The Masque at Kenilworth
Encyclopedia
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
with music by Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
and words by Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley was an English literary, art and music critic and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics....
(with an extended Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
quotation) that premiered at the Birmingham Festival on 8 September 1864.
In 1575, Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
visited Robert Dudley
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
at Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of the same name in Warwickshire, England. Constructed from Norman through to Tudor times, the castle has been described by architectural historian Anthony Emery as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant...
, where he presented her with lavish entertainments over a period of several weeks. This piece attempts to recreate the sort of masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
that might have been performed for the queen's pleasure. The text is based partly on the description of the queen's visit in the 1821 novel Kenilworth
Kenilworth (novel)
Kenilworth. A Romance is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, first published on 8 January 1821.-Plot introduction:Kenilworth is apparently set in 1575, and centers on the secret marriage of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and Amy Robsart, daughter of Sir Hugh Robsart...
, by Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
and on other contemporary accounts and fiction.
Background
Kenilworth is one of Arthur SullivanArthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
's earliest choral works, coming only three years after he completed his studies. Early in 1862, the critic Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley was an English literary, art and music critic and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics....
, who served on the committee that had awarded the Mendlessohn scholarships to Sullivan, had hosted a private performance of Sullivan's incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
to Shakespeare's The Tempest
The Tempest (Sullivan)
The Tempest incidental music, Op. 1, is a set of movements for Shakespeare's play composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1861 and expanded in 1862. This was Sullivan's first major piece of composition, and its success quickly brought him to the attention of the musical establishment in...
at his home, where George Grove
George Grove
Sir George Grove, CB was an English writer on music, known as the founding editor of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians....
, at that time Secretary to The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
, heard the piece. Grove was sufficiently impressed to arrange for a performance of the work at The Crystal Palace This piece was a hit and launched Sullivan's reputation.
The Sapphire Necklace
The Sapphire Necklace, or the False Heiress , was the first opera composed by Arthur Sullivan...
, that they had hoped would be produced by the Royal Italian Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
at Covent Garden. Sullivan met the music director of the opera house, Sir Michael Costa
Michael Costa (conductor)
Sir Michael Andrew Angus Costa was an Italian-born conductor and composer who achieved success in England.-Biography:He was born in Naples as Michaele Andrea Agniello Costa, to a family, according to some, of Sephardic stock...
, seeking to cultivate a relationship with the important conductor. He expressed his eagerness to learn all that he could about opera and asked to attend rehearsals. Costa hired Sullivan as an organist at Covent Garden.
Costa also began to send composing commissions to Sullivan. In 1864, at the recommendation of Costa, who was also chief conductor of the triennial Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
Musical Festival, Sullivan received a commission to write a cantata for the Festival. At the time, Sullivan and Chorley had submitted The Sapphire Necklace to the Royal Opera House, but the opera was turned down. Instead, Costa, perhaps in consolation for rejecting the opera, arranged for Chorley to write the libretto for the masque. Chorley's libretto draws on the description in the 1821 novel Kenilworth
Kenilworth (novel)
Kenilworth. A Romance is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, first published on 8 January 1821.-Plot introduction:Kenilworth is apparently set in 1575, and centers on the secret marriage of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and Amy Robsart, daughter of Sir Hugh Robsart...
, by Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, of the visit of Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
to Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of the same name in Warwickshire, England. Constructed from Norman through to Tudor times, the castle has been described by architectural historian Anthony Emery as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant...
in 1575. Chorley's libretto also draws on other contemporary accounts and fiction. Chorley noted in his preface to the libretto that his "fancy was directed" to the subject matter not only for its "local interest" (Kenilworth
Kenilworth
Kenilworth is a town in central Warwickshire, England. In 2001 the town had a population of 22,582 . It is situated south of Coventry, north of Warwick and northwest of London....
is near Birmingham), but because he had long enjoyed Scott's "wondrously musical, but as wondrously simple" description of Elizabeth's arrival for the masque. Chorley does not allude to it, but Michael Costa had composed a ballet on the subject of Kenilworth in 1831.
Sullivan composed the piece over the summer of 1864 and travelled to Birmingham in early September for the first rehearsal. He conducted the première of the cantata on 8 September 1864, which was generally well-received.However, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
was disappointed in the young composer's missing so "golden a chance" to provide something of "more dignity" for such a grand event and dismissed music as merely "trivial prettiness". It noted, however, that had the piece been written for a less exceptional occasion, it "would be welcomed as a very agreeable work, unambitious in plan, unpretending in style, but at the same time lively, tuneful, fresh, and extremely well-written both for voices and instruments."
After two further performances (at The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
on 12 November 1864; and by the Dublin Philharmonic Society in 1868), Sullivan withdrew the piece and refused to allow it to be performed. There were also three known complete performances of the masque around the first anniversary of the composer's death and additional performances in 1903 and 1907. The "Shakespeare Duet" and "Brisk Dance" were performed independently, with the composer's permission, on many occasions and well into the 20th century. The piece has only been recorded once.
Description
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
s that might have been performed for the pleasure of Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
on her visit to Robert Dudley
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
at Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of the same name in Warwickshire, England. Constructed from Norman through to Tudor times, the castle has been described by architectural historian Anthony Emery as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant...
in 1575. Dudley entertained the Queen for two weeks with pageants and banquets that cost some £1000 per day, presenting diversions and pageants surpassing anything ever before seen in England.
The text of Kenilworth consists of descriptions of various mythical entities, creatures and people joyfully praising Elizabeth, singing and dancing to her after her arrival in Kenilworth on a summer's night. These include the Lady of the Lake
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in the Arthurian legend. These characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father...
, who rises from the water to greet her, and the ancient Greek poet Arion
Arion
Arion was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb: "As a literary composition for chorus dithyramb was the creation of Arion of Corinth," The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth...
, who arrives astride a dolphin. A performance of the "summer night" scene from The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
is given, and then the Queen is sung lovingly to sleep. The Merchant of Venice scene is anachronistic, since Shakespeare was a young boy in 1575, but Chorley notes in his preface that Scott had also anachronistically used Shakespeare material. Chorley's effort was ridiculed as "trivial". In addition, Chorley faced much criticism over a misquote of The Merchant of Venice in No. 7, "Scene from The Merchant of Venice". Chorley's line reads: "Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubum, / Such harmony is in immortal sounds." Shakespeare wrote "immortal souls".
Nevertheless, the young Sullivan's effort showed promise. Its most successful movement was the duet, "How sweet the Moonlight sleeps." The soloists at the premiere were Helen Lemmens-Sherrington
Helen Lemmens-Sherrington
Helen Lemmens-Sherrington was the leading English concert and operatic soprano of the 1860s.- Early life :Born in Preston, England, in 1834, Helen Sherrington studied singing at Rotterdam and Brussels...
(soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
), Elizabeth Annie "Bessie" Palmer (contralto), Charles Santley
Charles Santley
Sir Charles Santley was an English-born opera and oratorio star with a bravuraFrom the Italian verb bravare, to show off. A florid, ostentatious style or a passage of music requiring technical skill technique who became the most eminent English baritone and male concert singer of the Victorian era...
(baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
) and William Hayman Cummings
William Hayman Cummings
William Hayman Cummings , born in Sidbury in Devon, was an English musician, tenor and organist at Waltham Abbey....
(tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
), a last-minute substitution for the ailing Mario
Mario (tenor)
Giovanni Matteo "Mario" was an Italian opera singer. The most celebrated tenor of his era, he was lionized by audiences in Paris and London.-Early life:...
. The Times particularly praised the performances of Lemmens-Sherrington and Santley
Original soloists
- Helen Lemmens-SherringtonHelen Lemmens-SherringtonHelen Lemmens-Sherrington was the leading English concert and operatic soprano of the 1860s.- Early life :Born in Preston, England, in 1834, Helen Sherrington studied singing at Rotterdam and Brussels...
(soprano): Lady of the Lake, Quartet, Jessica - Elizabeth Annie "Bessie" Palmer (contralto): Connecting recitatives, Quartet.
- William Hayman CummingsWilliam Hayman CummingsWilliam Hayman Cummings , born in Sidbury in Devon, was an English musician, tenor and organist at Waltham Abbey....
(tenor): Quartet, Lorenzo - Charles SantleyCharles SantleySir Charles Santley was an English-born opera and oratorio star with a bravuraFrom the Italian verb bravare, to show off. A florid, ostentatious style or a passage of music requiring technical skill technique who became the most eminent English baritone and male concert singer of the Victorian era...
(baritone): Quartet, ArionArionArion was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb: "As a literary composition for chorus dithyramb was the creation of Arion of Corinth," The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth...
List of musical numbers and descriptions
- 1. Introduction: A Summer Night - Instrumental
- 2. "Hark! The Sound that Hails a King" - Contralto solo (Palmer) and chorus
- A soloist hails the arrival of Queen Elizabeth. The chorus then summarizes the entertainments to come and welcomes the queen.
- 3. Song, "I have slept beneath the water" - The Lady of the LakeLady of the LakeThe Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in the Arthurian legend. These characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father...
(Lemmens-Sherrington)- The Lady of the Lake describes awakening after centuries, to the merry, golden present, and rising to meet the queen.
- 4. "Let Fauns the cymbal ring" - Quartet (Lemmens-Sherrington, Palmer, Cummings, and Santley) and male chorus of sylvans
- The FaunFaunThe faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...
s, SylvanSylvanSylvan, Silvan or Sylvian refers to an association with the woods. Specifically, that which inhabits the wood, is made of tree materials, or comprises the forest itself. The term can also refer to a person who resides in the woods or a spirit of the wood...
s and DryadDryadDryads are tree nymphs in Greek mythology. In Greek drys signifies 'oak,' from an Indo-European root *derew- 'tree' or 'wood'. Thus Dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, though the term has come to be used for all tree nymphs in general...
s welcome OrianaOrianaOriana is primarily a female given name, widespread, even if not very common, in European languages.-Possible roots of the name:Its etymological origins are probably mixed...
(a nickname for Elizabeth) with music and tribute, and celebrate her bravery and beauty.
- The Faun
- 5. Slow Dance with a Burthen (Women's Chorus)
- 6. Song, "I am a ruler on the sea" - ArionArionArion was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb: "As a literary composition for chorus dithyramb was the creation of Arion of Corinth," The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth...
(Santley)- The Greek poet Arion sings of Britain's mastery of the sea and praises the mariners who guard her glorious crown. He says "threatening Spain" could not touch one blade of grass in Britain, as the land itself would rise up against them.
- 6a. Contralto recitative: "Place for the Queen our show to see, Now speak Immortal Poetry." (Palmer)
- 7. Scene from The Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
(Act V, scene i): "How sweet the moonlight sleeps" (Lemmens-Sherrington and Cummings)- Lorenzo speaks to his new bride, Jessica, comparing the moon and stars in the quiet night to harmony of their souls. He jokingly compares the soundless night to the one when TroilusTroilusTroilus is a legendary character associated with the story of the Trojan War...
committed a romantic act of daring for his lover CressidaCressidaCressida is a character who appears in many Medieval and Renaissance retellings of the story of the Trojan War. She is a Trojan woman, the daughter of Calchas a priestly defector to the Greeks...
. Jessica counters in kind, comparing the night to that on which Thisbe fled from the shadow of the lion. They agree that, on such a night, Dido stood upon the sea banks and waved for her love to return to CarthageCarthageCarthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
.
- Lorenzo speaks to his new bride, Jessica, comparing the moon and stars in the quiet night to harmony of their souls. He jokingly compares the soundless night to the one when Troilus
- 8. A Brisk Dance - Instrumental
- 9. Contralto solo and Chorus: "After banquet, play, and riot" (Palmer)... "Sleep, great Queen!" (Chorus)
- Now that the banquet and play are over, it is time for the queen to sleep. The masque is not yet ended, and the next day will bring new delights. The people bless and hail the queen in a happy, but subdued ending.
External links
- Listing of Sullivan works at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
- Description of work and recording at The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography
- Excerpt from Scribner's Monthly magazine that contains a review (at p. 907) of the work
- Review from Birmingham performance in The Times, 12 September 1864
- Review from London performance in The Times, 14 November 1864