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A travesty, also known as a '''Burlesque''' prior to Burlesque Theatre becoming associated with Striptease , is a form of Musical Parody in which a piece is re-arranged into a style very different from that for which it was originally known. This usually takes the form of a serious work (e.g. Opera ) being presented in a more populist style such as Ragtime . Travesty originated in the 1840s, early in the Victorian Era , when the social rules of established Aristocracy and working-class society clashed. The genre often mocked such established entertainment forms as opera, musicals, and ballet. In the 19th century, composer Meyer Lutz produced a number of operatic travesties. In these the scores were rearranged to so that operatic arias would be turned into, for example, a Barn Dance . Well known ragtime travesties include ''The Russian Rag'', by George L. Cobb , which is based on Rachmaninoff 's Prelude In C-sharp Minor , and Felix Arndt 's ''Lucy's Sextette'' based on a Sextet from Lucia Di Lammermoor by Donizetti . In more recent times, the score for the film The Cool Mikado is a travesty on the original Gilbert And Sullivan music. ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD ''TRAVESTY'' The term ''travesty'' dates from the 17th century and combines the Latin words ''trans-'', meaning "across, over" and ''vestere'', "to dress or to wear". These two Latin words also form the Etymology of the 20th-century term '' Transvestism ''. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the word ''travesty'' originally meant "to disguise by changing costume", then "to dress ridiculously", but soon came to mean "a parody or burlesque", as in the theatrical productions discussed here, and finally added to that its modern meaning of "disgraceful imitation". |
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