Ballad opera

Japanese: バラッド･オペラ（英語表記）ballad opera

A type of musical drama that was popular in 18th century England. It was established by J. Gay's The Beggar's Opera (premiered in 1728). At the time, ballads were folk songs sung among the people, but Gay's works were, in principle, songs that were sung among the people in the streets, but the melodies of these existing songs were set to new lyrics and connected with dialogue. Musically, therefore, they were accessible to the common people. In addition, the setting was the world of the common people, rather than the world of mythology or kings, and the play was written in English, which anyone could understand, rather than Italian. It was a burlesque version of the Italian opera that was popular at the time, from the perspective of the common people, and this, combined with its satirical content, made it very popular.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

18世紀のイギリスで流行した音楽劇の一種。J.ゲイの《乞食オペラ》(1728初演)によって確立。バラッドとは，当時は巷間で歌われる歌謡のことであったが，ゲイの作品は原則としてそれら既存の歌のメロディに新たに詞をつけ，せりふでつないだものである。したがって音楽的には庶民にも親しみやすかった。また，神話や王侯の世界ではなく庶民の世界を舞台にし，イタリア語ではなくてだれでも理解できる英語を用いるなど，当時人気のあったイタリア･オペラを庶民の立場からバーレスク化したものであり，風刺的な内容と相まって大いに人気を得た。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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