''Dioclesian'' (''The Prophetess: or, The History of Dioclesian'') is an English tragicomic

semi-opera The terms "semi-opera", "dramatic opera" and "English opera" were all applied to Restoration literature#Theatre, Restoration entertainments that combined spoken plays with masque-like episodes employing singing and dancing characters. They usua ...

in five acts by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Thomas Betterton based on the play '' The Prophetess'', by John Fletcher and

Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His plays, including '' A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', '' The City Madam'', and '' The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and soci ...

, which in turn was based very loosely on the life of the Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

. It was premiered in late May 1690 at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden. The play was first produced in 1622. Choreography for the various dances was provided by Josias Priest, who worked with Purcell on several other semi-operas. Betterton reworked the play extensively, making room for a great deal of Purcell's music, notably in the 'monster' scene at the end of Act II and the final Masque about the victory of Love, which remained popular until well into the eighteenth century. The premier production had a Prologue written by

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

that was suppressed after only one performance; it was far too critical of King William's military campaign in Ireland.

Synopsis

The story is ostensibly about the struggle for power in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, but actually about the universal struggle between love and duty. Delphia, a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

ess, foretells that Diocles, a footsoldier, will become emperor after he kills a "mighty

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

" and marry Delphia's niece Drusilla, who is in love with him. Diocles takes the prophecy seriously, and starts slaughtering pigs. As it turns out, a soldier called Volutius Aper (Aper=boar) has murdered the old emperor, and Diocles kills Aper in revenge. As a reward for this action he is made co-emperor and renames himself Dioclesian. He ignores his promise to marry Drusilla, and courts his co-emperor's sister the princess Aurelia instead. This angers Delphia, who brings the wedding ceremony to a stop by conjuring a storm and a monster. She then causes the princess to fall in love with Diocles' rival Maximinian, and the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

to defeat the Roman army. Diocles realises the error of his ways, routs the invaders, cedes his half of the throne to Maximinian, and moves to

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

with Drusilla.

Recordings

*''The Masque in Dioclesian'' Honor Sheppard, Sally LeSarge,

Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...

, Phillip Todd, Maurice Bevan, Choir and Orchestra of the

Concentus Musicus Wien Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW) is an Austrian baroque music ensemble based in Vienna. The CMW is recognized as a pioneer of the period-instrument performance movement. History Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Alice Harnoncourt co-founded the CMW in 19 ...

. Conducted by Alfred Deller (Vanguard, 1972) *''Timon Of Athens/Dioclesian'',

Lynne Dawson Lynne Dawson (born 3 June 1953) is an English soprano. She came to great prominence through her performance as a soloist in ''Libera me'' from Requiem (Verdi), Verdi's Requiem with the BBC Singers at Princess Diana's Funeral of Diana, Princess o ...

English Baroque Soloists The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on authentic performance, period instruments, formed in 1978 by English Conducting, conductor John Eliot Gardiner, Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early B ...

and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...

(Erato, 1988) *''Timon Of Athens/Dioclesian'' Collegium Musicum 90, conducted by

Richard Hickox Richard Sidney Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music. Early life and education Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family. After attending ...

(Chandos, 1995) *''Timon Of Athens/Dioclesian'' The English Concert, conducted by Trevor Pinnock (Archiv, 1995)

References

Notes Sources *Muller, Julia. ''Words and Music in Henry Purcell's First Semi-Opera, 'Dioclesian' '', Edward Mellen Press, Lewiston NY, 1990. *Muller, Frans. ''Flying Dragons and Dancing Chairs at Dorset Garden: Staging 'Dioclesian in ''Theatre Notebook'', vol.XLVII,(1993), no.2. *Muller, Julia and Frans. ''Purcell's 'Dioclesian' on the Dorset Garden Stage'' in ''Performing the Music of Henry Purcell'' ed.

Michael Burden Michael Burden, FAHA, (born 14 March 1960) is an Australian musicologist, working in the United Kingdom. He was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2018. Life Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he wa ...

, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996. *Muller, Julia. ''The Prophetess: or, The History of 'Dioclesian'' in ''Henry Purcell's Operas; The Complete Texts'' ed. Michael Burden, Oxford University Press, Oxford,2000 * Curtis Price. "Dioclesian", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed July 22, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access).

External links

{{authority control Operas by Henry Purcell English-language operas Semi-operas Operas 1690 operas Cultural depictions of Diocletian