| Revision as of 00:44, 17 May 2020 editRosguill (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Administrators144,226 edits Adding short description: "Experimental performance genre" (Shortdesc helper)← Previous edit | Revision as of 11:00, 17 May 2020 edit undoSsilvers (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers179,243 edits Do not remove tags unless you thoroughly cite this article with WP:Reliable sources that make it clear that it is a notable and distinct genre.Next edit → | ||
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| {{short description|Experimental performance genre}} | |||
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| {{About|music theatre in the tradition of the 1960s avant-garde|musicals and musical comedy in the tradition of Broadway|Musical theatre{{!}}Musical theatre}} | |||
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| Music Theatre is an umbrella term refering to many different ways of creating a piece of theatre using sound made from body, voice, a musical instrument and even your general surroundings, often in an unconventional and untraditional way. It is an ever-evolving and varying form of theatre in which music is included in the text. ] wrote that Music Theatre can often be 'fringe or experimental opera'. He also said that Music Theatre is a 'performance' of a 'simple, strong story.' These stories are musically driven or have essential musical elements. | |||
| '''Music theatre''' is a performance genre that emerged over the course of the 20th century, in opposition to more conventional genres like ] and ]. The term came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s to describe an avant-garde approach to instrumental and vocal composition that included non-sonic gesture, movement, costume and other visual elements within the score. Unlike operas, these compositions (such as ]’s ''Aventures'' (1962), ]’s ''Match'' (1964) and ]’s ''Eight Songs for a Mad King'' (1968)) were intended to be performed on a concert hall stage, potentially as part of a longer programme of pieces. | |||
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| As Music Theatre is always evolving, its performance is frequently raw, controversial, experimental and original. | |||
| However, many existing and more easily defined genres of theatre come under the Music Theatre Umbrella. These include ], ], ], ], Artuadian and ] theatre. | |||
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| Though commonly the word ‘]’ is used to describe a structured performance, ('any space that permits actors and singers to be seen and heard might serve as a theater' <ref>Salzman, Desi, 2008</ref> '''') and when combined with the word ‘]’ the boundaries become less defined. Therefore anything that uses music with the intentions of providing entertainment could be classed as Music Theatre, and 'indeed anything that brings theatre to the concert platform'. <ref>Bawtree, Michael, 1991, Back Cover</ref> | |||
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| In these broad terms the genre could also included online channels, beat boxing, performance art, actors playing instruments and even musical artists such as ] and ]. Ruth Leon wrote that 'It's simply a way to combine the most basic of our human actions,' <ref>Leon,2010 </ref> thus allowing us as humans to experement and use the voice and movements to create sounds and to develop ways of moving to create a piece of theatre. | |||
| ==Origin== | |||
| Since the 1980s, the term ‘music theatre’ has come to include any live project that uses the techniques and theories of avant-garde theatre and performance art to experiment with new ways of combining music and theatre; this has been extended to include some of the historical works which influenced the music theatre of the 1960s, such as ]’s ''Pierrot Lunaire'' (1912), ]’s ''L’Histoire du soldat'' (1918) and ]’s ''Mahagonny Songspiel'' (1927). The unconventional scale and unfamiliar aesthetic language of this work often positions it outside of the established traditions, institutions and discourses of opera and musical theatre. For this reason, the genre has also been called '''new music theatre''' and '''experimental music theatre'''. | |||
| The term 'Music Theatre' has developed over time and orriginally came from the German 'musiktheater' which can refer to a building as well as a certin kind of instrumental/vocal ] performance associated with composers like ] and ]. <ref>Salzman, Desi, 2008.</ref> | |||
| ==Music Theatre in Popular Culture== | |||
| Music theatre projects are often composer-led, with the composer deciding many elements of the text, staging and design which would usually be determined by a librettist, director or designer. Examples of key music theatre artists who compose and direct their work include ], ] and Ruedi Häusermann. Some music theatre artists, such as ], ] and ], also perform their own work. However, not all music theatre artists are composers. Some, like ] and ], are predominantly directors; others create work as part of an ensemble or collective of artists, such as Song of the Goat and Die Maulwerker. | |||
| If we were to look at London's West End today we can see a number of 'shows' that fall into the theatrical genre of 'Music Theatre.' Obvious examples include Musicals such as ], ], ] and ]. Less obvious examples may include 'stright plays' such as ] where music plays a big part in creating the atmosphere and feel of the production. Other interesting examples may include ] where most of the story is told through dialogue/text but still has songs to help move the story along. ] once said that his musical was more a play with songs so it creates the interesting question - is this a play or a musical? - The concept of 'Music Theatre' helps to encompass 'shows' that do not fall neatly into a specific category. | |||
| ==See Also== | |||
| The validity of music theatre as a genre distinct from opera and musicals varies according to the national context. In some countries, like Germany and Belgium, the concept is widely understood and supported by a dedicated infrastructure of festivals, venues and funding bodies; in other countries, it is wholly subsumed within opera, theatre or performance art, or else banished to a marginal status beyond categorisation. Nevertheless, a renewed compositional interest in non-sonic, theatrical and ‘performative’ elements from 21st century composers such as Johannes Kreidler, ] and ] has led to a resurgence in interest in the genre and its history. | |||
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| ===Sources=== | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Adlington|first=Robert|editor-last=Cooke|editor-first=Mervyn|title=The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Opera|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2005|pages=223–243|chapter=Chapter 14: Music theatre since the 1960s|isbn=0-521-78009-8}} | |||
| * {{cite book|editor-last=Adlington|editor-first=Robert|year=2019|title=New Music Theatre in Europe: Transformations between 1955–1975|location=Abingdon|publisher=Routledge}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last=Hall|first=Michael|year=2015|title=Music Theatre in Britain 1960–1975|location=Woodbridge|publisher=The Boydell Press|isbn=978-1-78327-012-5}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last1=Salzman|first1=Eric|last2=Desi|first2=Thomas|year=2008|title=The New Music Theater: Seeing the Voice, Hearing the Body|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-509936-2}} | |||
| ]<br /> | |||
| ]<br /> | |||
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| ==Notes== | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| ==References== | |||
| *Salzman, Desi, 2008, The New Music Theater, The Oxford University Press. | |||
| *Bawtree, Michael, 1991, The New Singing Theatre: A Charter for the Music Theatre Movement, New York and Bristol, The Oxford University Press and The Bristol Press. | |||
| *Leon, 2010 The Sound of Musicals, Oberon Books. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | ] | ||
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Music Theatre is an umbrella term refering to many different ways of creating a piece of theatre using sound made from body, voice, a musical instrument and even your general surroundings, often in an unconventional and untraditional way. It is an ever-evolving and varying form of theatre in which music is included in the text. Kurt Weill wrote that Music Theatre can often be 'fringe or experimental opera'. He also said that Music Theatre is a 'performance' of a 'simple, strong story.' These stories are musically driven or have essential musical elements.
As Music Theatre is always evolving, its performance is frequently raw, controversial, experimental and original.
However, many existing and more easily defined genres of theatre come under the Music Theatre Umbrella. These include Opera, Musical Theatre, Pantomime, Shakespeare, Artuadian and Brechtian theatre.
Though commonly the word ‘Theatre’ is used to describe a structured performance, ('any space that permits actors and singers to be seen and heard might serve as a theater' ) and when combined with the word ‘Music’ the boundaries become less defined. Therefore anything that uses music with the intentions of providing entertainment could be classed as Music Theatre, and 'indeed anything that brings theatre to the concert platform'.
In these broad terms the genre could also included online channels, beat boxing, performance art, actors playing instruments and even musical artists such as Lady GaGa and David Bowie. Ruth Leon wrote that 'It's simply a way to combine the most basic of our human actions,' thus allowing us as humans to experement and use the voice and movements to create sounds and to develop ways of moving to create a piece of theatre.
Origin
The term 'Music Theatre' has developed over time and orriginally came from the German 'musiktheater' which can refer to a building as well as a certin kind of instrumental/vocal avant-garde performance associated with composers like Stockhausen and Kagel.
Music Theatre in Popular Culture
If we were to look at London's West End today we can see a number of 'shows' that fall into the theatrical genre of 'Music Theatre.' Obvious examples include Musicals such as Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King and Shrek the Musical. Less obvious examples may include 'stright plays' such as War Horse where music plays a big part in creating the atmosphere and feel of the production. Other interesting examples may include Blood Brothers where most of the story is told through dialogue/text but still has songs to help move the story along. Willy Russell once said that his musical was more a play with songs so it creates the interesting question - is this a play or a musical? - The concept of 'Music Theatre' helps to encompass 'shows' that do not fall neatly into a specific category.
See Also
Notes
- Salzman, Desi, 2008
- Bawtree, Michael, 1991, Back Cover
- Leon,2010
- Salzman, Desi, 2008.
References
- Salzman, Desi, 2008, The New Music Theater, The Oxford University Press.
- Bawtree, Michael, 1991, The New Singing Theatre: A Charter for the Music Theatre Movement, New York and Bristol, The Oxford University Press and The Bristol Press.
- Leon, 2010 The Sound of Musicals, Oberon Books.