Singing Speech and Speaking Melodies

Minor Forms of Musical Theatre in the 18th and 19th Century

Edited by M. E. Cortizo Edited by M. Niccolai

Book cover: Singing Speech and Speaking Melodies

Extent: 576 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Eighteenth-Century Studies, Music & Performing Arts, Nineteenth-Century Studies

Series: Speculum musicae

Series volume number: 43

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(July 2021)

ISBN: 9782503595436

Price: $170.00

In stock

This volume explores the different minor forms of musical theatre in the 18th and 19th century.


This volume addresses the complex variety of stage works with sung and spoken sections, such as “vaudeville”, “singspiel”, “opera-comique”, “zarzuela” or “operetta” in different European countries from the eighteenth century to the beginning of the Twenties. Beyond a multifaceted perspective, twenty-one essays investigate the nature of these musical theatre forms, attending their origins, literary sources, relationships, vocality or cultural transfers, features that in some cases have made them become a mass phenomenon. The dissemination and adaptation of these genres through different national contexts, confirms the significance of the long-standing relationship between them and the contemporary dramatical and musical repertoire, revealing significant synergies, always conditioned by the market evolution.

  • Edited by M. E. Cortizo
  • Edited by M. Niccolai