What exactly does the term "pastiche" mean?

I've heard and read the word "pastiche" many times about musical theatre songs. I recently heard an interview with James Marino and John Kander about the term and even they seem to be stumped on what it means. What is the difference between pastiche songs and other songs in a musical?

Thanks, all.

I didn't think it necessarily meant 'old-fashioned' but any songs that imitate another style etc.. could be 'pastiche', I thought.

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a literary, musical, or artistic piece consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources.


The above is from the dictionary. Nothing old fashioned, nothing inauthentic. Just "borrowed". (the 2nd definition only refers to "hodgepodge")

(So G is the winner.)

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Pasticcio musicals were very common in the late 1800's and early 1900's when musicals were forming in the United States. they would 'borrow' scenes, music, styles and mix it in a blender and turn it into a new product. Example: lady gaga's career.

Nowadays-- it can also be called copyright infringement.

The Black Crook- for example- was based on Faust.

a common day pastiche musical would be a school talent show.
Where music from different composers are used for one show- and unauthorized.

whenever I hear that word I just look at the root word and think - to paste.

copy/paste

You Could Drive A Person Crazy is a parody - it exaggerates a style for humorous effect - at no time would you think that the Andrews Sisters ever sang it.

The Follies numbers are pastiche, because in context they are performed as if they were numbers of the period.

I always thought it was pasta dish

Except for the songs sung by Edie of course.

Here's Corine, showing she knows what pastiche means.

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Aren't the opera scenes (with Carlotta and Piangi) in The Phantom of the Opera considered pastiche? They simulate styles of grand opera, but are obviously inauthentic, even (intentionally) comical.

And Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, too, which has songs that simulate everything from country to calypso.

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Updated On: 6/4/11 at 05:13 PM

Okay, so it seems that "pastiche" means to evoke another style. What would NOT be considered pastiche, then, since so many musical theatre songs are based in other genres (rock, opera, etc.)?

Please forgive me if I seem completely naive on this subject.

Parody and pastiche are quite different. Perhaps pictures might help:

[img] [/img]

This is the original Warhol image of Marilyn Monroe, with which we're all probably familiar.

[img] [/img]

Banksy produces a pastiche of the original, using Kate Moss instead of Marilyn, to make a point. At first glance, we might even think it is an original but Kate Moss as a sitter is not right and her expression is markedly different. So rather like Losing My Mind in Follies - we are given a piece that is very similar to a Gershwin number or a torch song, but it is used in a way that we might not expect to make a different point.

[img] [/img]

The same cannot be said for this, which parodies the sitter in the style of Warhol and one could argue has something to say about the original. But we also understand it is not the original and we understand that our reaction is not to take it seriously (unless one is a Michael Jackson fan, perhaps). So like, You Could Drive A Person Crazy, the juxtaposition of the style of the song and the individuals involved, allow us to understand the situation and also to laugh at it.

[img] [/img]

In this case, we have a print in a style reminiscent of Warhol. We understand it is neither an attempt to recreate the original nor make a point, it just gives us the Warhol ambiance. So just as a score of a musical maybe jazzy or have rock influences - it's not trying to persuade us that it is a specific writer, it's borrowing the flourishes of that style to give the piece a little colour.

Updated On: 6/5/11 at 08:46 AM

"Okay, so it seems that "pastiche" means to evoke another style. What would NOT be considered pastiche, then, since so many musical theatre songs are based in other genres (rock, opera, etc.)"


I'd say that pastiche has to be specific. You can't, for example, do a musical pastiche of "the twenties", because there are so many different types of music from the time. You can, however, do a pastiche of Cole Porter or Jerome Kern. In that same vein, you can't do a musical pastiche of the genre of "rock", because, again, that is far too wide. You can do a pastiche of a certain artist, or a specific sort of music (a pastiche of Charleston music, a pastiche of rockabilly).

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