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 CHAPTER XI

THE EXPANSION OF DRAMATIC MUSIC

83. In General.—Although the rise of the Italian opera under Monteverdi, Cavalli, Carissimi and Cesti has unique historic importance, the story of the early opera was by no means confined to Italy. Italian musicians visited other countries or migrated to them, carrying with them the styles to which they were wonted. The Italian opera thus came into contact with native styles of drama that were on the verge of a definite musical development and that needed only a slight impulse to advance to national types. The Italian dramma per musica, with its accent on grandiose recitative, was but one of several forms that were capable either of independent evolution or of varied combination. Prominent among these were the French ballet, the German singspiel and the English masque—all secular derivatives in some way of the mediæval Mysteries and Miracle-Plays, but with differences of traditional treatment. With these the Italian opera either competed or coalesced, and out of their varied interactions were gradually shaped the types of opera found in the 18th century. The age was eager to adopt or create the musical drama in any available form. The strong influence upon musical progress of the later opera is clearly due to the intricate blending of several tendencies that first attracted attention in the 17th century. While the works produced were presently overshadowed by later ones, the interest of the lines of experiment then initiated is unquestionable.

84. The French Ballet.—The distinctive feature of the ballet as a dramatic form (to which it owes its name) was its emphasis upon actual dancing and upon the kinds of structure, action, verse and song that dancing favored. From at least the 14th century the trend of French taste in this direction had been manifest. It showed itself in a liking for pantomimic spectacles, in which situations and events were illustrated by dance-ensembles, for dialogue cast in the form of reciprocal verses that