Opera Structure.

I have the scores to a few opera and all they have is the music. I'm wondering about the structure so-to speak of everything else in an opera that isn't music. I don't know how to write that at all. Is it the same as a play (my mother is a playwright so I know quite a bit about it)? I have an idea of a story for an opera and lots of musical ideas having to do with it running through my head, but I don't know how to write it. Also do I write one long score, or a score for each aria, or both? Any resources to help me out? (I'm not sure if I ever intend to finish this, being a music student, but I get bored of writing the same sorts of things over and decided to give this a try.)

I'm not sure what you mean by "all they have is the music".

An opera is, by definition, only music... all the text will be sung.

The text (called a libretto) is SIMILAR to a play, but what works for a play MAY not work for an opera.

Over the years, composers (and their librettists) have tried many approaches to balancing the music/text aspects of an opera.

The most "standard" form of libretto has dialogues that advance the action generally in the form of recitativo, and "static" moments where the character's inner thoughts are generally exposed as an aria.

This is a VERY generalized and superficial overview of how the opera is layed out.

In more contemporary opera (ie: starting with the end of the 19th century), the distinction between what is recitativo and what is aria becomes considerably more blurred.

Some operas almost entirely eschew the division of material into recitativo/aria (thus making life difficult for those who would like to sing an excerpt from those operas!)

And yes, an opera is one continuous score (unlike a "number musical" where it is made up of all individual "songs").

I'll explain what I mean. The difference between an opera and an Oratorio is an Oratorio is strictly a concert piece while an opera is musical theater. What I mean is the opera scores I have, I could not tell that they were not Oratorios by the score (maybe you can, I don't have any Oratorio scores, so I guess I wouldn't know). What is the difference, I guess is what I'm asking.

An opera is, by definition, only music... all the text will be sung.

This isn't true, unless Singspiel is no longer a genre of opera.

Well, it isn't an opera in a strict classical sense. That's why they called it "Singspiel" and not "opera" in the first place (even if it may still fall in broader definitions of operas).

Well, it isn't an opera in a strict classical sense. That's why they called it "Singspiel" and not "opera" in the first place (even if it may still fall in broader definitions of operas).

I didn't see this post until now...

I'm not sure what you would call Singspiel if it is not opera. It is considered universally by music historians to be a genre of opera... "Singspiel" is the given name because of its origins in Germany. Unless you are willing to deem several singspiele by Hiller, Weber, Mozart, etc as not "opera".

I'm interested where opera was defined in a "strict classical sense" as Qc presents it.