Operetta – Sheet Music & Scores

A Brief History of Operetta

In Paris in the middle of the 19th century, operetta, which is shorter and lighter than ’serious opera’, developed out of the highly popular opera comique. This new form, consisting of frivolous parodies of bel canto opera and Meyerbeer’s grand opéra, and contemporary society, was first penned by Jacques Offenbach.

In Vienna, news of Offenbach’s success spread quickly, and it inspired composers like Johann Strauss II to take up the call, and the first great Viennese operetta was his “Die Fledermaus”. In contrast to the French can-can, the Viennese operettas are famous for their Waltzes. As the operetta grew in popularity, composers tried to reach the more affluent audience, and operetta soon became less frivolous, and more political, reflecting the rise of nationalism in the country.

In London, 1871, theatre manager Richard D’Oyly Carte, seeing the developments on the continent, brought together the literary and musical talents of W.S Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, to form the great operetta duo Gilbert & Sullivan. Their operettas were so popular, that ten years later, he built the Savoy Theatre will the sole purpose of producing Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.

In Germany, the Bavarian operettas, and the Berlin operettas were very popular, reaching their high point with Paul Abraham and his “Viktoria und ihr Husar” in 1929. After the National Socialists took power, his extremely successful and popular works were labelled ’degenerate’, and were struck from the repertoire.

Towards the end of the first half of the 20th century, many musicians left Europe for the USA, and they took with them all the joys and experience of operetta, and a new genre was born, the Musical.