# Opera- Libretto by Composer



## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Reviewing what I know of this topic, the Composer-Librettists so far seem to fall into two categories...
Category One: The Master of Bayreuth!
Category Two: Various "one-hit wonders." Current examples are- Leoncavallo's _Pagliacci_, Charpentier's _Louise_, and Arrigno Boito's _Mefistofele_. The latter two, like Flotow's _Martha_ or Thomas' _Mignon_, were more highly regarded in the era of our grandparents. I might (and probably will) research this further, but I also thought it would be fun to consider these works, and others that could be added.


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## Guest (May 10, 2007)

Berlioz, Messiaen, Tippett, Prokofiev.

Messiaen would be another of your one hit wonders. Two of Berlioz' three completed operas have libretti by him. I don't know offhand if all of Tippett's libretti are by him or only some. And I threw Prokofiev in, even though it was he and his wife who worked together on libretti.

Nice thread, though. I'd like to know who else wrote their own libretti.


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## Handel (Apr 18, 2007)

I don't have precise example, but I am sure Handel contributed to his operas/oratorios libretti.


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## Frasier (Mar 10, 2007)

some guy said:


> Berlioz, Messiaen, Tippett, Prokofiev.
> 
> Messiaen would be another of your one hit wonders. Two of Berlioz' three completed operas have libretti by him. *I don't know offhand if all of Tippett's libretti are by him or only some. *And I threw Prokofiev in, even though it was he and his wife who worked together on libretti.
> 
> Nice thread, though. I'd like to know who else wrote their own libretti.


I know he wrote libretti for The Knot Garden, Midsummer Marriage and King Priam but I'm afraid I turned Priam off after about five minutes. I'm no fan of Tippet though I'm usually happy with contemporary music. From his music I'd guess he lived a fairly stressful life.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

"I have only come here seeking knowledge"... a cheap Gordon Sumner lyric, I know- but I have to ask... WHICH Berlioz operas were ones where he did the libretti? In the case of Prokofiev (and as far as I'm concerned, he counts), maybe we could give an ordinal rank of his operas, by popularity (for the sake of completion, don'tcha know).


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## Rod Corkin (Jun 1, 2007)

Wagner is a good example of why composers should stick to composing and keep away from words!


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

It's not the first time I've heard the "Wagner should have stuck to music" sentiment. Not long ago, I heard a native German speaker say something similar. If I'd been in a more confrontational mood, I would have said, "How does it make you feel to know that Wagner has spread the German language further across the globe than Goethe, or Rilke, or Hesse?"


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## Rod Corkin (Jun 1, 2007)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> It's not the first time I've heard the "Wagner should have stuck to music" sentiment. Not long ago, I heard a native German speaker say something similar. If I'd been in a more confrontational mood, I would have said, "How does it make you feel to know that Wagner has spread the German language further across the globe than Goethe, or Rilke, or Hesse?"


Yes but some of the stuff Wagner wrote sounds laughably stupid, in English translation at least. So what favour did he do the German language?


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## Leporello87 (Mar 25, 2007)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> It's not the first time I've heard the "Wagner should have stuck to music" sentiment. Not long ago, I heard a native German speaker say something similar. If I'd been in a more confrontational mood, I would have said, "How does it make you feel to know that Wagner has spread the German language further across the globe than Goethe, or Rilke, or Hesse?"


Very true. However, note that, by virtue of the music, this would have happened anyway, even if he had outsourced the writing of the libretti to someone who knew more what they was doing.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Rod Corkin said:


> So what favour did he do the German language?


Well, if you consider the numberless people who've made been motivated to acquire a better understanding of German and had as their initial motivation a better understanding of Wagnerian opera, I would say that constitutes a big favor to the German language.


Leporello87 said:


> by virtue of the music, this would have happened anyway, even if he had outsourced the writing of the libretti to someone who knew more what they was doing.


I'll grant your initial premise as uncontested, but I shouldn't think that it would be necessary to remind someone who bears your screen name that if you outsource the writing of your libretti, you may wind up with text that differs from the native language of the composer


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## Rod Corkin (Jun 1, 2007)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> Well, if you consider the numberless people who've made been motivated to acquire a better understanding of German and had as their initial motivation a better understanding of Wagnerian opera, I would say that constitutes a big favor to the German language. I'll grant your initial premise as uncontested, but I shouldn't think that it would be necessary to remind someone who bears your screen name that if you outsource the writing of your libretti, you may wind up with text that differs from the native language of the composer


The problem is, although it is clear Wagner had considerable talent, his end products are so often either over-blown or underachieving, but either way always conspicuously self-indulgent. A shame really....


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

I understand that this has morphed into a "wind-up-the-Wagner-fan" foray. Still, like Carl Sandburg said about the city of my birth, I have big shoulders, too... I'll play along for a little bit


Rod Corkin said:


> The problem is, although it is clear Wagner had considerable talent, his end products are so often either over-blown or underachieving


10 operas premiered after the age of 29, every single last one of which remains in the standard opera repertory 125-160+ years later. We should all overblow or underachieve to that extent.


Rod Corkin said:


> but either way always conspicuously self-indulgent.


Guilty as charged. I guess it's a good time for me to dust off my James King quote from the rotating sig archive... "[Wagner's] ego was such that he believed he deserved to be rewarded and rewarded handsomely for the art that he brought into being. On this point, at least, he and I are in agreement."


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