Ballad opera

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Ballad opera is a genre of 18th century English stage entertainment. Essentially, the form is very closely equivalent to the modern musical or revue. The connection with the legitimate opera of the time is mainly the degree to which ballad operas mocked operatic convention.

A ballad opera consists of racy, farcical, and usually bitingly satirical spoken (English) dialogue, interspersed with songs that are deliberately kept very short (mostly a single short stanza and refrain) to minimise disruption of the unfolding of the plot - which involves working class, usually criminal, characters . The tunes are almost all pre-existing (in the manner of a modern "jukebox musical"): however they are taken from a wide variety of contemporary sources, including folk melodies, popular airs by classical composers (such as Purcell) and even children's nursery rhymes. The main source from which they are drawn is, however, the fund of popular airs to which 18th century London broadside ballads are set. Hence the name "ballad opera".

The juxtaposition of incongruous musical snippets from here there and everywhere is of course an important source of humour - this is a case of musical parody at its very broadest.

The first and most popular ballad opera (and the only one still regularly revived to this day) is John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Other ballad operas were "composed" (if that is the right word) by Thomas Arne, Charles Dibdin, John Arnold, William Shield and others, and these enjoyed popularity for many years.

Ballad operas were thoroughly (and loudly) disapproved of by respectable society, which must necessarily have also provided most of the audience. The corruption of youth was a common charge levelled against them.

The ballad opera is one of course one of the most obvious predecessors of the modern musical. Their popularity must also have contributed to the growth of light, English language opera as a counterweight to serious opera (at this time almost invariably sung in Italian); although classing ballad operas as members of an "operatic genre" in themselves is frankly a little far-fetched.

In the twentieth century folk singers revived the format, but without any commercial success. Alan Lomax, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives and others recorded "The Martins and the Coys" in 1944, and Peter Bellamy and others recorded "The Transports" in 1977.

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• Brief history of British light opera

Opera Genres
Ballad opera • Dramma giocoso • Género chico • Grand opera • Opéra-ballet • Opera buffa • Opéra bouffe • Opéra bouffon • Opéra comique • Opéra féerie • Opera semiseria • Opera seria • Operetta • Pastorale héroïque • Savoy opera • Semi-opera • Singspiel • Tragédie en musique • Verismo • Zarzuela