Modernism and melodrama: Modernism and its effects on the operatic “text”

The advent of Modernism has affected various fields including opera. The 20th century has seen a rise in the number of operas written in English. Not only English and American composers but also distinguished foreign ones like Stravinsky and Henze have proposed their operas in this language. The operatic librettist instead has experienced a literary rebirth with renowned authors like W. H. Auden and E. M. Forster opting for this literary form. According to Auden, in a period in which it has become impossible to write high literature, the operatic libretto appeared to him as a valid solution to solve this impasse due to its own special conventions. In this dissertation, I will try to prove the literary validity of the libretto, even without the music, as a textual mirror of the important issues of the time. I will do this by examining initially the evolution of the librettist in time and in the English context. Then, I will focus on Modernism and finally peruse eight librettos belonging to this period.