Paul Ferrier and Emanuel Pessard produced a grand opera in two acts
entitled "Tabarin" in Paris in 1885; Alboiz and Andre a comic opera
with the same title, music by Georges Bousquet, in 1852. Gilles and
Furpilles brought out an operetta called "Tabarin Duelliste," with
music by Leon Pillaut, in 1866. The works seem to have had only the
name of the hero in common. Their stories bear no likeness to those of
"La Femme de Tabarin" or "Pagliacci." The Spanish play, "Drama Nuevo,"
by Estebanez, was adapted for performance in English by Mr. W. D.
Howells under the title "Yorick's Love." The translation was made for
Mr. Lawrence Barrett and was never published in book form. If it had
the denouement suggested in Leoncavallo's letter to Sonzogno, the fact
has escaped the memory of Mr. Howells, who, in answer to a letter of
inquiry which I sent him, wrote: "So far as I can remember there was no
likeness between 'Yorick's Love' and 'Pagliacci.' But when I made my
version I had not seen or heard 'Pagliacci.'"
The title of Leoncavallo's opera is "Pagliacci," not "I Pagliacci" as
it frequently appears in books and newspapers. When the opera was
brought out in the vernacular, Mr. Frederick E. Weatherly, who made the
English adaptation, called the play and the character assumed by Canio
in the comedy "Punchinello." This evoked an interesting comment from
Mr. Hale: "'Pagliacci' is the plural of Pagliaccio, which does not mean
and never did mean Punchinello. What is a Pagliaccio? A type long known
to the Italians, and familiar to the French as Paillasse. The
Pagliaccio visited Paris first in 1570. He was clothed in white and
wore big buttons. Later, he wore a suit of bedtick, with white and blue
checks, the coarse mattress cloth of the period. Hence his name. The
word that meant straw was afterward used for mattress which was stuffed
with straw and then for the buffoon, who wore the mattress cloth suit.
In France the Paillasse, as I have said, was the same as Pagliaccio.
Sometimes he wore a red checked suit, but the genuine one was known by
the colors, white and blue. He wore blue stockings, short breeches
puffing out a la blouse, a belted blouse and a black, close-fitting
cap. This buffoon was seen at shows of strolling mountebanks. He stood
outside the booth and by his jests and antics and grimaces strove to
attract the attention of the people, and he told them of the wonders
performed by acrobats within, of the freaks exhibited. Many of his
jests are preserved. They are often in dialogue with the proprietor and
are generally of vile indecency. The lowest of the strollers, he was
abused by them. The Italian Pagliaccio is a species of clown, and
Punchinello was never a mere buffoon. The Punch of the puppet-show is a
bastard descendant of the latter, but the original type is still seen
in Naples, where he wears a white costume and a black mask. The
original type was not necessarily humpbacked. Punchinello is a shrewd
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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