Swashbuckling Drama and Music

A swashbuckler is a charismatic outlaw or otherwise larger‐than‐life figure whose unruly actions fall outside the conventional boundaries of civilized conduct. The term also refers to the modes of dramatic representation that depict such audacious exploits and flamboyant personages. Swashbuckler music, then, is the collection of musical genres, styles, and gestures that facilitate these portrayals, either as accompaniment to theatrical productions or in concert and private performance. Although the category itself is of relatively recent vintage, the narratives, modes of representation, and musical techniques that the term encompasses reached maturity at the end of the eighteenth century in Europe, during the early years of the Romantic movement.