ballad opera

noun

1. a theater entertainment of 18th-century England, consisting of popular tunes, folk songs, and dialogue.

ballad opera

noun

1. an opera consisting of popular tunes to which appropriate words have been set, interspersed with spoken dialogue

Word History and Origins

Origin of ballad opera¹

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

It’s Freddie who, in 1975, decides that Queen will defy formula and craft a new musical masterpiece that fuses ballad, opera and rock inspirations into an ear-tickling, genre-melding opus for the ages.

From Los Angeles Times

This small-scale production, by the European Opera Centre and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, presented the only UK performance of Britten's witty re-orchestration of John Gay's 18th-century ballad opera scheduled this year.

From The Guardian

The story was made into a pantomime by Theophilus Cibber, and by some one else into a ballad opera; and it gave rise to numerous pamphlets and poems.

From Project Gutenberg

New elements of music and clowning change his lugubrious didacticism to a lyrical warning in a form I call "morality ballad opera."

From Project Gutenberg

Moreover, these two dramas underscore the importance of music in eighteenth century theater where the use of songs in pantomimes and new lyrics for old tunes in ballad opera were alike commonplace by mid-century.

From Project Gutenberg