Henry Purcell's Dido And Aeneas

Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

Although it takes little more than an hour to perform, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas stands as the greatest operatic achievement of seventeenth-century England. This book demonstrates the opera's deep roots in the theatrical and musical traditions of its day, summarizing the cultural climate inwhich the opera was composed and analyzing Nahum Tate's libretto in light of seventeenth-century English music text conventions. Harris also evaluates the surviving sources, comparing them with the original libretto, and discusses the work's performance history and critical reception from the firstperformance through the revivals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.Review"A required addition to the shelf of the opera lover....It has something for everyone: source studies for the scholar, structural analyses for the teacher, and performance history for the operagoer. It raises many stimulating issues and offers provocative viewpoints; it is a significantcontribution to the literature on Purcell's dramatic music and deserves close attention."--Opera Quarterly"Here is a book that is quite enjoyable to read, a distinction that applies to few works of comparable scholarly excellence."--The American Recorder"Harris has made a significant contribution to the history of performance practice."--Times Literary Supplement"Harris brings together a broad range of literary and musical scholarship to make important contributions to our knowledge of the context, origins, sources, and subsequent performance history of Purcell's opera."--NotesAbout the AuthorEllen T. Harris is Chairman of the Music Department and Professor of Music at the University of Chicago.