| Abstract |
Modern music lovers are rediscovering with enthusiasm the work of the baroque masters. Henry Purcell emerges from this cultural reassessment as a musical genius of major proportions. Here, the libretto and score of his best known work and masterpiece, Dido and Aeneas, are analyzed thoroughly against the general background of operatic origins and the nature of baroque entertainment. Succeeding chapters deal with the distinct creative contributions made by his other works, all unfortunately less well known, with each representing a different kind of dramatic type and expression. The author finds Purcell's solutions for these problems of great importance to students in another field of intense modern study: the history of theatrical arts. The thoroughly individual genre of these operas, partly sung, partly spoken, gives them a unique place in the history of dramatic expression. This theatrical aspect of Purcell's work is carefully analyzed and the nature of its cultural contribution explained and illustrated. This study of a baroque mingling of the arts provides an entertaining and profitable exposition of an important turning-point in the development of the expressive arts. |
