Return to search

The Prologue in the Seventeenth-Century Venetian Operatic Libretto: its Dramatic Purpose and the Function of its Characters

The Italian seicento has been considered a dead century by many literary scholars. As this study demonstrates, such a conclusion ignores important literary developments in the field of librettology. Indeed, the seventeenth-century operatic libretto stands as a monument to literary invention. Critical to the development of this new literary genre was the prologue, which provided writers with a context in which to experiment and achieve literary transcendence. This study identifies approximately 260 dramatic works written in Venice between the years 1637 and 1682, drawn together for the first time from three sources: librettos in the Drammaturgia di Leone Allacci accresciuta e continuata fino all'anno MCDDLV; the musical manuscripts listed in the Codici Musicali Contariniani; and a chronological list of seventeenth-century Venetian operas found in Cristoforo Ivanovich's Minerva al Tavolino. Of the 260 Venetian works identified, over 98 begin with self-contained prologues. This discovery alone warrants a reconsideration of the seventeenth-century Italian libretto and the emergence of the dramatic prologue as a new and important literary genre.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc277705
Date08 1900
CreatorsMiller, Robin A. (Robin Annette)
ContributorsCollins, Michael (Michael B.), 1930-2011, Bush, Deanna D., Carle, Barbara, Brothers, Lester Dwayne, 1945-
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatix, 513 leaves, Text
CoverageItaly - Veneto Region - Venice Province - Venice, 1637/1682
RightsPublic, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved., Miller, Robin A. (Robin Annette)

Page generated in 0.0017 seconds