Children in Opera

During long time, the art of opera has been considered not only as exclusive for a certain social class but designed first of all for an audience of grown ups. Children or even minors has been often considered as potential trouble makers as they won't at that age neither have integrated behavioural codes or intellectual capacities to follow a four hours masterpiece.

The Journal of Singing, 2018

In this article, I would like to offer a different perspective on opera’s child prodigy problem, one that addresses unflinchingly the historical elephant in the room. For most of its four-hundred-year existence, opera has embraced voices that we would consider immature. Our modern pedagogic practices present a well justified break from that tradition. Focusing on the historical circumstances of the standard bel canto repertory, I will provide evidence that the average female singer’s career peaked between about age twenty to age thirty-five, implying that most successful singers must have been learning and singing mature repertory in their teens. I highlight these facts not because I seek some return to the old abuses of the Italian bel canto tradition. Far from it: I believe we have a moral imperative to use hard science as our guide and not damage voices. If anything, acknowledging the history of bel canto practice can serve as a warning. I highlight these facts, rather, to show that we evoke traditions and frame operatic art as purely traditional at our peril.

2013

Malcolm Williamson’s ten cassations, mini-operas devised to introduce children to the operatic form, remain unique in a number of ways. Most importantly they are the only collection of work in this genre by an established art music composer intended for musically-untrained children. Many composers have written children’s opera, sometimes as entertainment for children, performed by adults, and sometimes as opera to be performed by children. In the latter case, the great majority of composers write for specific ensembles or schools where music is taught by specialist music teachers to every child. Very few established composers write children’s opera for musically-untrained children. Only one has written a series of ten and single-handedly directed them with his own children, in primary schools and church groups, with physically and mentally handicapped children, and even with adult audiences and professional orchestras in the Royal Albert Hall and Sydney Opera House. Williamson’s cassations were performed on nearly every continent of the world, hundreds of times, often under his own baton. Largely ignored in the (itself scant) analysis of Williamson’s body of work, the collection was of great importance to the composer himself. This thesis fills that void in the literature. It also suggests that the compositional concessions made by Williamson provide a model to other composers interested in writing opera for musically-untrained children. This speaks to the broader question of how composers can modify their compositional approach without losing their ‘voice’. A broad range of analytical methods are considered and compared with existing analyses of Williamson’s repertoire for professionals (Gearing 2004; Kendall-Smith 1994; Philpott 2010). Implication-Realization analysis of melodic expectancy (Narmour 1990, 1992; Schellenberg 1996, 1997) is used in combination with analysis of structure, part writing, vocal support, range, and harmonic language to allow quantitative comparison to the writing for professional vocalists in Williamson’s full operas and to summarise his approach to writing for musically-untrained children.

Journal of Musicology, 40(4), 2023: 423-455

To have a child lead an orchestra is an anomaly, yet this situation was encouraged, celebrated, or simply tolerated hundreds of times throughout the twentieth century. This article reconstructs the Western cultural phenomenon of the child conductor from its emergence in music halls in the 1910s to the consolidation of this figure within classical music and beyond in the late 1940s. Issues such as the professionalization of child maestros and their rise to international stardom are addressed. Profiles of child conductors are presented from the earliest child conductors, such as Willy Ferrero and Rio Gebhardt, to celebrity child maestros such as Pierino Gamba, Roberto Benzi and Giannella de Marco. While child virtuosos have been subject to scholarly study, child conductors have been largely overlooked. This article addresses this lacuna by surveying the general phenomenon.

Musicology Australia, 2018

In the nineteenth century, a small number of composers included parts for children’s chorus in their symphonic and choral works. As the twentieth century progressed, more and more composers scored for children’s choirs to perform alongside their adult counterparts. The children’s chorus became an indispensable component of the score, with their voices necessary for delivering texts or portraying roles inappropriate for adult voices. Post-war Europe was enjoying a change in mood, creating art works that embodied hope and renewal, and in many instances it turned to children to reflect this zeitgeist. At the same time, composers were exploring the possibilities of children’s choirs to add to the developing timbral palette available to them. As the repertoire for children’s choirs and adult orchestras increased, so too did the sophistication of the musical demands made upon them. Children’s choirs in the twenty-first century now need to be highly skilled and well trained in order to effectively perform some of the modern compositions. In a response to these trends, symphony orchestras around the world are choosing to have their own ‘in-house’ children’s chorus in order to perform the growing number of works that call for them. In this article, seven works for children’s chorus and adult music ensembles are explored, and compositional and historical trends are discussed. The contrast in musical demands from the earlier works is compared with those of more recent pieces, and the rise of the modern, symphonic children’s chorus is explored.

Musical Tale and Children's Opera in the English-speaking World, 2024

LISA e-Journal seeks contributions on topics related to the musical tale and children's opera in the English-speaking world.

CALL FOR PAPERS, 2023

Some controversy surrounds one of the earliest operatic productions in the English-speaking world: Henry Purcell's opera Dido and AEneas (1689) was supposedly performed by young pupils at the Boarding School for Girls, in Chelsea, in London. English opera may thus have been born as a musical genre for young audiences. The following centuries saw a spectacular boom in opera and operetta in Europe, but mainly adult audiences were targeted and it was not until the 20th century that producers started currying favor with younger spectators. In the United States, Aaron Copland composed The Second Hurricane (1937), an opera specifically designed for school performances, while in the United Kingdom Benjamin Britten created his children's opera The Little Sweep (1949), then his opera-oratorio Noye's Fludde (1957), which brought together amateur artists and young singers. The twentieth century also saw the emergence of the musical comedy

Children, Childhood, and Musical Theater, 2020

Children’s musical theater, the broad focus of this collection, consists of the children’s musical, family musical, and young adult musical. The children’s musical is an amateur phenomenon primarily occurring in non-commercial venues, whereas the family musical is a commercial genre that appeals to both children and adults. The young adult musical is a fast-growing subcategory of commercial musical theater; it speaks to the sexual and social concerns of the 15- to 25-year-olds. Theater-leasing companies play a major role in the development and promotion of musicals for children and are a driving force in children’s active participation in musical theater. The introduction and other excerpts are available here: https://www.routledge.com/Children-Childhood-and-Musical-Theater/Ruwe-Leve/p/book/9781472475336

Update: Applications of Research in Music …, 2006

Frederick Burrack is an assistant professor of music education at Kansas State Unviersity in Manhattan. E-mail: [email protected] Carla Maltas is an assistant professor of music education at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg. E-mail: [email protected]