King Arthur

King Arthur or The British Worthy is a semi-opera first performed in 1691 in London. It consists of 5 acts and 12 musical pieces. The libretto (words of stage-based musical work) was written by John Dryden; prologue, epilogue and music were written by British composer Henry Purcell, (arguably) one of the best composers of his time and organist at Westminster Abbey between 1679 and 1683. He also happened to be a great admirer of Dryden’s work.

The semi-opera tells the story of Arthur’s attempt to rescue his beloved and blind fiancée Emmeline, who was abducted. It deals with all kinds of magical figures and ideas and has the central message that love is the strongest forces of all. Dryden’s text is a motley mix of English myths, fairy tales and legends.

In 1970 the play was revised by Colin Graham and Philipp Ledger. They added music from other pieces by Purcell, because up until then only 2 of the characters were singing while the others were speaking parts. But even in this edition, many parts are still purely consisting of text, accompanied by music in the background, putting the libretto and plot in the centre of the audience’s attention. Still, Purcell’s music from King Arthur, especially the Chaconne at the opera’s beginning and the ending’s trumpet tunes, are still well-known and popular.

Sources:

Barnard, John. Dryden and patronage. The Cambridge Companion to John Dryden. Ed. Steven Zwicker. Cambridge: CUP, 2004. 199-220.

Fath, Rolf. Reclams Opernlexikon. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam jun., 1989.

Schreiber, Ulrich. Opernführer für Fortgeschrittene. Eine Geschichte des Musiktheaters von den Anfängen bis zur französischen Revolution. Frankfurt a.M.: Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1988.