Music and the 'teatro de cordel': in search of a paradigm.

Abstract. Particularly in the eighteenth century, as an alternative to opera as such, there are a number of indigenous traditions of musical theatre: the zarzuela in Spain, the opera comique in France, the ballad opera in England, the Singspiel in Germany. In Portugal, by contrast, we find a series of phenomena, all with greater or lesser musical content: the operas by Antonio Jose da Silva ('The Jew') and his imitators; comedies of extremely diverse kinds; entremezes and farcas, etc.--the various genres of the so-called 'teatro de cordel'. The rather heterogeneous panorama in Portugal contrasts with the apparent homogeneity of the other traditions mentioned. To what extent can these other traditions shed light on our understanding of the music in the teatro de cordel?

Keywords. Teatro de cordel; music; eighteenth century

Resumo. Sobretudo no seculo XVIII, surgem, como alternativa a opera, uma serie de tradicoes autoctones de teatro musicado: a zarzuela em Espanha, a opera comique em Franca, a ballad opera em Inglaterra, o Singspiel na Alemanha. Em Portugal, pelo contrario, existem uma serie de fenomenos, todos eles com maior ou menor conteudo musical: as operas de Antonio Jose da Silva ('O Judeu') e os seus imitadores; comedias extremamente diversas nas suas caracteristicas; entremezes e farcas, etc.--os varios generos do chamado 'Teatro de Cordel'. O panorama portugues, bastante heterogeneo, contrasta com a aparente homogeneidade das alternativas propostas pelos outros paises citados. Ate que ponto estas podem iluminar o nosso entendimento da musica no Teatro de Cordel?

Palavras chave. Teatro de cordel; musica; seculo XVIII

It was particularly in the eighteenth century, as an alternative to Italian opera, that a series of national musical-theatrical traditions arose: the zarzuela in Spain (from 1660), the opera comique in France, the ballad opera in England and the Singspiel in Germany. In Portugal, on the other hand, we find a series of phenomena, all with greater or lesser amounts of music: the operas by Antonio Jose da Silva, popularly known as 'the Jew' (1705-39), and his imitators; comedias of extremely diverse kinds; entremezes and farcas, (1) etc.--the various genres of the 'teatro de cordel' (literally 'string theatre'), so-called because they were published as chapbooks, attached to strings to prevent their being stolen from their mostly blind vendors. The Portuguese scene, rather heterogeneous in nature, contrasts with the apparent homogeneity of the alternative musical theatres found in the other countries mentioned. In this article I would like to raise the question as to how far these other traditions might shed light on our understanding of the music in the teatro de cordel. By way of response, I shall examine one by one each of these musical-dramatic traditions, beginning with the Portuguese--the principal focus of this text--with the aim of identifying points of similarity and difference.

For this purpose, I will consider as the main object under scrutiny the entire dramatic repertoire written, in Portuguese, in which music forms an integral or complementary part of the dramatic texture, over the hundred years from October 1733 to the latter part of 1833. This takes in the period from the premiere of Vida do Grande D. Quixote de la Mancha, by Antonio Jose da Silva, at the Teatro do Bairro Alto, up to the end of the Liberal Wars, following which this repertoire declined rapidly in the wake of the new dramatic paradigms of the Romantic era. Throughout this period, there was direct or indirect competition from Italian opera, up to 1792 at the royal theatres and more sporadically in the public theatres, and, from this point onwards on a regular basis particularly at the Teatro de Sao Carlos, Lisbon, inaugurated in 1793, but also at the Teatro de Sao Joao, Porto, which opened in 1798. Italian opera was regarded as the more prestigious; the Portuguese repertoire earned from Teofilo Braga the designation 'low Comedy'. (2)

In actual fact, the Portuguese dramatic repertoire of this period is made up of a number of distinct but interrelated genres, all of them with greater or lesser influence from contemporary Italian opera. Between 1733 and 1738, Antonio Jose da Silva wrote eight dramas for the Teatro do Bairro Alto, described as 'operas' when published as volumes I and II of the Theatro Comico Portuguez, in 1744. (3) Of these operas, music survives for only three, and in no instance in its original state: for Guerras de Alecrim e Manjerona and for As Variedades de Proteu (both from 1737), and for Precipicios de Faetonte (1738). (4) The music for Guerras, and probably for the other two, is by Antonio Teixeira, one of four Portuguese musicians who completed their musical studies in Rome as crown scholars. The music is fundamentally Italian in its conception, apart from the introduction of a small number of minuets, under French influence, and brief choruses, more probably under Spanish influence. This combination of Italian arias and a few minuets is also to be found in the last years of the Portuguese paraliturgical vilancicos composed before their complete prohibition by royal edict in 1723. (5)