# Am I writing an opera?



## Tarkellyt (Feb 23, 2013)

Hello, I am a college student, majoring in theater and I'm taking a variety of musi classes. I have a large passion for opera.

Anyway, I'm writing a musical that is largely influenced by Irish and English folk music. The more writing I have done the more I have reached a stylistic approach that is very, for lack of a better word, operatic.

There is no spoken dialogue. There are solos, duets, trios, and chorus numbers. I guess I just don't know at what point it stops being a musical and it starts being an opera.

Sorry for my ignorance!


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Tarkellyt said:


> Hello, I am a college student, majoring in theater and I'm taking a variety of musi classes. I have a large passion for opera.
> 
> Anyway, I'm writing a musical that is largely influenced by Irish and English folk music. The more writing I have done the more I have reached a stylistic approach that is very, for lack of a better word, operatic.
> 
> ...


There are musicals that are sung through. The main difference is the style of writing. If it's within the style of the classical tradition, it's an opera. If it's within the style of the popular tradition, it's a musical.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Tarkellyt said:


> I'm writing a musical


Why not an opera if you are passionate about them?


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## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

Tarkellyt said:


> Am I writing an opera?


good idea, the world needs operas, provided that your work has encompassed the entire classical music history experience - from Monteverdi to Alban Berg, for example, and conveyed *meanings* and *emotions* and *ideas* via the music you wrote, not just melodies and harmonies for their own sake.


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## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> The main difference is the style of writing


i believe, the least of importance is the style and so on, because for example if say Wagner cared about styles, he would not have created anything worth listening.


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## Tarkellyt (Feb 23, 2013)

I definitely want to call it an opera. I guess I just fear the expectations and comparisons that it brings. It is definitely not just a musical by broadway standards. I don't know. Anyway, thank you for your input.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ don't worry too much. The next one is bound to be easier to write as you'll learn a lot from writing this one


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