Opera Libretti collection, 1803 - 1981

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Summary

Creators:
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Beethoven, Ludvig van, 1770-1827, Debussy, Claude, 1862-1918, Strauss, Richard, 1864-1949, Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883, Bizet, Georges, 1838-1875, Donizetti, Gaetano, 1797-1848, Gluck, Christoph Willibald, Ritter von, 1714-1787, Mascagni, Pietro, 1863-1945, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Puccini, Giacomo, 1858-1924, Rossini, Gioacchino, 1792-1868, Sullivan, Arthur, 1842-1900, Verdi, Giuseppe, 1813-1901, Adam, Adophe, 1803-1856, Alfano, Franco, 1875-1954, Auber, D. F. E. (Daniel Francois Esprit), 1782-1871, Audran, Edmond, 1842-1901, Balfe, M. W. (Michael William), 1808-1870, Bartók, Béla, 1881-1945, Bellini, Vincenzo, 1801-1835, Blacher, Boris, 1903-1975, Boieldieu, A. (Adrien), 1775-1834, Boito, Arrigo, 1842-1918, Bretón, Tomás, 1850-1923, Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976, Brüll, Ignaz, 1846-1907, Bucci, Mark, 1924-2002, Cadman, Charles Wakefield, 1881-1946, Catalani, Alfredo, 1854-1893, Chapí, Ruperto, 1851-1909, Charpentier, Gustave, 1860-1956, Costa, Michael, 1808-1884, Cimarosa, Domenico, 1749-1801, Erlanger, Frédéric, 1868-1943, Damrosch, Walter, 1862-1950, De Leone, Francesco B. (Francesco Bartolomeo), 1887-1948, Albert, Eugene d', 1864-1932, Delibes, Léo, 1836-1891, Doret, Gustave, 1866-1943, Février, Henry, 1875-1957, Flotow, Friedrich von, 1812-1883, Franchetti, Alberto, 1860-1942, Floyd, Carlisle, 1926-2021, Ginastera, Alberto, 1916-1983, Giordano, Umberto, 1867-1948, Goldmark, Carl, 1830-1915, Gounod, Charles, 1818-1893, Granados, Enrique, 1867-1916, Halévy, F., 1799-1862, Graener, Paul, 1872-1944, Gruenberg, Louis, 1884-1964, Haas, Joseph, 1879-1960, Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759, Harling, W. Franke (William Franke), 1887-1958, Herbert, Victor, 1859-1924, Hérold, Ferdinand, 1791-1833, Lecocq, Charles, 1832-1918, Hervé, 1825-1892, Heuberger, Richard, 1850-1914, Honegger, Arthur, 1892-1955, Hubay, Jenő, 1858-1937, Jacobi, Frederick, 1891-1952, Humperdinck, Engelbert, 1854-1921, Janáček, Leoš, 1854-1928, Suk, Josef, 1874-1935, Korngold, Erich Wolfgang, 1897-1957, Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950, Kreutzer, Rodolphe, 1766-1831, Lehár, Franz, 1870-1948, Leoncavallo, Ruggiero, 1858-1919, Leroux, Xavier, 1863-1919, Lortzing, Albert, 1801-1851, Mancinelli, Luigi, 1848-1921, Lothar, Mark, 1902-1985, Marchetti, F. D. (Fermo Dante), 1876-1940, Leoni, Franco, 1864-1949, Lalo, Édouard, 1823-1892, Marschner, Heinrich, 1795-1861, Massenet, Jules, 1842-1912, Menotti, Gian Carlo, 1911-2007, Meyerbeer, Giacomo, 1791-1864, Mercadante, Saverio, 1795-1870, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, 1809-1847, Montemezzi, Italo (1875-1952), Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643, Moore, Douglas, 1893-1969, Offenbach, Jacques, 1819-1880, Nicolai, Otto, 1810-1849, Orff, Carl, 1895-1982, Nessler, Victor E. (Victor Ernst), 1841-1890, Pacini, Giovanni, 1796-1867, Petrella, Errico, 1813-1877, Parker, Horatio W. (Horatio William), 1863-1919, Planquette, Robert, 1848-1903, Prokofiev, Sergey, 1891-1953, Parelli, Attilio, 1874-1944, Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich, 1799-1837, Rabaud, Henri, 1873-1949, Ricci, Luigi, 1805-1859, Roselius, Ludwig, 1902-1977, Rubinstein, Anton, 1829-1894, Schillings, Max von, 1868-1933, Schoenberg, Arnold, 1874-1951, Schumann, Robert, 1810-1856, Serrano, José, 1873-1941, Smetana, Bedřich, 1824-1884, Spontini, Gaspare, 1774-1851, Swickard, Ralph, 1922-1997, Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel (1875-1912), Thomas, Ambroise, 1811-1896, Thuille, Ludwig, 1861-1907, Usiglio, Emilio, 1841-1910, Vittadini, Franco, 1884-1948, Weber, Carl Maria von, 1786-1826, Wallace, William Vincent, 1812-1865, Vaĭnberg, M. (Moisĭ), 1919-1996, Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno, 1876-1948, Wolff, Albert, 1884-1970, Zandonai, Riccardo, 1883-1944, Zeller, Carl, 1842-1898, Waller, Henry, 1864-1942, and Calvimonte, José
Abstract:
This collection of opera libretti spans the majority of the 19th and 20th century from a variety of composers.
Extent:
5 Linear Feet (5 cartons)
Language:
English , German , French , Italian , Spanish; Castilian .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Opera Libretti collection, PA Mss 263. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The Opera libretti collection was assembled by UCSB music librarians as a vertical file research collection for studying opera. The libretti were published by a wide variety of publishers, primarily in the 20th century before the widespread availability of libretti and translations online. The libretti are sometimes in the original languages and sometimes in translation and many contain a synopsis, incipits, and in some cases are also a program. The collection is organized alphabetically by composer. Highlighted composers include Bach, Bizet, Beethoven, Debussy, Donizetti, Gluck, Mascagni, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Strauss, Gilbert + Sullivan, Verdi, and Wagner. Many were published by opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Civic Opera as well as houses in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. A full inventory can be found here: (Opera Libretti Inventory).

Alphabetical Box List:
  • Box 1. A-D
  • Box 2. E-M
  • Box 3. M-P
  • Box 4. P-V
  • Box 5. V-Z

Biographical / historical:

This collection was compiled by the UCSB Music Library before its inclusion to the wider UCSB Library administration.

Physical location:
Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Operas -- Librettos

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Opera Libretti collection, PA Mss 263. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
Website