) has its own type L. One of the most important problems in creating L. is the combination of scenic logic. actions, i.e. natural. development of events and characters, with the laws of music. compositions: alternating vocals, choreographic and symphony episodes, changes in tempo and dynamics, the completeness of certain operatic forms (arias, monologues, ensembles), and finally, special requirements for the text (laconicism, ease of pronunciation, simultaneous combination of various texts in ensembles, etc.). Due to the specificity of literary dramaturgy, chapters worked in this area. arr. minor poets and playwrights. However, outstanding literary figures also took part in the creation of L. figures(in the 18th century - P. Metastasio and C. Goldoni, in the 19th century - E. Scribe, V. Hugo, E. Zola, in the 20th century - G. Hofmannsthal, S. Zweig, J. Cocteau, P. Claudel, etc.). Certain writers, who worked almost exclusively, also achieved high skill. in the genre of L. (P. J. Barbier, A. Meliac and L. Halevi in ​​France, F. Romani and S. Cammarano in Italy, V. I. Belsky in Russia, etc.).
2) Literary script ballet performance.
3) Summary content of opera, operetta, ballet.
Literature: Yarustovsky B., Opera dramaturgy of P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. - L., 1947; his, Dramaturgy of Russian Opera Classics, M., 1953; by him, Essays on the dramaturgy of 20th century opera, book. 1-2, M., 1971-75; Druskin M., Questions of musical dramaturgy of opera..., M., 1952, ch. 1; Kleszunski J., O estetyce libretta operowega, Warsz., 1892; Istel E., Das Libretto, V. -ЗLpz., 1914, revised. ed. The art of writing opera-libretto, N. Y., 1922; Sonneсk O. G. Th., Catalog of librettos printed before 1800, v. 1-2, Wash., 1914, 1945; Kraussold M., Geist und Stoff der Opernichtung, Lpz., 1931; Delia Corte A., La "poesia per musica" e il libretto dopera, Turin, 1950; his, Drama per musica dal Rinuccini alio Zeno, v. 1-2, Turin, 1958; Rollandi U., Il libretto per musica attraverso i tempi, Roma, 1951; Fortner W., Lion F., Gramer H. v., Libretto der neuen Oper, "Akzente", 1957, H. 2; Schumann K., Die Emanzipation des Librettos. Literarische Tendenzen in der modernen Oper, in: Lebt die Oper?, Bonn, 1960; Weisstein U., The libretto as literatur, Norman (Okla.), 1961; Müller R., Das Opernlibretto im 19. Jahrhundert, Winterthur, 1966; Bragaglia L., Storia del libretto. Nel teatro in musica come testo e pretesto drammatico, v. 1, Roma, 1970; Smith P. J., The tenth muse. A historical study of the opera libretto, N. Y., 1970; Thiel E., Rohr G., Libretti: Verzeichnis der bis 1800 erschienenen Textbücher, Fr./M., 1970 (Kataloge der Herzog August-Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel. Neue Reihe, Bd 14). E. S. Chernaya.

Musical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, Soviet composer. Ed. Yu. V. Keldysh. 1973-1982 .

See what “Libretto” is in other dictionaries:

- (Italian, little book, notebook). Words that make up the content or explanation of an opera or ballet. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. LIBRETTO, etc. A book explaining the content of a ballet or opera. Explanation... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Libretto- LIBRETTO text of a vocal work: most often this term is applied to the verbal and script element of an opera or operetta. Attributing the librettization not to il libro (book), but to il libretto or libello, i.e. “little book,” reveals... ... Dictionary literary terms

Libretto- a work with the text of an opera or outlining the content of a ballet. A bibliogr. is compiled for the publication with the full text of the book. entry under the name of the librettist, even if on tit. l. The publication lists the composer as the author. Eg.: Sterbing Ch.... ... Publishing dictionary-reference book

LIBRETTO, uncl., cf. (Italian libretto) (theatre). 1. Verbal text of a large musical vocal work, mainly. operas. || A summary (usually included in theater program) plot opera being performed, plays (colloquial). 2. Plot... ... Dictionary Ushakova

Presentation, plan Dictionary of Russian synonyms. libretto noun, number of synonyms: 3 presentation (41) plan ... Synonym dictionary

libretto- libretto. Pronounced [libretto] and [libretto]... Dictionary of difficulties of pronunciation and stress in modern Russian language

- (Italian libretto lit. booklet), 1) literary text operas, operettas, less often oratorios. Originally published as a separate book (hence the name). 2) Literary script for ballet, pantomime. 3) Presentation of the content of opera, ballet. 4)… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

LIBRETTO, uncl., cf. 1. Verbal text of a theatrical musical vocal work. L. Opera. 2. Brief summary of the content of the play, opera, ballet. 3. Scenario plan (special). Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Wed, uncl., Italian. in translation, a little book, notebook: words, content or explanation of an opera, ballet. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dahl. 1863 1866 … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

- (Italian libretto, lit. - little book) 1) literary text of an opera, operetta, or less often an oratorio. Usually written in verse; 2) literary script for ballet, pantomime; 3) presentation of the content of opera, ballet, drama in a theater program or a separate booklet... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies

The libretto is a text that represents the literary and dramatic basis of a large vocal and musical work (opera, operetta, oratorio, cantata, musical); literary form script, short review ballet or opera performance.

Origin of the term

The term “libretto” (“little book”) comes from the Italian libretto, a diminutive of libro (“book”). This name is due to the fact that at the end of the 17th century, small books containing detailed description history of opera and ballet, a list of performers, roles, heroes and actions that take place on stage. The word "libretto" is also used to designate the text of liturgical works, for example: mass, sacred cantata, requiem.

Libretto booklets

Books describing opera and ballet performances were printed in several formats, some larger than others. Such booklets with the laconic content of the performance (dialogues, song lyrics, stage actions) were usually published separately from the music. Sometimes this format was supplemented with melodic passages of musical notation. Librettos became widespread in theaters, as they allowed the audience to familiarize themselves with the performance program.

The opera libretto arose in Italy and France in the 17th century, during the development of musical and dramatic genres, and was a poetic text, although theatrical recitatives often combined poetry with prose. The libretto was originally written famous poets. The compiler of the libretto was called the librettist. Opera librettos not only contributed to the development of European musical drama, but also formed a new literary genre.

Famous librettists

The most famous librettist of the 18th century was the Italian playwright Pietro Metastasio, whose librettos were set to music by many composers, including A. Vivaldi, G. F. Handel, W. A. ​​Mozart, A. Salieri and others; and were also repeatedly used in theatrical productions. The dramas of P. Metastasio, regardless of the music, had independent value and were included in classical Italian literature.

Example libretto

The libretto of P. Metastasio “The Clemency of Titus” (1734), based on the tragedy of P. Corneille “Cinna” (1641), was used to create the opera of the same name by W. A. ​​Mozart in 1791.

Another leading librettist of the 18th century, Lorenzo da Ponte, is the author of 28 librettos for musical works, including operas by W. A. ​​Mozart and A. Salieri. French playwright Eugene Scribe, one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, created texts for musical works G. Meyerbeer, D. Ober, V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, G. Rossini and G. Verdi.

Librettists-composers

Since the 19th century, cases have appeared when the composer himself acted as the author of the libretto. R. Wagner is most famous in this regard with his transformations of legends and historical events into epic plots of musical dramas. G. Berlioz wrote the libretto for his works “The Damnation of Faust” and “The Trojans”, A. Boito created the text for the opera “Mephistopheles”. In Russian opera, the composer M. P. Mussorgsky possessed literary and dramatic talent, who sometimes independently wrote texts for his works.

Collaboration between librettists and composers

The relationship between some librettists and composers was characterized by long-term cooperation, for example: the long-term partnership of librettist L. Da Ponte and composer W. A. ​​Mozart, E. Scribe and J. Meyerbeer, A. Boito and G. Verdi, V. I. Belsky and N . A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto for P. I. Tchaikovsky was written by his brother, playwright M. I. Tchaikovsky.

Sources of libretto plots

Sources for the libretto's plots are mainly folklore(legends, myths, fairy tales) and literary (plays, poems, stories, novels) works, altered in accordance with musical and stage requirements. When adapting to the libretto literary works for the most part have undergone changes. The libretto simplifies the work, reducing its elements in favor of the music, which thus gets the time it needs to develop. Such processing often leads to a change in the composition and idea of ​​the work (the story “The Queen of Spades” by A. S. Pushkin and the opera of the same name by P. I. Tchaikovsky created on its basis).

Original librettos

The libretto can be an original work, the plot of which is not borrowed from literary sources. Such are the librettos of E. Scribe for J. Meyerbeer’s opera “Robert the Devil”, G. von Hofmannsthal for R. Strauss’s opera “Der Rosenkavalier”, M. P. Mussorgsky for the opera “Khovanshchina”. The libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers - M. I. Glinka, A. V. Serov, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, G. Puccini and P. Mascagni - wrote musical fragments without text, after which the librettist added words to the lines of the vocal melody.

Status of librettists

Librettists often received less recognition than composers. IN late XVIII centuries, the name of the librettist was rarely indicated, as Lorenzo da Ponte mentioned in his memoirs.

Libretto and synopsis

The abbreviated form, or condensed presentation, of the libretto is considered to be a synopsis. However, the libretto differs from the synopsis or script, since the libretto contains theatrical actions, words and stage directions, while the synopsis summarizes the plot.

Modern meaning

The term "libretto" is used in different types contemporary art(music, literature, theater, cinema) to indicate the plan of action that precedes the script. The science that studies libretto as the literary basis of musical works is called librettology.

The word libretto comes from Italian libretto, which means little book.

Libretto several. Wed 1. The text of a theatrical musical and vocal work (opera, operetta, cantata and oratorio). 2. Scenario for ballet, pantomime, etc. 3. Brief summary of the content of opera, ballet, etc. Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova

If you love music (which you undoubtedly do, since you needed this book), then you have probably seen books called “Opera librettos.” They outline the content of many Russian, Soviet and foreign operas. What does libretto mean - content? No, that's an inaccurate name. In fact, the libretto ( Italian word libretto means little book) is the full text of a musical and stage composition, that is, an opera, an operetta. As a rule, librettos are composed by librettists who specialize in this field. Famous in history musical theater outstanding librettists who significantly influenced the development of opera, such as P. Metastasio, R. Calzabigi, and later A. Boito in Italy, E. Scribe, A. Meillac and L. Halévy in France. In Russia it was M. I. Tchaikovsky, who wrote the libretto for his brother P. I. Tchaikovsky, V. I. Belsky, who worked with N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Many librettos for Soviet composers were written by singer S. A. Tsenin. Often the primary source of the libretto is literary or dramatic work. Remember the most popular operas: “Eugene Onegin”, “The Queen of Spades”, “La Traviata”, “Rigoletto”, “Carmen”, “Snow Maiden”, “Boris Godunov”, “War and Peace”, “Katerina Izmailova”. Russian, foreign and Soviet operas are named here at random, based on - famous works Pushkin, Tolstoy, Leskov, Ostrovsky, Merimee, Hugo, Dumas the Son. However, these works have been greatly changed, because the opera genre has its own specifics. Thus, the text of the opera must be very laconic: after all, the sung word sounds much longer than the spoken word. In addition, the basis dramatic play-- dialogue. An opera must have arias, ensembles, and choruses. All this also requires processing. Even reworkings of a dramatic play. If a story or novel is chosen as the primary source, there are even more alterations: the number of characters, one stands out story line and others disappear altogether. Compare, for example, Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” and Tchaikovsky’s opera, and you can easily see this for yourself. Sometimes the characters of the characters change, and even, to some extent, the idea of ​​the work. Therefore, the composer is sometimes reproached for distorting the writer’s intention. But such reproaches are unfounded: after all, the composer, together with the librettist, writes his own independent work. Any literary work can be taken as its basis, and historical event, And folk legend. The libretto can be independent, not based on literary work. The librettist either composes it himself or creates it based on some documents, folklore sources etc. This is how, for example, a magnificent, very original libretto of N. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia”, written by V. Belsky, arose. Sometimes the composer himself becomes the author of the libretto. Thus, Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin, based on the great monument of ancient Russian poetry “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign,” created the libretto for his opera “Prince Igor.” Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky himself wrote the libretto for “Boris Godunov” and “Khovanshchina,” and in our time this tradition was continued by R. K. Shchedrin, who is not only the author of the music, but also the author of the libretto of the opera “ Dead Souls" The history of music knows cases when a composer chooses a completed dramatic work as a libretto. Such, for example, is “The Stone Guest” by Dargomyzhsky, written on the unchanged text of Pushkin’s little tragedy.

• - LIBRETTO - the text of a vocal work: most often this term is applied to the verbal and script element of an opera or operetta...

  Dictionary of literary terms

• - 1) literary text of an opera, operetta, or less often an oratorio. Usually written in verse; 2) literary script for ballet, pantomime; 3) presentation of the content of opera, ballet, drama in a theater program or a separate booklet...

  Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies

• - If you love music, then you have probably seen books called “Opera librettos”...

  Musical dictionary

• - a book containing the text of a large vocal composition, secular or spiritual, for example. operas, operettas, oratorios, cantatas. L.'s text is written in verse, mostly rhymed...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - verbal text of a musical-dramatic work - opera, operetta, in the past and cantata, oratorio, literary script of a ballet performance, as well as a summary of the content of the opera, operetta,...

  Great Soviet Encyclopedia

• - 1) literary text of an opera, operetta, or less often an oratorio. Originally published as a separate book.2) Literary script for ballet, pantomime.3) Presentation of the content of opera, ballet...

  Large encyclopedic dictionary

• - cf., uncl., ital. translated into a little book, notebook: words, content or explanation of an opera, ballet...

  Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

• - Borrowing. in the 19th century from italian lang., where libretto "" "little book", suf. diminutive-caress, formations from libro “book” lat. liber "book" "bast"...

  Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language

• - several...

  Spelling dictionary of the Russian language

• - LIBRETTO, uncl., cf. 1. Verbal text of a theatrical musical and vocal work. L. Opera. 2. Brief summary of the content of the play, opera, ballet. 3. Scenario plan...

  Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

• - LIBRETTO, uncl., cf. . 1. Verbal text of a large musical and vocal work, preferably. operas. || A brief summary of the plot of the opera or play being performed. 2. Plot plan, script outline for ballet or films...

  Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

• - libretto several. Wed 1. The text of a theatrical musical and vocal work. 2. Scenario for ballet, pantomime, etc. 3. Brief summary of the content of opera, ballet, etc. . 4...

  Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova

• - libr "etto, neskl...

  Russian spelling dictionary

• - libretto "text of the opera". Through him. Libretto, or rather straight from it. libretto, actually “little book”, from It. libro "book"...

  Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary

• - words, text to the music of the opera Wed. Libretto - a composition for opera music. Wed. Libretto - book. Wed. Liber - book. Wed. λέπειν - to screw...

  Mikhelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

• - Words that make up the content or explanation of an opera or ballet...

  Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

"LIBRETTO" in books

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Chapter 16. Mio caro Michele: “You must read the libretto!”

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