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D'Urfey
Thomas d'Urfey (a.k.a. Tom Durfey; 165326 February 1723) was an English writer and wit. He wrote plays, songs, jokes, and poems. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the ballad opera. Life D'Urfey was born in Devonshire and began his professional life as a scrivener, but quickly turned to the theatre. In personality, he was considered so affable and amusing that he could make friends with nearly everyone, including such disparate characters as Charles II of England and his brother James II, and in all layers of society. D'Urfey lived in an age of self-conscious elitism and anti-egalitarianism, a reaction against the "leveling" tendencies of the previous Puritan reign during the Interregnum. D'Urfey participated in the Restoration's dominant atmosphere of social climbing: he claimed to be of French Huguenot descent, though he might not have been; and he added an apostrophe to the plain English name Durfey when he was in his 30s. He wrote 500 song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wit And Mirth, Or Pills To Purge Melancholy
''Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy'' is the title of a large collection of songs by Thomas d'Urfey, published between 1698 and 1720, which in its final, six-volume edition held over 1,000 songs and poems. The collection started as a single book compiled and published by Henry Playford who had succeeded his father John Playford as the leading music publisher of the period. Over the next two decades, ''Pills'' went through various editions and expanded into five volumes; in 1719 Thomas D'Urfey reordered and added to the work to produce a new edition (also in 5 volumes) with the title ''Songs Compleat, Pleasant and Divertive'', published by Jacob Tonson. Volumes I and II now consisted entirely of songs with words by D'Urfey, "Set to Musick by Dr. John Blow, Mr. Henry Purcell, and other excellent masters of the town". The edition sold out quickly and in the second printing D'Urfey reverted to the ''Pills'' title. He added Volume 6 in 1720. The title itself may derive from a 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joy To Great Caesar
Joy to Great Caesar was a Royalist and anti-Catholic political song written by Thomas D'Urfey during the reign of Charles II of England. D'Urfey, a Tory by sympathies, set his own lyrics to the tune of Farinel's Ground by Michel Farinelli, in which he criticized Catholic political designs and praised the King. D'Urfey's friend Joseph Addison later claimed that the success of the song so damaged the political prospects of the Whigs that they never recovered during the reign of Charles II, and that by using the music of the Catholic composer Farinelli for his anti-Catholic lyrics, D'Urfey had turned a considerable part of the Pope's music against himself. Reuben Percy and Sholto Percy''The Percy Anecdotes'': Tom dUrfey Retrieved 2008-12-14 Macaulay described the song as "a loyal ode, which had lately been written by Durfey, and which, though like all Durfey's writings, utterly contemptible, was, at that time, almost as popular as Lillibullero became a few years later." He also re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cymbeline
''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobeline._Although_it_is_listed_as_a_tragedy_in_the__(d._''c''_...._Although_it_is_listed_as_a_tragedy_in_the_First_Folio">ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c''_...._Although_it_is_listed_as_a_tragedy_in_the_First_Folio,_modern_critics_often_classify_''Cymbeline''_as_a__(d._''c''_...._Although_it_is_listed_as_a_tragedy_in_the_First_Folio">ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c''_...._Although_it_is_listed_as_a_tragedy_in_the_First_Folio,_modern_critics_often_classify_''Cymbeline''_as_a_Shakespeare's_late_romances">romance_or_even_a_Shakespearean_comedy.html" "title="Shakespeare's_late_romances.html" "title="First_Folio.html" ;"title="ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c'' .... Although it is listed as a tragedy in the First Folio">ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Comical History Of Don Quixote
''The Comical History of Don Quixote'' is a three-part dramatization of Miguel de Cervantes's celebrated novel'' Don Quixote''. It was written in 1694, only seventy-eight years after the death of Cervantes, by Thomas D'Urfey. It is one of the first stage dramatizations of "Don Quixote" ever written. The piece featured many songs, most of them by Henry Purcell, but there were some by other noted Restoration composers. A highly-abridged early revival of it (with full orchestral accompaniment) took place at the 1938 Bath Music Festival. The complete work itself, according to writer-director Don Taylor, is actually three separate plays, and in total takes more than seven hours to perform.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000000UL1, "Don Quixote: The Musical" It is seldom, if ever, revived today, and was not a success at its premiere, although some of Purcell's compositions for it (''From rosy bow'rs'', for instance) have become fairly well known. In 1994, an attempt was made at "reconstructi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Love For Money
''Love For Money; Or, The Boarding School'' is a 1691 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was originally staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane by the United Company. In 1733 it was adapted into a ballad opera '' The Boarding School'' by Charles Coffey. Original cast * Cave Underhill as Sir Rowland Rakehell * William Mountfort as Jack Amorous * John Hodgson as Will Merriton * John Freeman as Old Merriton * George Powell as Nedd Bragg alias Captain Bouncer * George Bright as Old Zachary Bragg * Thomas Doggett as Deputy Nincompoop * William Bowen as Monsieur Le Prate * Mr. Kirkham as Singing Master * John Bowman as Dancing Master * Mr. Peire as Presbyterian Parson * Anthony Leigh as Lady Addleplot * Mrs. Richardson as Lady Straddle * Anne Bracegirdle as Mirtilla * Frances Maria Knight as Miss Jenny * Mrs. Davies as Miss Molly * Charlotte Butler as Betty Jiltall * Katherine Corey as Crowstich * Margaret Osborne as Teareshift * Elinor Leigh Elinor L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madam Fickle
''Madam Fickle; Or, The Witty False One'' is a 1676 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was first staged at the Dorset Garden Theatre by the Duke's Company. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Lord Bellamore, William Smith as Manley, Samuel Sandford as Sir Arthur Oldlove, Matthew Medbourne as Captain Tilbury, Anthony Leigh as Zechiel, James Nokes as Toby, Cave Underhill as Old Jollyman, Thomas Jevon as Harry, John Richards as Flaile, Henry Norris as Dorrel, Mary Lee as Madam Fickle, Elizabeth Barry as Constantia and Anne Shadwell as Arbella.Van Lennep p.251 The published version of the play was dedicated to the Duke of Ormonde The peerage title Earl of Ormond and the related titles Duke of Ormonde and Marquess of Ormonde have a long and complex history. An earldom of Ormond has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. History of Ormonde titles The earldo .... References Bibliography * Canfield, J. Douglas. ''Tricksters and Est ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballad Opera
The ballad opera is a genre of English stage entertainment that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier '' comédie en vaudeville'' and the later '' Singspiel'', its distinguishing characteristic is the use of tunes in a popular style (either pre-existing or newly composed) with spoken dialogue. These English plays were 'operas' mainly insofar as they satirized the conventions of the imported ''opera seria''. Music critic Peter Gammond describes the ballad opera as "an important step in the emancipation of both the musical stage and the popular song." Earliest ballad operas Ballad opera has been called an "eighteenth-century protest against the Italian conquest of the London operatic scene."M. Lubbock, ''The Complete Book of Light Opera'' (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962), pp. 467–68 It consists of racy and often satirical spoken (English) dialogue, interspersed with songs that are deliberat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Fond Husband
''A Fond Husband; Or, The Plotting Sisters'' also known as ''The Fond Husband'' is a 1677 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was first staged by the Duke's Company at London's Dorset Garden Theatre with a cast that included William Smith as Rashley, Henry Harris as Ranger, James Nokes as Peregrine Bubble, Anthony Leigh as Old Fumble, Samuel Sandford as Sir Roger Petulant, Thomas Jevon as Sneak, John Richards as Spatterdash, Thomas Percival as Apothecary, Elizabeth Barry as Emillia, Rebecca Marshall as Maria and Margaret Hughes Margaret Hughes (29 May 1630 – 1 October 1719), also Peg Hughes or Margaret Hewes, was an English actress who is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage, as a result of her appearance on 8 December 1660. Hughes ... as Cordelia.Van Lennep p.257 The published version was dedicated to the Irish statesman James Butler, Duke of Ormonde. It was a popular work and was revived on a number of occasions. R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest English opera composers, Purcell is often linked with John Dunstaple and William Byrd as England's most important early music composers. No later native-born English composer approached his fame until Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, William Walton and Benjamin Britten in the 20th century. Life and work Early life Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster – the area of London later known as Devil's Acre, a notorious slum – in 1659. Henry Purcell Senior, whose older brother Thomas Purcell was a musician, was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal and sang at the coronation of King Charles II of England. Henry the elder had three sons: Edward, Henry and Daniel. Daniel Purcell, the youngest of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Collier
Jeremy Collier (; 23 September 1650 – 26 April 1726) was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian. Life Born Jeremiah Collier, in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier was educated at Caius College, University of Cambridge, receiving the BA (1673) and MA (1676). A supporter of James II, he refused, as a nonjuror (see Nonjuring schism) to take the oath of allegiance to William III and Mary II after the Glorious Revolution. Furthering his obvious disapproval of the new monarchs, he publicly absolved two Jacobites who had conspired to assassinate the King and Queen. In 1713 he was consecrated a non-juror bishop by George Hickes and two Scottish bishops, Archibald Campbell and James Gadderar. Works Collier was the primus of the nonjuring line and a strong supporter of the four usages. (see Nonjuring schism) In the years following the Revolution he wrote a series of tracts questioning the legitimacy of the new monarchs and the deprival of the Non-juror ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Europe, and later in Australia, North Africa, North America and South America. Ballads are often 13 lines with an ABABBCBC form, consisting of couplets (two lines) of rhymed verse, each of 14 syllables. Another common form is ABAB or ABCB repeated, in alternating eight and six syllable lines. Many ballads were written and sold as single sheet broadsides. The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical ballads. In the later 19th century, the term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is often used for any love song, particularly the sentimental ballad of pop or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed McCurdy
Edward Potts McCurdy (January 11, 1919 – March 23, 2000) was an American folk singer, songwriter, and television actor. His most well-known song was the anti-war "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream", written in 1950. Career Born to a farming family in Willow Hill, Pennsylvania, McCurdy left home at 18 to pursue a singing career. He first found success in 1938 as a singer and disc jockey at a gospel radio station in Oklahoma. By the early 1940s, McCurdy had become a popular singer of romantic songs in nightclubs across North America, until vaudeville dancer Sally Rand caught his act, hired him to join her show, put him in a tuxedo, and had him sing his romantic songs to her on stage while pushing her on her swing. He stayed in vaudeville for several years as a singer and straight man to comedian (Fat) Jack E. Leonard, before moving in 1948, with his Canadian dancer wife and family, to Vancouver where he hosted his own radio show for CBC Radio. With the success of this s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
