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The patter song is a staple of comic opera, but it has also been used in musicals and other situations. Comic opera, or light opera, denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature usually with a happy ending Musical theatre is a form of Theatre combining Music, Songs spoken Dialogue and Dance. It is characterized by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note (there are few or no melismatic passages). Melisma, in music is singing a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession The lyric of a patter song generally features tongue-twisting rhyming text, with alliterative words and other consonant or vowel sounds that are intended to be entertaining to listen to at rapid speed, and the musical accompaniment is lightly orchestrated and fairly simple, to emphasize the text. Rhymed prose is a Literary form and Literary genre, written in unmetrical Rhymes This form has been known in many different cultures The song is often intended as a showpiece for a comic character, usually a bass or baritone (with or without choral interjection). This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. The singer should be capable of excellent enunciation in order to show the song to maximum effect. The best-known patter songs come from the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian era partnership of Librettist W

Contents

Origins

The type of rapid patter described above seems to have originated in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Italian opera. Italian opera is both the art of Opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. An early example is Bartolo's "La vendetta" in Act 1 of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, which contains the tongue-twisting “Se tutto il codice” section near the end. Le nozze di Figaro ossia la folle giornata (Trans The Marriage of Figaro or the Day of Madness) K

After Mozart, there are similar examples in the comic operas of Rossini and Donizetti. Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 &ndash 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. In most cases, there is no “patter song” as such – the patter forms a late section of a multi-part number. The best-known examples are:

Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs

Gilbert had a soft spot for Don Pasquale and must have known this last duet. Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 &ndash 29 May 1911 was an English Dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen Don Pasquale is an Opera buffa, or comic Opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Examples of G&S patter songs along the lines of the above can be found in:

Several of the other G&S patter songs are of this "rapid-fire" kind. Some other numbers in the G&S canon, however, are classified as patter-songs by aficionados, although they may not contain all of the attributes listed in the definition above. Fans in Little Italyjpg|thumb|right|Fans in Little Italy Manhattan celebrating the victory of the Italian association football team after the 2006 FIFA World Cup]][[Image Wm-oly-de-cr These are often songs telling how the character rose to an undeserved distinguished position, or they may contain a catalogue or list. The model here may be the middle section, starting “È questo l'odontalgico”, of Doctor Dulcamara’s "Udite, Udite, o rustici" in Act 1 of Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore (1832), a work that Gilbert had travestied early in his career. L'elisir d'amore ( The Elixir of Love) is a Melodramma giocoso in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. [1] This was not intended to be sung at speed and does not contain tongue-twisters, and is thus more of a precursor of, say, "When I, good friends, was called to the bar" (Trial by Jury), than are the examples of the "rapid-fire" patter above. This article is about the comic opera For the legal institution see Jury trial.

Most of the G&S patter songs are solos for the principal comedian in the cast, and were originally performed by George Grossmith. George Grossmith (9 December 1847 &ndash 1 March 1912 was an English Comedian, Writer, Composer, Actor, and singer Anna Russell’s "How to write your own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera" contains an affectionate parody of a G&S patter song. Anna Russell, née Anna Claudia Russell-Brown ( 27 December 1911 - 18 October 2006) was an English – Canadian

After Gilbert and Sullivan

Apart from G&S tunes set to different words, such as Tom Lehrer's listing of the chemical elements to the tune of the Major General's Song, later patter-songs can be found in early twentieth-century operettas, such as Edward German’s Merrie England and in a number of musicals. Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer (born April 9 1928)is an American Singer-songwriter, satirist, Pianist, and mathematician " The Elements " ( 1959) is a song by musical humorist Tom Lehrer, which recites the names of all the Chemical elements known at the time of writing Sir Edward German ( 17 February 1862 &ndash 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent best remembered Merrie England is an English Comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a Libretto by Basil Hood. A particularly good example is "Tchaikovsky (and Other Russians)" in Weill’s Lady in the Dark and "Getting Married Today" in Stephen Sondheim's Company. Tchaikovsky and Other Russians is a Patter song first performed by American comedian Danny Kaye in the Broadway musical WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Kurt Julian Weill ( March 2, 1900 &ndash April 3, Lady in the Dark is a Broadway musical written by Kurt Weill (music Ira Gershwin (lyrics and Moss Hart (book and direction Stephen Joshua Sondheim (born March 22 1930 is an American musical and film composer and lyricist winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (seven Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Another good example is Professor Harold Hill's song in The Music Man, "Ya got trouble. The Music Man is a musical with book music and lyrics by Meredith Willson. " Some rock and pop songs share many of the characteristics of patter songs as well, such as Barenaked Ladies' "One Week", "Pinch Me", Rolf Harris' "Court of King Caractacus", Reunion's "Life is a Rock", R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It", Shriley Ellis's "The Name Game", or Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire". Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Barenaked Ladies (often abbreviated BNL or occasionally BnL) is a Juno -winning and Grammy -nominated Canadian Alternative " One Week " is a 1998 hit single by Barenaked Ladies. " Pinch Me " is a 2000 single by the rock band Barenaked Ladies. Rolf Harris CBE, AM (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian Musician, Singer, Composer, painter " Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me " is a 1974 Song by a group of studio musicians in a group for this purpose called Reunion REM is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Michael Stipe ( lead vocals) Peter Buck ( Guitar " It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine " is a song by the rock band R " The Name Game," or " The Banana Song " is a children's singalong rhyming game that creates variations on a person's name William Martin Joel (born May 9 1949 is an American Pianist and Singer-songwriter. " We Didn't Start the Fire " is a song by Billy Joel that makes reference to a catalog of headline events during his lifetime from March 1949 to 1989 when the

See also

List of patter songs

Notes

  1. ^ See Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack. A list of Patter songs Pre-Gilbert and Sullivan Peter Cornelius: The Barber of Baghdad &ndash "Bin Akademiker Doktor Dulcamara or the Little Duck and the Great Quack, is one of the earliest plays written by W

External links

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