Le roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle à l’opéra : la sentimentalité, Pamela et The Maid of the Mill
This article returns to the well-known notion of sentimental culture, and specifically, to sentimental opera derived from the English novel. The notion that goodness must triumph, that a poor but honest girl should ‘make good’, and that such goodness should form a binding force between humans, was...
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| Language: | English |
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Presses universitaires de Rennes
2011-12-01
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| Series: | Revue LISA |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/4539 |
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| author | Michael Burden |
| author_facet | Michael Burden |
| author_sort | Michael Burden |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article returns to the well-known notion of sentimental culture, and specifically, to sentimental opera derived from the English novel. The notion that goodness must triumph, that a poor but honest girl should ‘make good’, and that such goodness should form a binding force between humans, was such a strong force in late 18th-century culture that it has been used as a means to define it as an ‘age’. Among the most important formative work in this ‘sentimental’ style is Richardson’s novel, Pamela, that came to the attention of the writer Isaac Bickerstaffe (1733?-1808) who re-worked it as an English opera, remarking that the piece ‘however trifling in other circumstances, was the first sentimental drama that had appeared on the English stage for forty years’. The work set to music by Samuel Arnold (1740-1802), was representative of a new musical genre, the pastiche opera that incorporated the music of others. From a musical point of view, the opera is not hugely important; in modern day terms, the lack of a single identifiable composer or compositional aesthetic makes it a problematical artistic object to assess today. And yet the very simplicity of the music was the defining attribute that allowed the ‘sentimentality’ of the story to shine through, and did herald a new genre in English opera, the pastiche. This article will argue that the very particular circumstances of an English performance played a vital role in the development of sentimental opera in London. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fb5ecb34991247b09584840438a852ff |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1762-6153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2011-12-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Rennes |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue LISA |
| spelling | doaj-art-fb5ecb34991247b09584840438a852ff2025-01-06T09:03:09ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532011-12-0197810010.4000/lisa.4539Le roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle à l’opéra : la sentimentalité, Pamela et The Maid of the MillMichael BurdenThis article returns to the well-known notion of sentimental culture, and specifically, to sentimental opera derived from the English novel. The notion that goodness must triumph, that a poor but honest girl should ‘make good’, and that such goodness should form a binding force between humans, was such a strong force in late 18th-century culture that it has been used as a means to define it as an ‘age’. Among the most important formative work in this ‘sentimental’ style is Richardson’s novel, Pamela, that came to the attention of the writer Isaac Bickerstaffe (1733?-1808) who re-worked it as an English opera, remarking that the piece ‘however trifling in other circumstances, was the first sentimental drama that had appeared on the English stage for forty years’. The work set to music by Samuel Arnold (1740-1802), was representative of a new musical genre, the pastiche opera that incorporated the music of others. From a musical point of view, the opera is not hugely important; in modern day terms, the lack of a single identifiable composer or compositional aesthetic makes it a problematical artistic object to assess today. And yet the very simplicity of the music was the defining attribute that allowed the ‘sentimentality’ of the story to shine through, and did herald a new genre in English opera, the pastiche. This article will argue that the very particular circumstances of an English performance played a vital role in the development of sentimental opera in London.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/4539operapasticheItalian operasensibilityRichardson SamuelBickerstaffe Isaac |
| spellingShingle | Michael Burden Le roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle à l’opéra : la sentimentalité, Pamela et The Maid of the Mill Revue LISA opera pastiche Italian opera sensibility Richardson Samuel Bickerstaffe Isaac |
| title | Le roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle à l’opéra : la sentimentalité, Pamela et The Maid of the Mill |
| title_full | Le roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle à l’opéra : la sentimentalité, Pamela et The Maid of the Mill |
| title_fullStr | Le roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle à l’opéra : la sentimentalité, Pamela et The Maid of the Mill |
| title_full_unstemmed | Le roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle à l’opéra : la sentimentalité, Pamela et The Maid of the Mill |
| title_short | Le roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle à l’opéra : la sentimentalité, Pamela et The Maid of the Mill |
| title_sort | le roman anglais du xviiie siecle a l opera la sentimentalite pamela et the maid of the mill |
| topic | opera pastiche Italian opera sensibility Richardson Samuel Bickerstaffe Isaac |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/4539 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelburden leromananglaisduxviiiesieclealoperalasentimentalitepamelaetthemaidofthemill |