Essentials of Music

COMPOSERS

JOHN GAY

Born (baptized): September 16, 1685. Barnstaple, England
Died: December 4, 1732. London, England

English poet and dramatist. Best known for The Beggar's Opera

You've probably heard "Weird Al" Yankovic on the radio or recordings, or turned on PBS and seen Mark Russell. Each of them sings other people's songs, but with their own, often satirical words added to make the lyrics relevant and funny. This is called parody and it is exactly what John Gay did with his Beggar's Opera. To create what came to be known as a ballad opera, he concocted a plot that lampooned not only the morals of eighteenth century London, but also the style of Italian opera seria. In doing so, he played to the interests of a broad segment of society and helped to bring about changes on the opera stage. This wide appeal made The Beggar's Opera the most successful theater event of the century. The sources for his songs were equally broad, from parodies of operatic works by George Frideric Handel (the leading composer of Italian opera in England) to folk and popular songs that dated back over a hundred years. The work's influence continued into the twentieth century, when Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht created a modern version, the Threepenny Opera (1928).

Works:

Ballad operas: The Beggar's Opera (1729), Polly (1728, but banned) and Achilles (1733)
Portions of the libretto for Handel's Acis and Galatea

Classical Era

Click on a letter above to jump to composer names