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Autumn 1937","","Preface to an English opera libretto collection, explaining the historical origin of opera wordbooks (“libretto”) and their evolution across languages and audiences. It traces major eras from early Italian and French traditions through the nineteenth century, critiques poor translations and shifting cultural expectations, and argues that successful English opera requires a strong tradition of accurate, singable wording fitted to the music. It also stresses that these lines are written for performance rather than private 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Morgan","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-17","2026-10-13",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why did opera librettos come to be printed as small books?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The preface describes early printing as a souvenir and explains that librettos have since become customary as a book of words for opera audiences.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the preface explain the decline of opera in English and the role of translations?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It links English opera’s stagnation to shifting tastes after Purcell and argues that translating poorly written Italian leads to even worse English, making opera seem ridiculous to many.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does the preface say about the translator’s responsibilities for English versions?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It emphasizes making the story clear, using simple, intelligible words for singing, and accurately fitting the text to the music after these requirements are met.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},567926,1792243692,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},1099523885336,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","DON GIOVANNI  \nTHE MAGIC FLUTE  \nTHE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO  \nDON GIOVANNI  \nFIDELIO(shortly)  \nPrice 2s.net each  \nOther operas in preparation  \nDON GIOVANNI  \nWords byLORENZO DA PONTE  \nMusic by  \nWOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART  \nEnglish Version by  \nEDWARD J.DENT  \n次  \nOXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESSLondon New York Toronto  \nNOTE  \nAll applications for permission to usethe English text here printed should beaddressed to the Publisher  \nAcknowledgement is due to the lateMiss Lilian Baylis and Mr.Owen P.Smyth for permission to reproduce theillustration of Sadler's Wells Theatrewhich appears on the cover  \n# PREFACE\n\nWHEN the first of all operas was produced at Florencetowards the end of the sixteenth century(the date is uncer-tain)the book ofwords was printed (in 1600)probably asa souvenir to be given away to the noble ladies and gentle-men who had been invited to the performance,and eversince then it has been the custom to print the words ofoperas as a little book—hence the international name forit,libretto,a little book.The first librettos were writtenby real poets;in fact the words were often better thanthe music.As long as operas were composed mainly forthe cultivated classes,librettos maintained a reasonablyhigh standard,in whatever language they were written.Quinault wrote in French for Lully,Dryden for Purcellin the seventeenth century;in Italy Apostolo Zeno andMetastasio carried on the tradition of literary dignityinto the eighteenth.That century,too,is the great ageof comic opera,with admirable humorists such asGoldoni,Bickerstaffe,Sedaine,and Casti—the Gilbertof his day—to say nothing of Mozart's friend Da Ponte.It was not until the days of Verdi—from about I840onwards—that the word libretto became a byword fornonsense and doggerel.Verdi's audiences were noisyand ill-educated;they wanted roaring melodrama(theword melodramma is the classical Italian word for opera,which about 165o was still rather colloquial),with musicthat could be taken up for political purposes.No wonderthat there are still nice-minded people who say they prefertheir operas in a language they do not understand.  \nPREFACE  \nOpera in English dates back to 1656,but after thedeath of Purcell in 1695 it languished.Italian opera wasestablished as a fashionable entertainment,and opera inEnglish was only what we should call‘musical comedy'.Out of this comic opera grew what in the nineteenth cen-tury was known as‘grand romantic opera';and its Englishlandmarks wereWeber'sOberon,written forLondon,1826,and the English performances of Beethoven's Fidelio(withMalibran as the heroine)in I833.Butit is difficult to trans-late bad Italian into anything but worse English,and theresult has been that opera in English is to most people alamentably ridiculous affair.Opera in English will neverflourish until a tradition of really good translation isestablished.Far be it from me to speak ill of my prede-cessors:Thomas Oliphant's version of Fidelio(1833)isa model of good style.Unfortunately it sounds tooelegant for the present day;owing to changes in literaryconvention translations,like accompaniments to folk-songs,must sooner or later become out of date,and haveto be rewritten.  \nEnglish is a perfectly good language for singing,ifsingers will take the trouble to pronounce it naturally,as actors do.Even when English is difficult to sing,it isless difficult than German can be in some of the standardGerman operas.The first duty of a translator is to makethe story of the opera clear,and to write words simpleenough to be intelligible when sung.If only for thisreason,the words must be accurately fitted to the music;and after all these conditions are fulfilled,there is notmuch chance left for ‘poetry'.The reader is asked to  \nPREFACE  \nremember that the words of these English versions havebeen written to be sung and acted,not to be read.Stagescenery is not meant to be hung in a private house;thescene-painter is satisfied if it looks reasonably well on thestage.If the reader discovers in these page","cbCaivjI49D6VW63","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivjI49D6VW63","pdf",3490958,96,"English","# PREFACE\n## Origin and purpose of the libretto\n## Opera in English: history and translation challenges\n## Translator’s duties and writing for performance","[{\"question\":\"Why did opera librettos come to be printed as small books?\",\"answer\":\"The preface describes early printing as a souvenir and explains that librettos have since become customary as a book of words for opera audiences.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the preface explain the decline of opera in English and the role of translations?\",\"answer\":\"It links English opera’s stagnation to shifting tastes after Purcell and argues that translating poorly written Italian leads to even worse English, making opera seem ridiculous to many.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the preface say about the translator’s responsibilities for English versions?\",\"answer\":\"It emphasizes making the story clear, using simple, intelligible words for singing, and accurately fitting the text to the music after these requirements are met.\"}]","Opera Libretto Preface - E.J.D. Autumn 1937 | PDF",1791868582,148]