libretto

[ li-bret-oh ]

/ lɪˈbrɛt oʊ /

the text or words of an opera or similar extended musical composition.

a book or booklet containing such a text.

Origin of libretto

1735–45; < Italian, diminutive of libro book < Latin liber; see -et

I own a CD, have heard it, and have read the libretto three or four times.

Rudy Giuliani: Why I Protested ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ |Rudy Giuliani |October 20, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Ideas for a novel, the notes I took when working with a composer on the libretto for an opera I did in 2008.

Amy Tan: How I Write |Noah Charney |December 11, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Watching the court appearance was, to the untrained eye, like watching a German opera without a libretto.

How the West Memphis Three Got Out |Gerald L. Shargel |August 22, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
Disconnected episodes, then, may possibly make a vaudeville sketch or the libretto of a lower order of musical comedy.

Dramatic Technique |George Pierce Baker

Mr Saltzburg gave a spirited and lifelike representation of a manager laughing ha-ha when begged to disgorge a libretto.

The Little Warrior |P. G. Wodehouse
That mood does express itself in the plot and the incidents of the libretto, although in them it is empty of value or passion.

Essays on Art |A. Clutton-Brock
The libretto of Cenerentola is an adaptation from Etiennes Cendrillon.

The Life of Rossini |Henry Sutherland Edwards
The libretto was written by Ostrowsky, one of the celebrated dramatists of the day.

The World's Great Men of Music |Harriette Brower

libretto

/ (lɪˈbrɛtəʊ) /

a text written for and set to music in an opera, etc

C18: from Italian, diminutive of libro book