King Arthur, or The British Worthy (Z. 628), is a semi-operaA. Holden (ed.) Viking Opera Guide (Viking, 1993) p.824, which notes that Dryden preferred to call it a "dramatick opera". in five acts with music by Henry Purcell and a libretto by John Dryden. It was first performed at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden, London, in late May or early June 1691.The London Stage, part 1
The plot is based on the battles between King Arthur's Britons and the Saxons, rather than the legends of Camelot (although Merlin does make an appearance). It is a Restoration spectacular,Milhous, p. ? including such supernatural characters as Cupid and Venus plus references to the Germanic gods of the Saxons, Woden, Thor, and Freya. The tale centres on Arthur's endeavours to recover his fiancée, the blind Cornish Princess Emmeline, who has been abducted by his arch-enemy, the Saxon King Oswald of Kent.
King Arthur is a "dramatick opera" or semi-opera: the principal characters do not sing, except if they are supernatural, pastoral or, in the case of Comus and the popular Your hay it is mow'd, drunk. Secondary characters sing to them, usually as diegetic entertainment, but in Act 4 and parts of Act 2, as supernatural beckonings. The singing in Act 1 is religious observance by the Saxons, ending with their heroic afterlife in Valhalla. The protagonists' parts are taken by actors, as a great deal of King Arthur consists of spoken text.H. Neville Davies 2000 This was normal practice in 17th century English opera. King Arthur contains some of Purcell's most lyrical music, using adventurous harmonies for the time.
Composition
Dryden probably wrote the original libretto for King Arthur in 1684 to mark the 25th anniversary of King Charles II's Restoration the following year. The original text of King Arthur no longer exists but it was to be in three acts with an allegorical prologue. For unknown reasons Dryden abandoned his intention to have the whole work set to music and developed the prologue into another opera, Albion and Albanius, a collaboration with the Catalan composer Louis Grabu. However, Charles II died in February 1685 and Albion and Albanius was first inauspiciously performed in June 1685 during the Monmouth Rebellion. It was a failure and Dryden shelved any plans he had for the rest of the King Arthur libretto.Holman p.204
In the meantime, England entered a turbulent period in its history. After the Catholic James II took the throne, Dryden too converted to Catholicism. When the Protestant William III overthrew James in the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Dryden refused to renounce his faith and so lost his job as poet laureate to his rival Thomas Shadwell. Purcell's career had also suffered after the death of the music-loving Charles II. With their sources of royal patronage gone, both playwright and composer were looking to make money as freelance professionals and the London stage offered attractive opportunities.Shay pp.9–11
In 1690, the theatre manager Thomas Betterton decided to risk putting on another operatic work, the first since the ill-fated Albion and Albanius. This was the semi-opera Dioclesian (1690), an adaptation of a play by Beaumont and Fletcher. Purcell's music for the production and the lavish staging made it a triumph and Betterton was eager for another such success. He persuaded Dryden to dust off and revise the libretto for King Arthur so Purcell could set it. The two had already collaborated on stage works (Dryden had written the prologue for Dioclesian and Purcell the incidental music for Dryden's comedy Amphitryon) and Dryden was effusive in his praise of Purcell's musical abilities.
In his preface to the printed edition, Dryden explained he had had to adapt the libretto to the changed political circumstances of 1691: "But not to offend the present Times, nor a Government which has hitherto protected me, I have been oblig'd so much to alter the first Design, and take away so many Beauties from the Writing, that it is now no more what it was formerly..."Works Vol 16. p.4 He also made alterations to suit Purcell's musical needs: "the Numbers of Poetry and Vocal Musick, are sometimes so contrary, that in many places I have been oblig'd to cramp my Verses, and make them rugged to the Reader, that they may be harmonious to the Hearer: Of which I have no Reason to repent me, because these sorts of Entertainments are principally design'd for the Ear and the Eye; and therefore in Reason my Art on this occasion, ought to be subservient to his."Works p.4
Performance history The exact date of the premiere is unknown but the wordbook was advertised in The London Gazette from 4 to 8 June 1691, suggesting a recent staging.Shay p.9 Peter Holman believes it was performed in May. The production was not as spectacular as Dioclesian or the later The Fairy Queen but it proved the most financially successful for the theatre. Betterton himself took the role of King Arthur, despite being in his fifties. The contemporary writer Roger North was most impressed by Charlotte Butler's singing of Cupid, describing it as "beyond anything I ever heard upon the stage", partly ascribing her success to "the liberty she had of concealing her face, which she could not endure should be so contorted as is necessary to sound well, before her gallants, or at least her envious sex."Holman p.208
King Arthur was revived at least twice during Purcell's lifetime and continued to be performed in the later 1690s.Price p.298 The first major revival in the eighteenth century was staged in 1736. This production left the work unaltered, but later revivals involved varying degrees of revision. They included a performance in Dublin in 1763; David Garrick and Thomas Arne's version in 1770; and John Kemble and Thomas Linley's transformation of King Arthur into a two-act after-piece entitled Arthur and Emmeline in 1784.Harris p.257
Libretto
Interpretation based on political allegory According to Curtis Price, the original 1684–5 version was probably an allegory of the Exclusion crisis, a major political dispute over who would succeed Charles II: his Catholicos, James, Duke of York or the Duke of Monmouth, his illegitimate — but Protestant — son. The faction backing James was nicknamed the "Tories"; that in favour of Monmouth, the "Whigs". The latter were led by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury. Dryden was a convinced Tory and had already satirised Shaftesbury and other Whigs in his poem Absalom and Achitophel (1681). In Price's reading, King Arthur represents Charles II, the Britons are the Tories, and the Saxons are the Whigs. Oswald is the Duke of Monmouth and Osmond/Grimbald is the Earl of Shaftesbury. Philidel is the Marquess of Halifax, a political moderate much admired by Dryden (he would dedicate the printed edition of King Arthur to Halifax). Emmeline personifies the "national conscience."Price pp.290–293
Sources and influences Dryden did not base his libretto on standard versions of Arthurian myth, although he was familiar with such books as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.Price p.292 He did, however, use other works of literature as sources of inspiration. There are clear parallels between King Arthur and Shakespeare's The Tempest (which Dryden had revised in line with Restoration taste in collaboration with Sir William Davenant in 1667 and which had been turned into a semi-opera with music by Matthew Locke in 1674).Holden, p.567 Ellen T. Harris has described the links between the characters: Prospero and Merlin are both good magicians who use an "airy spirit" (Ariel in The Tempest, Philidel in King Arthur) to defeat a potential usurper (Alonzo/Oswald). The relationship between Arthur and Emmeline is like that between Ferdinand and Miranda. Like Miranda, Emmeline is an innocent who has "never seen a man" (quite literally true in the case of the blind Emmeline). Finally, there are obvious similarities between the "earthy spirits" Grimbald and Caliban, although there is no evil wizard corresponding to Osmond in The Tempest.Ellen T. Harris pp.257–258
Dryden also used material he found in epic poetry: the idea of the "enchanted wood" is taken from Canto XVIII of Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata; and Andrew Pinnock suggests the rivalry between Arthur and Oswald is like the conflict between Gondibert and Oswald in Sir William Davenant's unfinished poem Gondibert (1650).Pinnock p.246
In his preface, Dryden explained how he had conducted historical research into Germanic paganism to write the sacrifice scene in the first act: "When I wrote it, seven years ago, I employ'd some reading about it, to inform my self out of Beda, Bochartus, and other Authors, concerning the rites of the Heathen Saxons...".Works p.6; "Bochartus" is Alain Bouchart, author of Grandes Croniques de Bretaigne (1514) But Andrew Pinnock believes "practically all the ritual came from a far handier source (which unaccountably Dryden forgot to mention): Aylett Sammes's Britannia Antiqua Illustrata (1676)."Pinnock p.247
Music The Frost Scene in the third act has always attracted praise from critics. Edward J. Dent wrote, "The Frost Scene is one of Purcell's most famous achievements" with "its bold contrasts of style, and the masterly piling up of the music to a climax at the end of the chorus ''Tis love that has warmed us'".Quoted by Dearing in Works p.328 Thomas Gray, commenting on the 1736 production, described it as "excessive fine" and said that the Cold Genius' solo was "the finest song in the play".Holman p.205 This aria ("What power art thou who from below") is accompanied by shivering strings, probably influenced by a scene from Act IV of Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera Isis (1677); but, as Peter Holman writes, Purcell's "daring chromatic harmonies transform the Cold Genius from the picturesque figure of Lully (or Dryden, for that matter) into a genuinely awe-inspiring character — the more so because Cupid's responses are set to such frothy and brilliant music". It has been suggested that the whole scene was inspired by the frost fairs held on the Thames during the 1680s.By James Winn, referred to by Dearing in the notes to Works p.328
Venus' act V air "Fairest Isle" achieved wide fame, inspiring Charles Wesley's hymn "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" to the same tune.
"What power art thou who from below" was recorded by Klaus Nomi on his eponymous first album as "The Cold Song". In his album Beacon released on 28 July 2021, Susumu Hirasawa recorded the same aria as "Cold Song" with lyrics rewritten in Japanese and included it in the album.
The prelude to Act III serves as the basis for the piece Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds in Michael Nyman's score for the 1982 movie The Draughtsman's Contract. Nyman then reused it for his 1984 Memorial and again in 1989 in the score for The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
Roles CastVoice typePremiere cast, May/June? 1691King Arthurspoken roleThomas BettertonOswald, King of Kent, a Saxon and a Heathenspoken roleJoseph WilliamsConon, Duke of Cornwal, Tributary to King Arthurspoken roleJohn HodgsonMerlin, a famous Inchanterspoken roleEdward KynastonOsmond, a Saxon Magician, and a Heathenspoken roleSamuel SandfordAurelius, Friend to Arthurspoken roleJohn Verbruggen ("Alexander")Albanact, Captain of Arthur's Guardsspoken roleWilliam BowenGuillamar, Friend to Oswaldspoken roleJoseph HarrisEmmeline, Daughter of Cononspoken roleAnne BracegirdleMatilda, Her Attendantspoken roleMrs. RichardsonPhilidel, an Airy Spirit/CupidsopranoCharlotte ButlerGrimbald, an Earthy Spiritbass or baritone?Works p.299John BowmanSaxon Priestsbass (or baritone) and tenorone played by John BowmanTwo Valkyriessoprano and altoBritish WarriortenorShepherds and Shepherdessestenor, two sopranos/SATB chorusCold GeniusbassTwo SirenssopranosThree NymphssopranosAeolusbassNereidsopranoPanbassVenussopranoHe (in Mr. Howe's song)bassShe (in Mr. Howe's song)sopranoComusbassHonoursoprano
Synopsis