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Article: Music in the English Courtly Masque, 1604-1640.(Review)
- Article from:
- Comparative Drama
- Article date:
- March 22, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 www.wmich.edu/compdr. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Peter Walls. Music in the English Courtly Masque, 1604-1640. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Pp. xix + 372 + 8p. of plates. $70.00.
The masques prepared for the English court during the first decades of the seventeenth century were spectacular combinations of elevated allegorical poetry and descriptive prose performed with elaborate instrumental music, virtuosic songs and dances, fantastic sets, special effects, and rich costumes. Although such lavish productions were usually seen only on a single night, their significance to the Stuart kings, queens, and courtiers who were both participants and audience, and their importance to the artists of all types who worked ...