Following the mood of last post I decided to bring up a musical interpretation of Ovid’s myth, John Blow’s Venus
and Adonis.
This three-act piece originally presented as a “masque for the entertainment of the King” was written for the court of King
Charles II and first performed in Oxford in 1681. It is
considered by some to be the “earliest
surviving English opera” (source: The
New Grove) but its structure with numerous dances and musical interludes
resembles a masque while its historical position
in the Restoration period as well as its brevity point out a semi-opera.
The libretto has for a long time been attributed to the renowned English
dramatist Aphra Behn but recently its authorship has been rejected and the
composition finally credited to Anne Kingsmill Finch, Countess of Winchilsea [and maid
of honour to the Duchess of York]. The work includes a number of comical scenes
like the spelling lesson of the young cupids and the discussion of Venus and
Adonis about the “forces” of love. It mocks the fleeting and debauched courtly love,
where only "the foolish, ugly and the old" are faithful;
Cupid
Courtiers, there is no faith in you,
You
change as often as you can:
Your women they continue true
But till they see another man.
(…)
Cupid
At court I find constant and true
Only an aged lord or two
The satire becomes
even more amusing when we learn that Cupid was played by Lady Mary Tudor, King Charles’ illegitimate
daughter (daughter of Davis and the King), and Venus by Mary "Moll"
Davis, the King's mistress.
Blow’s
composition is in many senses unique and inventive. Even though it shares some
of the period’s tendencies, especially those held by the French opera, of Jean-Baptiste
Lully’s tragédie-lyrique – as is the case of the Overture and the edifying Prologue, as
well as the large display of popular dances such as the Sarabrand and the Gavatt -
the piece follows a very innovative composition with no strict order of arias
and musical interludes, allowing for a large use of chorus (so much appreciated
by the English). Likewise, opposing the period’s tradition of happy endings (in
Baroque opera, myths were often rewritten to have happy endings) Blow’s Venus and Adonis ends tragically.
Here you can
download Harmonia Mundi’s edition, conducted by René Jacobs.
wonderfull semi-opera it is the worht to mention that is the oldest English opera known and that the lbretto was supposed to be wrtitten by the English writer Anne Finch due to the erotism in the text and the Word paralelism between the opera and later Anne Finch Works. Also because of the bucolic and melancolic athmosphere present in the work such characteristic of Finch
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