This 1728 John Gay "opera" put satiric lyrics to the tunes of popular songs
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broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the... [DOC] [TLE] Ballad Opera in England: Its Songs, Contributors, and Influence [PAR] Aug 7, 2010 ... roughly from 1728 (beginning with John Gay's The Beggar's Opera) to 1760.