Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera, light in terms of both music and subject matter. It includes spoken dialogue and dances. "Operetta" is the Italian diminutive of "opera" and was used to describe a shorter less ambitious work than an opera. Operetta became a recognizable form in the mid-1800s in France, its popularity led to the development of many national styles of operetta. Operetta as a genre gave way to modern musical theatre. Important operetta composers include Jacques Offenbach and Franz Lehar. Mozart, credited with the first use of the word operetta, defined it as a form for "certain dramatic abortions, those miniature compositions in which one finds only cold songs and couplets from vaudeville." The definition of operetta has changed over the centuries and ranges depending on each country's history with the genre. However, there are some common characteristics among operettas that flourished from the mid-1850s through the early 1900s, beginning with the French opéra-bouffe.

They contain spoken dialogue interspersed between musical numbers, the principal characters, as well as the chorus, are called upon to dance, although the music is derived from 19th-century operatic styles, with an emphasis on singable melodies. Operettas are shorter than operas, are of a light and amusing character. Operetta is a precursor of the modern musical theatre or the "musical" In the early decades of the 20th century, operetta continued to exist alongside the newer musical, with each influencing the other. Various national styles preceded the operetta, including the Italian intermezzos, the most famous of, Pergolesi's La serva padrona, as well as the English tradition of ballad operas. Operetta flourished in France around the middle of the 19th century, to satisfy a need for short, light works in contrast to the full-length entertainment of the serious opéra comique. By this time, the "comique" part of the genre name had become misleading: Georges Bizet's Carmen is an example of an opéra comique with a tragic plot.

The definition of "comique" meant something closer to "humanistic," meant to portray "real life" in a more realistic way, representing tragedy and comedy next to each other, as Shakespeare had done centuries earlier. With this new connotation, opéra comique had dominated the French operatic stage since the decline of tragédie lyrique. Hervé, né Florimond Ronger, is identified as the grandfather of operetta, he was a singer, librettist and scene painter. In 1842, he wrote the one act opérette, L'Ours et le pacha, based on the popular vaudeville by Eugène Scribe and X. B. Saintine. In 1848, Hervé made his first notable appearance on the Parisian stage, with Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança, which can be considered the starting point for the new French musical theatre tradition. Hervé's most famous works are the Gounod-parody Le petit Mam ` zelle Nitouche. Jacques Offenbach is most responsible for the development and popularization of operetta—also called opéras bouffes or opérettes—giving it its enormous vogue during the Second Empire and afterwards.

In 1849, Offenbach obtained permission to open the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, a theatre company that offered programs of two or three satirical one-act sketches. The company was so successful that it led to the elongation of these sketches into an evening's duration. Offenbach's productions were, bound by the police prefecture in Paris, which specified the type of performance that would be allowed: “pantomimes with at most five performers, one-act comic musical dialogues for two to three actors, dance routines with no more than five dancers; these rules defined what came to be defined as operetta: “a small unpretentious operatic work that had no tragic implications and was designed to entertain the public.”The limitations placed on Offenbach and Parisian theatre were lifted, operetta gained wide popularity. While Offenbach's earliest one-act pieces included Les deux aveugles, Le violoneux and Ba-ta-clan did well, his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers, was by far the most successful.

It was staged hundreds of times across Europe and beyond. Offenbach wrote more than 100 operettas. By the 1870s, Offenbach's popularity declined; the public showed more interest in romantic operettas that showed the “grace and refinement” of classical music. This included Louis Ganne's Les saltimbanques; the 20th century found French operetta more out of favor as the international public turned to Anglo-American and Viennese operettas. Offenbach was unabashed about spreading operetta around the continent. In 1861, he staged some of his recent works at the Carltheater in Vienna, which paved the way for Austrian and German composers. Soon, Vienna became the epicenter of operetta productions, it is the Viennese operette, not the French, the first time the term is used to describe a full-length work. Additionally, after the Prussian defeat in 1866, operetta became the sign of a new age in Austria, marked by modernity and industrialization; the most significant composer of operetta in the German language was the Austrian Johann Strauss II.

Strauss was introduced a distinct Viennese style to the genre. His first operetta was Indigo und, his third operetta, Die Fledermaus, became the most performed operetta in the world, remains his most popular stage work. In all, Strauss wrote most with great success when first premiered. S

Laurence Oliphant, 4th Lord Oliphant was a Scottish nobleman. The eldest son of Laurence Oliphant, 3rd Lord Oliphant, by Margaret Sandilands, in 1543 he was sent to England as a hostage for his father. After the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to Darnley, while Master of Oliphant, he sat as an extraordinary member of the privy council in August 1565. In 1565 certain persons accused of serious crimes took over his house of Berrydale, which they garrisoned and held, he succeeded his father on 26 March of the same year, was served heir on 2 May. Oliphant sat on the assize for the trial of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell for the murder of Darnley, signed the Ainslie Tavern Bond for Bothwell's marriage to the queen, was one of the nine temporal lords present at the marriage. At the same time as John Hamilton he was admitted a member of the privy council, he joined the association on behalf of Mary at Hamilton on 8 May 1568, fought for her at the battle of Langside. On this account he was charged to appear before the regent and lords of the privy council, failing to do so, was on 2 August 1568 denounced a rebel and put to the horn.

Oliphant was one of sixteen persons appointed by Queen Mary, at Bolton Castle on 6 March 1569 to act as advisers, with the Duke of Châtellerault, the Earl of Huntly and Earl of Argyll, in the difficult circumstances of the Scottish kingdom. He attended the convention at Perth on 31 July of the same year, voted against the queen's divorce from Bothwell. An attack on him and his servants on 18 July at the instance of George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness was the subject of deliberation by the privy council on 12 October and 22 November. After the death of the Regent Moray in January 1570, Oliphant met the leaders of the queen's party at Linlithgow, where they had a conference with the French ambassador. Henry Killigrew, in a letter to Lord Burghley in 1573, mentioned that Oliphant had joined the anti-Marian party after James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton's succession as regent to James VI. After the retirement of Morton from the regency, Oliphant attended the meeting of the parliament in Stirling Castle on 16 July 1578, presided over by the king.

In November 1580 he was charged to answer before the council for an attack on Lord Ruthven, on 7 December caution money was set that he would on the 9th enter into ward in Doune Castle in Menteith. Subsequently disputes between him and the Earl of Caithness came to the privy council. There is evidence that the 4th Lord Oliphant added two floors to the east tower of Kellie Castle in Fife in 1573; the south elevation bears the initials of Margaret Hay. Oliphant died at Caithness on 16 January 1593, was buried in the church of Wick. By Lady Margaret Hay, second daughter of George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll, Oliphant had two sons and three daughters; the sons were: Master of Oliphant. He was involved in the raid of Ruthven, for this reason was in March 1584 exiled, along with his brother-in-law, Robert Douglas, son of William Douglas of Lochleven, they never reached it. John Oliphant of Newlands; the daughters were: Elizabeth, married to William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus. Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed..

"Oliphant, Laurence". Dictionary of National Biography. 42. London: Smith, Elder & Co

Sun Chariot was a Thoroughbred racehorse who achieved the English Fillies Triple Crown by winning the 1,000 Guineas, the Oaks, the St. Leger in 1942, she was bred by the National Stud and raced for King George VI. Sun Chariot was a filly of great talent but difficult temperament. Before she appeared on a racecourse, she displayed such a lack of promise that she was nearly returned to Ireland, where the stud was, she topped the Free Handicap after winning the Middle Park Stakes, Queen Mary Stakes and two other races. However, in her first start as a three-year-old, she refused to make any effort and was beaten for what turned out to be the only time, she won the 1,000 Guineas and the St. Leger, in which she beat the Derby winner, Watling Street. In retirement, she bred some good winners at stud before her death in 1963, including: Blue Train, whose unsoundness prevented him from doing himself justice. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing - written by Bill Mooney and George Ennor Sun Chariot's pedigree and racing stats