Abstract
Since opera first emerged in the late sixteenth century in Italy, verse, instead of prose, was chosen to be set to music because it contains rhythm and meter. With the prominence of Italian opera in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the setting of verse developed a unique mode and tradition which influenced the versification of libretti in other languages. Mozart (1756-1791) claimed in 1781 that “verse is indispensable to music,” when he was composing his German Singspiel ＂Die Entführung aus dem Serail＂ (1782). The quote is based upon not only his personal principle in his composition of ＂Die Entführung aus dem Serail＂, but also from his experiences with Italian operas. In the 18th century when German opera had not yet established its own tradition of setting verse to music, Mozart had already composed eight Italian operas by 1781. This article examines two of the most significant elements in Italian versification, namely, the number of syllables and the final accent of the verse line, in order to illuminate how verse in Italian libretto is ＂indispensable to music＂. With examples from Mozart's three Viennese opera buffas, this article also discusses Mozart's inspiring comment on setting verse to music, ＂In an opera, the poetry must be the obedient daughter of the music＂.