Vaudeville
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
A Vaudeville was a French satirical poem or song in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was used a lot in French theatre where entertainments using such songs were called "comédie en vaudeville". Later there also grew an American vaudeville tradition.
[change] History
The earliest vaudeville was the vau de vire, a Norman song of the 15th century, named after the valley of Vire. During the 16th century a style grew in the towns in France called the voix de ville ( city voices), whose name may have been a pun on vau de vire. These were also satirical. The two styles came together and in the 17th and 18th century. The term 'vaudeville' came to be used for songs satirizing political and court events.
[change] Growth
The comédie en vaudeville grew from the tradition of these simple songs. The Paris audiences in the late 17th and early 18th century enjoyed hearing the familiar vaudeville tunes to new words. These comedies then grew into opéra-comique.
[change] References
- Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vaudeville.
