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The Masque of Actaeon and the Antimasque of Mercury: Dance, Dramatic Structure, and Tragic Exposition in Dido and Aeneas
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Abstract
Problems associated with the main surviving sources of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (the 1688 “Priest” libretto and GB-Ob MS Tenbury 1266) have resulted in the persistence of fundamental misconceptions regarding the scope and nature of the work. Through a detailed examination of the “deleted dances” and their relationship to other components, such as choruses, it is possible to reconstruct what the original piece may have looked like. This process prompts a reconsideration of the “Grove Scene” in act 2, which is shown to contain a masque–antimasque pair featuring Aeneas in the role of Actaeon and the Sorceress's Spirit playing the part of Mercury. In contrast to the conventional structure in which the masque triumphs over the antimasque, in Dido the opposite is true, a circumstance that underscores and effectuates the tragic nature of the work.
University of California Press
Title: The Masque of Actaeon and the Antimasque of Mercury: Dance, Dramatic Structure, and Tragic Exposition in Dido and Aeneas
Description:
Abstract
Problems associated with the main surviving sources of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (the 1688 “Priest” libretto and GB-Ob MS Tenbury 1266) have resulted in the persistence of fundamental misconceptions regarding the scope and nature of the work.
Through a detailed examination of the “deleted dances” and their relationship to other components, such as choruses, it is possible to reconstruct what the original piece may have looked like.
This process prompts a reconsideration of the “Grove Scene” in act 2, which is shown to contain a masque–antimasque pair featuring Aeneas in the role of Actaeon and the Sorceress's Spirit playing the part of Mercury.
In contrast to the conventional structure in which the masque triumphs over the antimasque, in Dido the opposite is true, a circumstance that underscores and effectuates the tragic nature of the work.
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