patter-song

views updated

patter-song. Comic song, prevalent in opera, which is a rapid iteration of words, the mus. merely being lightly supportive. Examples exist in Haydn, Mozart, and Rossini operas; there are many in the Sullivan operettas (e.g. ‘My name is John Wellington Wells’, from The Sorcerer). Usually solos, but Ruddigore has a patter-trio.

More From encyclopedia.com