The patter song is characterised by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note. It is a staple of comic opera, especially Gilbert and Sullivan, but it has also been used in musicals and elsewhere.

The lyric of a patter song generally features tongue-twisting rhyming text, with alliterative words and other consonant or vowel sounds that are intended to be entertaining to listen to at rapid speed. The musical accompaniment is lightly orchestrated and fairly simple, to emphasise the text. The song is often intended as a showpiece for a comic character, usually a bass or baritone. The singer should be capable of excellent enunciation, to show the song to maximum effect.

History

Etymology

The word "patter" derives from the Pater Noster, or Lord's Prayer, "which Catholics recited ... rushing through the words as quickly as possible" in medieval times and later.

Origins

A form of rapid patter occurred in the parabasis in ancient Greek comedies. The 16th-century French composer F. de Lys published a song "Secouhez moy" set in what the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians calls "a syllabic, patter-song manner". Rapid patter numbers are heard in Italian opera of the baroque era, specifically opera buffa. Alessandro Scarlatti's 1702 opera Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente contains an early instance in the duet "Non ti voglio". In the view of Grove, syllabic patter songs were among the components of the new comic idiom, developed in the early decades of the 18th century by composers including Pergolesi, Leo, Sarro, Hasse and Orlandini, and they became a basic part of the pre‐classical operatic style.