The phrasedramma per musica (also spelleddrama per musica;Italian, literally: 'play (or drama) for music', plural:drammi per musica) is commonly found after the title in Italian operalibrettos beginning in the 17th century and continuing into the 18th century. It indicates that the text was intended to be set to music by a composer.[2][3][4] By extension it has also been used to refer to the musical setting itself,[2][4] but this is less common.[3]
In the 18th century,dramma per musica came to be most commonly used for librettos of serious Italian operas, today known asopera seria (a term that was little-used when they were created),[2] while the termdramma giocoso began to be used for the librettos of comic operas.[5]
Examples of librettos having the labeldramma per musica are those forCavalli'sXerse (1654) andErismena (1655),Vivaldi'sTito Manlio (1719),Mysliveček'sIl Bellerofonte (1767), Gluck'sParide ed Elena (1770),[6]Salieri'sArmida (1779),Mozart'sIdomeneo (1781)[7] and Rossini'sOtello (1816),[8] as well as numerous libretti written byPietro Metastasio.
Variant phrases, such asdramma in musica, which emphasised the musical setting, ordramma musicale, are also seen.[2] Sometimes recent authors have used these phrases to mean 'drama through music', referring to "musico-dramatic effects achieved by the composer".[2]
