Richard Vella    composer

The term Musictheatre is a portmanteau (music + theatre), it being a literal translation from the German musictheater. It came into prominence with some avant-garde and experimental composers in the mid 20th century meaning music as theatre.  In many of these works, the boundaries between the two areas were blurred. Often the presentation of the music was theatrical, humorous, gestural, played on audience expectations, or visually focused.  Maurico Kagel's Match (1964) is an example from this period. A modern adaptation in some areas of practice has involved a subtle separation of the two words to be "music theatre". While not always the case, this subtle shift often refers to musicals and opera.

From a purist's perspective, and drawing on the etymological roots of the words 'music' and 'theatre', musictheatre refers to a concept embracing a wide range of forms and presentations rather than any specific genre (see below: Early Article No.1 which includes a discussion of the word 'theatre' and its implications). Suggesting some relationship between music (or sound) and theatre (including performance), musictheatre is concerned with the role and interaction of music with other elements within some context. This interaction is what makes it theatrical as it points to or highlights some idea, concept or situation created by that context. The other elements within some context could be spatial and visual (stage, performing space, building, installation, site specific) or created for media formats (intermediality, collage/montage, words and music, music and image, music and movement, etc). It can even involve music interacting with other music or metamusic (music about other music). One obvious example is musical parody. Consider Mozart's work, A Musical Joke (K522) in which he satirised the way composition techniques were used by some of his contemporaries. To varying degrees (from the most basic to more complex), rituals such as the Roman Catholic liturgy, concerts, ceremonial functions using music, fashion parades or narrative forms that use music, are all examples of a type or site of musictheatre.

Simple criteria for a musictheatre composition involve determining whether: i) the music in the work has an identifiable function or role which can be heard as a commentary or independent statement; 2) the work relies on the music for its existence; or 3) the experience and 'meaningfulness' of the work would be different without the music? While conventionally based operas and musicals, as mentioned above, are also examples of musictheatre with the reliance on some type of narrative, potential instances of a musictheatre may or may not involve the singing voice or narrative. The success of a work, if to be considered as a site for a musictheatre, depends on intention; awareness of all the relevant parameters; context; and an understanding of the many roles music and sound can have.

The history of opera as a form of musictheatre has always undergone renewal and innovation. It is for this reason that Calculated Risks Opera Productions was formed. The works presented below by Calculated Risks Opera Productions are some examples of musictheatre from 1990 to 2002. These works freely mix operatic forms, singing styles, the musical, cabaret, experimental performance, popular song with various theatrical forms, movement, installation, narrative and non narrative techniques, ritual, or anything else that might be considered relevant.

Finally, beyond the repertoire of certain operas and musicals that are performed by various companies internationally, there can be found an endless number of new and existing works exploring, to name a few: intermediality, new collaborative processes, technological innovation, contemporary social political and cultural issues, the word in space, new music vocabularies, hybridity, contemporary culture, or the performing body in space. Musictheatre (including opera and the musical) is well and truly a "work in progress".

Examples of a musictheatre that are not visually based involving text and music can be found at the following link Studies in words and music.