What does a librettist do?

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What is a Librettist?

A librettist is someone who writes the lyrics or dialogue in an opera, musical, oratory, ballet or cantata. Libretti, or texts, are produced by a librettist and accompany a musical performance.

A librettist is someone who writes the lyrics or dialogue in an opera, musical, oratory, ballet or cantata. A librettist requires talent in both music and words, as he or she is expected to work in both verse and plain speech. Composers and librettists work closely together during the development of a musical piece so that the music and words work harmoniously together. Words for a piece can be written before the score is composed, or the librettist can add words to a musical composition which has already been made. It is also possible for the score and the lyrics/words to be developed at the same time, with composer and librettist in close collaboration at every step of the way.

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Librettists are also known as:
Opera Librettist