melodrama

Play or film with romantic and sensational plot elements, often concerned with crime, vice, or catastrophe. Originally a melodrama was a play with an accompaniment of music contributing to the dramatic effect. It became popular in the late 18th century, due to works like Pygmalion (1770), with pieces written by the French philosopher Jean‐Jacques Rousseau. The early melodramas used extravagant theatrical effects to heighten violent emotions and actions artificially. By the end of the 19th century, melodrama had become a popular genre of stage play.

In melodramas of the 18th century there was no direct correlation between the free rhythm of the actor's voice and the music which was played in strict metre. In addition to self‐contained melodramas, some operas of the period included scenes of this style, as in the grave‐digging scene in Beethoven's Fidelio (1805). Schoenberg developed the genre in his Pierrot lunaire (1912), by the inclusion of semi‐musical speech called Sprechgesang (German ‘speech‐song’).

Beginning with the early work of Goethe and Schiller, melodrama was popularized in France by Pixérécourt (1773–1844), whose L'Enfant de mystère was first introduced to England in an unauthorized translation by Thomas Holcroft as A Tale of Mystery (1802). Melodramas were frequently played against a Gothic background of mountains or ruined castles.