The Fairy-Queen

The Fairy - Queen is a masque or semi- opera by Henry Purcell. The premiere of the work took place on 2 May 1692 Dorset Garden Theatre in London. The libretto is an anonymous editing Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, as author Thomas Betterton is suspected.

Formation and effect story

After the huge success of his operas Dioclesian ( 1690) and King Arthur ( 1691) Purcell composed The Fairy - Queen in 1692. At this time, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream was about a hundred years old; his text has now been adapted to contemporary taste, and the role of fairy queen was more emphasized. In particular, the work was reduced to allow for the introduction of musical scenes.

The success of the Fairy Queen of 1692 was great, but the performance turned out to be really costly. To recoup their expenses again, this theater company United Company, the piece the following year new, with some musical changes. Two new arias were added: one in the third act, " Ye gentle spirits of the air", and one in the fifth act, " O let me ever, ever weep " even though they have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. The appearance of Prince Theseus, Egeus and lovers - - In addition, the first scene of the original piece was painted to make room for a new musical episode. The audience of 1693 must have known so well, that this omission seemed unimportant, even if in this way the story now lost all cohesion Shakespeare's play. The added musical part of the elves in the forest discover three drunken poet, torture them and then send them to sleep, so they get rid of their noise.

After Purcell's death, the score was lost and only rediscovered in the early 20th century.

Form and content

The piece is divided into five acts. The text is sung by 16 soloists and a four-part choir, which usually repeats the musical content of the arias. The orchestra consists of two flutes, two oboes, two trumpets, timpani, strings and a harpsichord.

Purcell's version of the Fairy Queen is typical of the English theater of the Restoration period, with various forms of stage machinery are used. The music is woven into the form of four different masques, with a number of figures in each case the natural and symbolic events to the point where they occur in the plot represent.

The first masque provides the second act, where the spirits of the night, the mystery, the secrecy and sleep occur and sing the fairy queen Titania after a series of elves playing in the bedroom. The masque of the third act contains Titania's enchanting love for Bottom, the weaver ( wearing a donkey's head ). After an aria about the joys and agonies of love follows a strange interlude with the farmer couple Corydon and Mopsa, wherein the female part was originally sung by a performer dressed in drag. In the fourth act, the music starts, after Titania and Oberon have reconciled after a quarrel.

The musical episode for the fifth act is probably the most notable addition to Shakespeare's original version. The background for this masque is a Chinese garden, in which a man and a woman - as oriental couple Adam and Eve - the pleasures of her garden sing of Eden, before man came to destroy this beauty. Here Juno, queen of the gods, with Hymen, the god of marriage, to bless the lovers and the opera appears to bring to their spectacular end.

The accompaniment is set for the time typical orchestra - mainly for strings supported by a continuo. In some places adds Purcell oboes, flutes and / or trumpets to vary the timbre of the instrumentation. At Purcell's time it was common to play music while the audience took their seats in the theater. This music often consisted of two parts of folk dances and was therefore called The First Musick and The Second Musick. Between the acts no curtain was lowered, but it sounded more musical interludes, the so-called Act Tunes.

Sequence of musical numbers

After Zimmerman Directory

• 7) Prelude and Aria, " Come all ye songsters of the sky"
• 8a) Prelude
• 8b ) Trio, " May the god of wit inspire"
• 8c ) Echo
• 9) chorus, " Now joyn your warbling voices all"
• 10a - b ) Aria and Chorus, "Sing while we trip it on the green "
• 10c) A dance of the fairies
• 11) Prelude and Aria, "See even Night herself is here"
• 12) Aria, " I am come to lock all fast"
• 13) Prelude and Aria, " One charming night"
• 14) Aria and Chorus, " Hush, no more, be silent all"
• 15) Dance - A dance for the followers of the night
• 16) 2nd Act Tune ( Air)

• 27) Symphony - Sonata while the sun rises
• 28) Aria and Chorus, " Now the night is chas'd away"
• 29) Duet, "Let the fifes, and the clarions "
• 30) Entry of Phoebus
• 31) Prelude and Aria, " When a cruel long winter"
• 33) Prelude and Aria, " THUS the ever grateful spring"
• 34) Prelude and Aria, " Here's the summer, sprightly, gay"
• 35) Prelude and Aria, " See my many colour'd fields"
• 36) Prelude and Aria, "Next, winter comes slowly"
• 38) 4th Act Tune ( Air)

• 39a) Prelude to Juno 's song
• 39b - c ) Aria, " Thrice happy lovers"
• 40) Aria, " O let me weep "
• 41) Dance - Dance Entry
• 42) Symphony
• 44) Prelude, Aria and Chorus, " THUS happy and free"
• 45) Ground and Aria, "Yes, Daphne, in your looks I find"
• 46 ) Dance - Monkey 's dance
• 47) Prelude and Aria, " Hark how all things in one sound agree"
• 48) Aria and Chorus, " Hark! Now the echoing air"
• 49) Duet and Chorus, " Sure the dull god of marriage"
• 50a) Prelude
• 50b) Aria, " See, see, I obey "
• 50c) Duet, "Turn then thine eyes"
• 50d) Aria, "My torch, indeed wants from seeking brightness shine"
• 50e - f ) Trio, "They Shall be as happy"
• 51) Chaconne - Dance for the chinese man and woman