Serse tragedy and comedy or high and low class characters. The musicologist Charles Burney later took "Serse" to task for violating decorum in this way, writing: "I have not been able to discover the author of the words of this drama: but it is one of the worst Handel ever set to Music: for besides feeble writing, there is a mixture of tragic-comedy and buffoonery in it, which Apostolo Zeno and Metastasio had banished from serious opera." Another unusual aspect of "Serse" is the number of short, one-part arias, when a typical opera seria of Handel's time was almost wholly made
Ballade (classical music) Ballade (classical music) A ballade (from French "", , and German "Ballade", , both being words for "ballad"), in classical music since the late 18th century, refers to a setting of a literary ballad, a narrative poem, in the musical tradition of the "", or to a one-movement instrumental piece with lyrical and dramatic narrative qualities reminiscent of such a song setting, especially a piano ballad. In late 18th century German literature, the term "ballade" was used to describe folklike narrative poetry (following Johann Gottfried Herder), some of which was set to music by composers such as Johann Friedrich Reichardt,