Editing Jacques Offenbach (section)

===Operettas===
{{Main|List of operettas by Jacques Offenbach}}
By his own reckoning, Offenbach composed more than 100 operas.<ref>"Offenbach's hundred operas", ''The Era'', 11 February 1877, p. 5</ref>{{refn|In 1911, ''[[The Musical Times]]'' cited Offenbach as the seventh most prolific operatic composer, with 103 operas (one more than [[Henry Bishop (composer)|Sir Henry Bishop]] and six fewer than [[Baldassare Galuppi]]). The most prolific was said to be [[Wenzel Müller]] with 166.<ref>Towers, John. "Who composed the greatest number of operas?" ''[[The Musical Times]]'', 1 August 1911, p. 527 {{JSTOR|907922}} {{subscription required}}</ref>|group= n}} Both the number and the noun are open to question: some works were so extensively revised that he evidently counted the revised versions as new, and commentators generally refer to all but a few of his stage works as operettas, rather than operas. Offenbach reserved the term {{lang|fr|[[opérette]]}} (English: operetta){{refn|The term {{lang|fr|[[opérette]]}} was first used in 1856 for Jules Bovéry's ''Madame Mascarille''.<ref name="Almeida, p. iv"/> Gammond categorises ''Cigarette'', a work premiered in London, with the English term "operetta"; Grove does not mention it.<ref name=grove/><ref>Gammond, p. 147</ref>|group= n}} or {{lang|fr|[[opérette bouffe]]}} for some of his one-act works, more often using the term {{lang|fr|[[opéra bouffe]]}} for his full-length ones (though there are several one- and two-act examples of this type). It was only with the further development of the {{lang|de|[[Operette]]}} genre in Vienna after 1870 that the French term {{lang|fr|opérette}} began to be used for works longer than one act.<ref>{{cite Grove|last=Lamb|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Lamb (writer)|id=20386|title=Operetta (It.: diminutive of 'opera'; Fr. opérette; Ger. Operette; Sp. opereta)|year=2001}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Offenbach also used the term {{lang|fr|[[opéra-comique]]}} for at least 24 of his works in either one, two or three acts.<ref>Gammond, pp. 145–156</ref>{{refn|The composer [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] observed, "{{lang|fr|Operette}} is a daughter of {{lang|fr|opera-comique}}; a daughter who has turned out badly, maybe; but daughters who have turned out badly are not without charm".<ref name=lubbock/>|group=n}}

Offenbach's earliest operettas were one-act pieces for small casts. More than 30 of these were presented before his first full-scale "{{lang|fr|[[opéra bouffon]]}}", {{lang|fr|Orphée aux enfers}}, in 1858, and he composed over twenty more of them during the rest of his career.<ref name=grove/><ref>Gammond, pp. 156–157</ref> Lamb, following the precedent of Henseler's 1930 study of the composer, divides the one-act pieces into five categories: (i) country idylls; (ii) urban operettas; (iii) military operettas; (iv) farces; and (v) burlesques or parodies.<ref name=l80>[[Andrew Lamb (writer)|Lamb, Andrew]]. "Offenbach in One Act", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', Vol. 121, No. 1652 (October 1980), pp. 615–617 {{JSTOR|961145}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Offenbach enjoyed his greatest success in the 1860s. His most popular operettas from that decade have remained among his best known.<ref name=grove/>

====Texts and word setting====
[[File:Offenbach's-Librettists-and-successors.png|thumb|right|Librettists and successors (clockwise from top left) [[Ludovic Halévy]], [[Henri Meilhac]], [[Johann Strauss II]], [[Arthur Sullivan]]|alt=head shots of four 19th century white men with various degrees of facial hair]]
The first ideas for plots usually came from Offenbach, his librettists working along lines agreed with him. Lamb writes, "In this respect Offenbach was both well served and skilful at discovering talent. Like [[Arthur Sullivan|Sullivan]], and unlike [[Johann Strauss II]], he was consistently blessed with workable subjects and genuinely witty librettos."<ref name=grove/> In his setting of his librettists' words he took advantage of the rhythmic flexibility of the French language, and sometimes took this to extremes, forcing words into unnatural stresses.<ref>Hughes, p. 43</ref> Harding comments that he "wrought much violence on the French language".<ref name="Harding, p. 208"/> A frequent characteristic of Offenbach's word setting was the nonsensical repetition of isolated syllables of words for comic effect; an example is the quintet for the kings in {{lang|fr|La belle Hélène}}: {{lang|fr|"Je suis l'époux de la reine/Poux de la reine/Poux de la reine" and "Le roi barbu qui s'avance/Bu qui s'avance/Bu qui s'avance."|italic=no}}{{refn|In English, "I am the husband of the queen" and "The bearded king who comes forward", in which the second syllables of {{lang|fr|"époux"|italic=no}} (husband) and {{lang|fr|"barbu"|italic=no}} (bearded) are nonsensically repeated. Lamb instances a variant of such wordplay in {{lang|fr|La Périchole}}:<poem style="margin-left: 1em;">
{{lang|fr|Aux maris ré,
Aux maris cal,
Aux maris ci,
Aux maris trants,
Aux maris récalcitrants.}}</poem> ("Husbands who are re– , husbands who are cal– , husbands who are ci– , husbands who are trant, husbands who are recalcitrant...")<ref name=grove/>|group= n}}

====Musical structure====
In general, Offenbach followed simple, established forms. His melodies are usually short and unvaried in their basic rhythm, rarely, in Hughes's words, escaping "the despotism of the four-bar phrase".<ref>Hughes, p. 46</ref> In [[modulation (music)|modulation]] Offenbach was similarly cautious; he rarely switched a melody to a remote or unexpected key, and kept mostly to a [[tonic (music)|tonic]]–[[dominant (music)|dominant]]–[[subdominant]] pattern.<ref name=h48>Hughes, p. 48</ref> Within these conventional limits, he employed greater resource in his varied use of rhythm; in a single number he would contrast rapid patter for one singer with a broad, smooth phrase for another, illustrating their different characters.<ref name=h48/> He often switched quickly between major and minor keys, effectively contrasting characters or situations.<ref>Hughes, p. 51</ref> When he wished to, Offenbach could use unconventional techniques, such as the [[leitmotif]], used throughout to accompany the eponymous [[Le docteur Ox|Docteur Ox]] (1877)<ref>Hughes, p. 39</ref> and to parody [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] in {{lang|fr|La carnaval des revues}} (1860).<ref>Gammond, p. 59</ref>

====Orchestration====
In his early pieces for the Bouffes-Parisiens, the size of the orchestra pit had restricted Offenbach to an orchestra of sixteen players.<ref>Faris, p. 39</ref> He composed for [[flute]], [[oboe]], [[clarinet]], [[bassoon]], two [[French horn|horns]], [[cornet|piston]], [[trombone]], percussion (including [[timpani]]) and a small string section of seven players.<ref name=keck/> After moving to the {{lang|fr|Salle Choiseul|italic=no}} he had an orchestra of 30 players.<ref name=keck/> The musicologist and Offenbach specialist [[Jean-Christophe Keck]] notes that when larger orchestras were available, either in bigger Paris theatres or in Vienna or elsewhere, Offenbach would compose, or rearrange existing music, accordingly. Surviving scores show his instrumentation for additional wind and brass, and even extra percussion. When they were available he wrote for [[cor anglais]], [[harp]], and – exceptionally, Keck records – an [[ophicleide]] (''Le Papillon''), [[tubular bells]] (''Le carnaval des revues''), and a [[wind machine]] (''[[Le voyage dans la lune (opera-féerie)|Le voyage dans la lune]]'').<ref name=keck/>

Hughes describes Offenbach's orchestration as "always skilful, often delicate, and occasionally subtle". He instances Pluton's song in ''Orphée aux enfers'',{{refn|In the 1874 revision this number is a duet for Pluton and Euridice.|group= n}} introduced by a three-bar phrase for solo clarinet and solo bassoon in octaves immediately repeated on solo flute and solo bassoon an octave higher.<ref>Hughes, p. 45</ref> In Keck's view, "Offenbach's orchestral scoring is full of details, elaborate counter-voices, minute interactions coloured by interjections of the woodwinds or brass, all of which establish a dialogue with the voices. His refinement of design equals that of Mozart or Rossini."<ref name=keck>[[Jean-Christophe Keck|Keck, Jean-Christophe]]. [http://www.offenbach-edition.com/EN/OEK/Pladoyer.asp "The need for an authentic Offenbach"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321215122/http://www.offenbach-edition.com/EN/OEK/Pladoyer.asp |date=21 March 2012 }}, Offenbach Edition, Keck, Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 16 July 2011</ref>

====Compositional method====
According to Keck, Offenbach would first make a note of melodies a libretto suggested to him in a notebook or straight onto the librettist's manuscript. Next using full score [[manuscript paper]] he wrote down vocal parts in the centre, then a piano accompaniment at the bottom possibly with notes on orchestration. When Offenbach felt sure the work would be performed, he began full orchestration, often employing a sort of shorthand.<ref>[[Jean-Christophe Keck|Keck, Jean-Christophe]] (2006) "Offenbach, an oeuvre boasting more than 600 works". Notes to Universal Classics CD 476 8999 2006 {{oclc|872163193}}</ref>

====Parody and influences====
[[File:Jacques-Offenbach-by-André-Gill.png|thumb|left|Offenbach by [[André Gill]], 1866|alt=Drawing of Offenbach, in concert dress and a crown of roses, riding through the sky on a giant violin, accompanied by a dog called Barkouf, over a whimsical background composed of scenes from his operettas and flowers]]
Offenbach was well known for parodying other composers' music. Some of them saw the joke and others did not. Adam, Auber and [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]] enjoyed Offenbach's parodies of their scores.<ref name=teneo/> Meyerbeer made a point of attending all Bouffes-Parisiens productions, always seated in Offenbach's private box.<ref name=birth/> Among the composers who were not amused by Offenbach's parodies were [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]] and Wagner.<ref name=berlioz>Gammond, pp. 59, 63 and 73</ref> Offenbach mocked Berlioz's "strivings after the antique",<ref>Henseler, ''quoted'' in Hughes, p. 46</ref> and his initial light-hearted satire of Wagner's pretensions later hardened into genuine dislike.<ref>Gammond, pp. 59 and 127</ref> Berlioz reacted by bracketing Offenbach and Wagner together as "the product of the mad German mind", and Wagner, ignoring Berlioz, retaliated by writing some unflattering verses about Offenbach.<ref name=berlioz/>

In general, Offenbach's parodistic technique was simply to play the original music in unexpected and incongruous circumstances. He slipped the banned revolutionary anthem ''[[La Marseillaise]]'' into the chorus of rebellious gods in ''Orphée aux enfers'', and quoted the aria {{lang|it|"Che farò"|italic=no}} from Gluck's ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice|Orfeo]]'' in the same work; in {{lang|fr|La belle Hélène}} he quoted the patriotic trio from Rossini's ''[[William Tell (opera)|William Tell]]'' and parodied himself in the ensemble for the kings of Greece, in which the accompaniment quotes the ''rondeau'' from {{lang|fr|Orphée aux enfers}}. In his one act pieces, Offenbach parodied Rossini's {{lang|it|"[[Largo al factotum]]"|italic=no}} and familiar arias by [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]]. In ''Croquefer'' (1857), one duet consists of quotations from Halévy's ''[[La Juive]]'' and Meyerbeer's ''[[Robert le diable]]'' and ''[[Les Huguenots]]''.<ref name=l80/><ref>Scherer, Barrymore Laurence. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304186404576390112252351044 "Gilbert & Sullivan, Parody's Patresfamilias"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124223754/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304186404576390112252351044 |date=24 November 2017 }}, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', 23 June 2011</ref> Even in his later, less satirical period, he included a parodic quotation from [[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]]'s {{lang|fr|[[La fille du régiment]]}} in {{lang|fr|[[La fille du tambour-major]]}}.<ref name=grove/>

Other examples of Offenbach's use of incongruity are noted by the critic Paul Taylor: "In {{lang|fr|La belle Hélène}}, the kings of Greece denounce Paris as 'un vil séducteur' [vile seducer] to a waltz tempo that is itself unsuitably seductive&nbsp;... the potty-sounding phrase {{lang|fr|'L'homme à la pomme'|italic=no}} becomes the absurd nucleus of a big cod-ensemble."<ref>Taylor, Paul. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:TND1&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=131FED8F82CD1A20&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "The judgement of Paris, France"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008105337/http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004 |date=8 October 2010 }}, ''[[The Independent]]'', 28 November 1995</ref> Another lyric set to absurdly ceremonious music is {{lang|fr|"Votre habit a craqué dans le dos"|italic=no}} (your coat has split down the back) in ''La vie parisienne''.<ref name=grovlez/> The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein's rondo {{lang|fr|"Ah! Que j'aime les militaires"|italic=no}} is rhythmically and melodically similar to the finale of [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)|Seventh Symphony]], but it is not clear whether the similarity is parodic or coincidental.<ref name=grovlez/>

In Offenbach's last decade, he took note of a change in public taste: a simpler, more romantic style was now preferred. Harding writes that Lecocq had successfully moved away from satire and parody, returning to "the genuine spirit of opéra-comique and its peculiarly French gaiety".<ref name="Harding, p. 208">Harding, p. 208</ref> Offenbach followed suit in a series of twenty operettas; the conductor and musicologist [[Antonio de Almeida (conductor)|Antonio de Almeida]] names the finest of these as {{lang|fr|La fille du tambour-major}} (1879).<ref name=axxi>Almeida, p. xxi</ref>