Rikunarita-ORG/Wikinium huggingface dataset:
# Incidental music

**Incidental music** is music which has been written for a play. It is not like opera where there is usually music all the way through. Incidental music will be used between scenes or for particularly important moments in the play or for songs sung by the actors. It is called “incidental” because the music is not as important as the play.

Incidental music dates as far back as Ancient Greece. It was used in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in the plays of Shakespeare whose characters often sing songs. At this time incidental music was used more often for comedies than for tragedies. Tragedies were about important people who were busy ruling their country and having wars. In the plays they spoke in verse and were too noble to sing. People thought that comedies were more suitable for including music. The songs were often sung by actors playing the parts of shepherds, nymphs or clowns.

In later centuries music was used for all types of serious drama. Sometimes large orchestras were used. Many famous composers wrote music to be played by an orchestra during plays. A famous example is the incidental music for Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night's Dream” composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1842. Other composers worked with living poets such as Goethe and Schiller. Beethoven wrote music for Goethe’s play *Egmont*. This music is very closely linked to what happens in the story: the overture describes the harshness of the Spanish oppression of the Netherlands which is what the play is about. Schubert’s famous *Rosamunde* overture comes from a play called *Die Zauberharfe* (*The Magic Harp*). Schumann’s music for *Manfred* is different: it was never intended to be performed with the play, it was just inspired by Schumann’s imagination. Many other composers wrote incidental music, e.g. Sibelius (for Maeterlinck’s play *Pelléas et Mélisande*) and Grieg (for Ibsen’s play *Peer Gynt*).

In all these examples the music is now usually heard at concerts, not as part of the original play. Most of them have overtures (music played before the play starts) and these overtures are often performed separately, very often at the start of concerts.

Incidental music was not used so much during the 20th century although the plays of Brecht, which are often about political propaganda, needed a new kind of popular music. Brecht worked with composers like Weill and Eisler who understood the kind of message that he wanted in his plays. Their music for Brecht’s plays is similar to cabaret music.

Nowadays electronic music is often used in plays.
# Conservatoire de Paris

The **Conservatoire de Paris** (**Paris Conservatoire**) is a music conservatory where students can study dance, drama and music. It has now been split into two "Conservatoires". One is for Acting, Theatre and Drama and is called the *Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique* (CNSAD). It is in the old building in the centre of Paris. The other is called *Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris*. It is farther from the centre of the city. This is where Music and Dance are taught.

The Paris Conservatoire has been famous for music since it was formed in 1795. Nearly all famous French composers and performing musicians studied there, and many young musicians came from abroad to study. It was, and still is, one of the best places to study music in the world.

The old Conservatoire building (until 1911), now the building which houses the CNSAD. It is now called the *Théâtre du Conservatoire* because there are often public performances by the Conservatory students.
## Related pages

* Paris
* Conservatoire
* Prix de Rome
# Pedro Calderòn de la Barca

Pedro Calderón de la Barca.
**Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Henao** (17 January 1600 – 25 May 1681), was a dramatist of the Spanish Golden Age.

Calderón was born in Madrid. His mother, who was of Flemish descent, died in 1610; his father, who was secretary to the treasury, died in 1615. Calderón was educated at the Jesuit College in Madrid, the Colegio Imperial, with a view to taking orders; but instead, he studied law at Salamanca.

## Selected Works

* El médico de su honra (The Surgeon of his Honour)
* La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream)
* El Alcalde de Zalamea (The Mayor of Zalamea)
* La Dama duende (The Phantom Lady)
* Casa con dos puertas (The House with Two Doors)
* El Mágico prodigioso (The Mighty Magician)
* La Devoción de la Cruz (Devotion to the Cross)
* El Gran Teatro del mundo (The Great Theatre of the World)
* El Gran Mercado del mundo (The World is a Fair)
* El Pintor de su deshonra (The Painter of His Dishonour)
* El Prodigio de Alemania (The Prodigy of Germany) (in collaboration with Antonio Coello)