See also:

• MELODRAMA (a coined word from Gr. µEXos, music, and Spaµa, action)

MELODRAMA (a coined word from Gr. µEXos, See also:

• MUSIC

music, and See also:

• SPA

Spaµa, See also:

• ACTION

action)  , the name of several See also:

• SPECIES

species of dramatic See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition . As the word implies, " See also:

• MELODRAMA (a coined word from Gr. µEXos, music, and Spaµa, action)

melodrama " is properly a dramatic mixture of See also:

• MUSIC

music and See also:

• ACTION

action, and was first applied to a See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of dramatic musical composition in which music accompanied the spoken words and the action, but in which there was no singing . The first example of such a See also:

• WORK

work has generally been taken to be the See also:

• PYGMALION

Pygmalion of J . J . See also:

• ROUSSEAU, JACQUES (1633-1693)
• ROUSSEAU, JEAN BAPTISTE (1671-1741)
• ROUSSEAU, JEAN JACQUES (1712-1778)
• ROUSSEAU, PIERRE ETIENNE THEODORE (1812–1867); French painter of the Barbizon school, was born in Paris on the 15th of April 1812, of a bourgeois family which included one or two artists. At first he received a business training, but soon displayed aptitu

Rousseau, produced in 1995 . This is the source of romantic dramas depending on sensational incident with exaggerated appeals to conventional sentiment rather than on See also:

• PLAY

play of See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, and in which dramatis personae follow conventional types—the villain, the See also:

• HERO (Gr. open)
• HERO, THE YOUNGER

hero wrongfully charged with See also:

• CRIME (Lat. crimen, accusation)

crime, the persecuted heroine, the adventuress, &c . At first the music was of some importance, forming practically a See also:

• RUNNING

running See also:

• ACCOMPANIMENT (i.e. that which " accompanies ")

accompaniment suitable to the situations—but this has gradually disappeared, and, if it remains, is used mainly to emphasize particularly strong situations, or to bring on or off the See also:

• STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage the various See also:

• PRINCIPAL

principal characters . Such plays first became popular in See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France at the beginning of the lgth See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . One of the most prolific writers of melodramas at that See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period was R . C . G. de Pixericourt (1773-1844) . The titles of some of his plays give a sufficient indication of their character; e.g .

See also:

• VICTOR
• VICTOR, GAIUS JULIUS (4th cent. A.D.)
• VICTOR, SEXTUS AURELIUS

Victor, ou l'enfant de la foal (1799); Carlina, ou l'enfant du mystere (18ot); Le Monastere abandonne, ou la malediction paternelle (1816) . Another form of melodrama came from the same source, but See also:

• DEVELOPED

developed on lines which laid more emphasis on the music, and is of some importance in the See also:

• HISTORY

history of See also:

• OPERA (Italian for " work ")

opera . Probably the first of thistype is to be found in Georg See also:

• BENDA

Benda's AriadneaufNaxos (1y74) . The most, See also:

• FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar of such melodramas is See also:

• GAY, JOHN (1685-1732)
• GAY, MARIE FRANCOISE SOPHIE (1776-1852)
• GAY, WALTER (1856– )

Gay's See also:

• BEGGAR

Beggar's Opera . In these the See also:

• DIALOGUE

dialogue is entirely spoken . In true opera the spoken dialogue was replaced by recitative . It may be noticed that the speaking of some parts of the dialogue is not sufficient to class an opera as a " melodrama " in this sense, as is proved by the spoken See also:

• GRAVE

grave-digging See also:

• SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene, accompanied' by music, in Fidelio, and the See also:

• INCANTATION

incantation scene in Der Freischiitz . To this the See also:

• ENGLISH

English See also:

• TERM

term " declamation " is usually applied;- the Germans use Melodram . But see OPERA .