Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An 18th-century German musical comedy featuring songs and ensembles interspersed with dialogue.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A semidramatic work or performance in which a series of incidents are related or represented in song. The form is almost entirely confined to Germany, where it was the precursor of the opera. Its peculiarity lies in the strict subordination of the instrumental accompaniments to the vocal parts. Originally it included both solo songs and spoken dialogue; but duets and part-songs gradually came in, and the amount of dialogue was steadily reduced. Compare
miracle , 4, mystery, 4, etc.
Wiktionary
- n. music, uncountable An early German form of opera consisting of spoken dialogue interspersed with song.
- n. music, countable An opera in this style.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Music) A dramatic work, partly in dialogue and partly in song, of a kind popular in Germany in the latter part of the 18th century. It was often comic, had modern characters, and patterned its music on folk song with strictly subordinated accompaniment.
Etymologies
- German (Wiktionary)
- German : singen, to sing (from Middle High German, from Old High German singan; see sengwh- in Indo-European roots) + Spiel, play; see spiel. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Native dramatic tastes, once fostered by minnesingers and strolling players, were kept alive by the "singspiel," or song-play, composed of spoken dialogue and popular song, which furnished the actual beginnings of German national music drama.”
“' '' 'The Magic Flute' '' '' (German '' '' 'Die Zauberflöte' '' '') is a two-act '' singspiel '”
“Justifiable or not, this is easy enough to accomplish in a singspiel which is made up of separate numbers divided by dialogue.”
“So it was rather brilliant of the director James Marvel, bringing Mozart's unfinished singspiel "Zaide" to the Wolf Trap Opera Company's stage on Friday night, to find a contemporary equivalent in science fiction.”
The Washington Post: Anne Midgette revisits Wolf Trap's staging of Mozart's 'Zaide'
“Not that it lacks more straightforward ways of hitting the dancefloor sweet spot: Flashy Flashy is asweetly irresistible singspiel duet between Allien and a pitched-down version of herself, while on highlights Our Utopie and Ever, she allies music-box tinkles to big, banging techno grooves tosuperb effect.”
“In this much-awaited continuation of his Mozart cycle, Rene Jacobs approaches the famous singspiel "The Magic Flute" as if it were a radio play, including all the spoken dialogue, often with musical commentary from the keyboard, and sound effects from a veritable battery of percussion.”
“Most of Mozart's operas are in Italian, but this is a singspiel in German like "The Magic Flute" with impossibly difficult arias, lots of spoken dialogue, and an abundance of comic schtick.”
“Die Entführung aus dem Serail is, at first blush, a very nice singspiel - albeit a bit heavy on the Turkish stuff.”
“However, Mozart managed to take the idiom of the singspiel and innovate with some really brilliant moments.”
“Of all the brokers, managers, and investment bankers in the Bull&Bear with whom you might hold mental hands at this critical, even historic moment; before whom you might pour out your singspiel of personal defeat, why did you have to end up at a table with these two ... outcasts?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘singspiel’.
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phrontistery-s
from phrontistery.info
sabaton, sabbatarian, sabbulonarium, sabelline, sabin, sable, sabliere, sabot, sabretache, sabulous, saburration, saccade and 1593 more...
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Resounding Words
great timbre
sone, sonata, resound, sonorous, consonant, unison, sonic, swan, sonant, sonnet, dissonance, scraunch and 142 more...
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Musical words
nocturne, flat, sharp, waltz, etude, opera, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, cello, flute and 131 more...
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Beautiful Music
a cappella, accelerando, accompagnato, adagio, ad libitum, agitato, aleatory, alla breve, allegro, allemande, alto, andante and 548 more...
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A Night at the Opera
Opera terminology.
sitzprobe, claque, maestro, impresario, divo, diva, spinto, bel canto, falsetto, parlando, pants role, trouser role and 50 more...
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Opera Lexicon
leitmotif, arioso, entr'acte, intermezzo, timbre, singspiel, cabaletta, recitative, falsetto, fioritura, libretto, soubrette
Tweets
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