Hart, Jennifer

English

Denison University

Ephemeris Volume 3 Article 9 2003 Recalcitrance and Reformation: Virgil, Purcell, and Tate's Dido and Aeneas Jennifer Hart Denison University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.denison.edu/ephemeris  Part of the Ancient Philosophy Commons, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the History of Religions of Western Origin Commons Recommended Citation Hart, Jennifer (2003) "Recalcitrance and Reformation: Virgil, Purcell, and Tate's Dido and Aeneas," Ephemeris: Vol. 3 , Article 9. Available at: https://digitalcommons.denison.edu/ephemeris/vol3/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Classical Studies at Denison Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ephemeris by an authorized editor of Denison Digital Commons. 34 Recalcitrance and Reformation: Virgil, Purcell, and Tate's Dido and Aeneas By Jennifer Hart Purcell's only opera, Dido and abandonment and lost love, Dido arranges Aeneas, is believed to have been premiered her suicide by falling on Aeneas' sword. at Josias Priest's boarding school for girls in There is uncertainty regarding the Chelsey, England, in 1689. The libretto was premiere of Henry Purcell's opera, Dido and adapted by Nahum Tate from the story of Aeneas. It is believed to have been written Dido and Aeneas out of the fourth book of and, perhaps, performed at court as early as Virgil's Aeneid. 1 In Virgil's original tale, 1681,3 due to the nature and style of the Dido, the widowed daughter of King Bellus music, which is much more indicative of has fled to North Africa after the murder of earlier Purcell works.4 However, the earliest her husband Sychaeus by her brother, known performance was in 1689 at Josias Pygmalion. Upon arriving in North Africa Priest 's boarding school for girls in Chelsey. with other loyal members of her court, Dido Although much of the material seems rather founded the ancient city of Carthage. inappropriate for schoolgirls, the opera was Aeneas, one of the Trojan leaders during the embedded with "morals" regarding the role Trojan War, flees after the fall of Troy with of women in imperialist enterprises and the his son, his father, and others. As a result of "negative" influence of men and passion on a storm (only one incident in a long line of the actions of women, the performance of troubles and adventures on his quest to which would have helped in the inculcation discover the land on which he will of "proper feminine virtues".5 ultimately found Rome) Aeneas and his men Although adapted from Virgil ' s land in North Africa and are welcomed by original text, the opera libretto contains Dido, Queen of Carthage.2 alterations, which cohere with the ideas of As a result of the prearrangement of Restoration theater in London that the relationship of D ido and Aeneas by functioned during Purcell and Tate' s Venus, Aeneas' mother, and being struck by lifetime. Basic changes in the story outline Cupid's arrow, Aeneas falls in love with effected by Tate include the reduction of the Dido and defies his destiny as founder of number of characters, the replacement of Rome to remain in Carthage. Juno and mythological figures with witches, and "the Venus encourage this love affair until King non-violent death of Dido."6 In an effort to larbas, who had been rejected by Dido, shorten the effective length of the play, appeals to Jove to interfere in the affair. manifested through the long-range goals and Jove commands Aeneas to leave Carthage fates of the characters, Tate substitutes and fulfill his destiny, which Aeneas obeys. witches for the mythological Juno and He leaves Carthage despite Dido's entreaties. Furious and distraught over her 1 Written between 29 and 19 8.C. 2 "Dido and Aeneas". The Treble Chorus of New England. <http://www.rreb!echorus.com/content/main/ chorusOpera200 l .htm>. 3 Deborah Payne Fisk and Jessica Munns. "Clamorous with War and Teeming with Empire: Purcell and Tate's Dido and Aeneas." Eighteenth-Century Life, Spring 2002, vol. 26, no. 2, p. 24. 4 "Dido & Aeneas, 2002". The Oxford Girls Choir. <http://www.oxfordgirlschoir.co. uk/events/ dido2002.html>. 5 Deborah Payne Fisk and Jessica Munns. p. 25. 6 Ellen T. Harris. Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Clarendon Press (Oxford): 1987, p. 14. Venus. This change is coupled with a change in motive of this set of characters. As contrasted with Juno and Venus who were concerned with the happiness and success of D ido and Aeneas respectively, the witches of Tate's libretto are motivated by jealousy and envy and seek only to destroy Dido, a goal which they achieve. There is no long-term goal that exceeds the temporal boundaries of the opera. Tate's addition of witches is also reflective of seventeenth century drama. Witches were popular additions throughout drama of this period, and their inclusion is perhaps most famously illustrated in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Tate 's alteration of the circumstances surrounding Dido's death is also reflective of seventeenth-century English society. "Illicit sexual encounter[s]"1 in drama of the period usually resulted in the subsequent death of the woman in question, though rarely through suicide. In other plays of the period, "the fall from chastity is described as sufficiently fatal in itself."2 This opera and its altered version of Virgi I's story is seen by many as a morality, the goal of which was to show "the gentlewomen of Chelsea the results of sinful behavior. "3 Aeneas' character in the opera, as well as the relationship between Dido and Aeneas is also altered from Virgil's original text. Contrary to Virgil's image of Aeneas as a great, strong, and powerful warrior and hero, Tate's Aeneas plays the fool, being the victim of a sham, as the Spirit messenger was merely an illusion created by the witches as a part of their plan for Dido ' s destruction, and being forced to submit to the will of a woman in the final scene in which Dido orders him to leave. The relationship between the couple is also very different. In Tate's libretto, the couple is not 1 Heniy Purcell 's Dido and Aeneas, p. 23. 2 Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, p. 24. 3 Henry Purcell 's Dido and Aeneas, p. 32. 35 coerced and the foundation of their relationship is their creation only and the result of their personal feelings toward each other. They are partially responsible for their state. In Tate's libretto, Dido and Aeneas also effectively change roles in the last Act of the opera. Aeneas, the strong warrior who is bound by destiny, defies his destiny and promises to stay with Dido, thus showing his weakness. Dido, on the contrary, behaves in a much more courtly manner, ordering Aeneas to leave and only later acknowledging her feelings for him and her inner turmoil and pain as a result of his departure. In contrast, in Virgil's story Dido and Aeneas are "essentially the puppets of the gods."4 Dido submits only as a result of mythological and godly intervention, and the departure of Aeneas and the reminder of his destiny are delivered by Mercury, messenger of Jupiter. Aeneas never defies his destiny and thus never breaks any promise of marriage. In Virgil's story, Dido is the overly emotional one, who tries to sway the stalwart Aeneas, but fails and "takes her own life, throwing herself onto a funeral pyre".5 Tate's libretto cuts out much of the detail, history, and explanation of Virgil ' s original story. The most obvious explanation for such exclusion is that students and citizens of seventeenth-century England would have been well aware and probably would have intimately known both the story of Dido and Aeneas from the fourth book of the Aeneid and the background and history pertinent to that story. Tate's exc lusions also reflect the necessities of an operatic li bretto. As E llen Harris explains: Because it takes substantially longer to sing a text than to speak it, libretto cannot be as expansive as a play, neither in 4 Henry Purcell 's Dido and Aeneas, p. 15. s Henry Purcell 's Dido and Aeneas. p. 16. overall length, nor, generally speaking, in the number of lines given to a single character at any one time. This is even more true for Dido, which was apparently intended to be a short production... Tate used this restncuon to tighten his original drama; in the printed libretto the entire text of Dido and Aeneas covers only five and a half pages. 1 Tate, due to restrictions on time, was forced to leave out details and characters which were not essential to the understanding of the story such as King Iarbas, Aeneas ' friend, and Aeneas' son. Speeches are also cut significantly in length or dispersed by inserting choruses or arias. Tate's libretto also has rhyme, which is characteri stic of seventeenth-century English writers, as influenced by Dryden. Writers of this time "clearly felt that sung text should be rhymed, perhaps because rh ~me was considered inherently musical." Tate's text is consistently well suited for musical setting and provides flexibility for the composer in variation and in reflecting "the sense of the words they contain."3 This genius is, perhaps, most greatly exhibited in Dido's lament in the final scene of the opera, for which Tate wrote, "When I am laid in earth, may my wrongs create / no trouble in thy breast! / Remember me-but ah! forget my fate."4 This opera, considered by many as Purcell's masterpiece, is much more accessible to the average audience than most opera. The libretto, written in English, depicts a familiar mythological story with 1 Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, p. 34. 2 Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, p. 35 3 Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, p. 39. ~ Nahum Tate. Dido and Aeneas, Act Ill. 36 many themes with which the modem audience and cast can identify. The typical I y overdramatic plot, throughout which one must suspend reality (or disbelief), still provides themes such as love and betrayal, which are readily identifiable with audiences from all walks of life. Although the attitudes and actions of the characters might seem overdramatic in real life, the beautiful music and carefully constructed libretto and scenes allow audience members to identify with individual characters and become involved in the story. Furthermore, the English libretto makes this opera more accessible to the average citizen than Italian or French opera by breaking down language barriers; however, it simultaneously maintains the form and style of Italian and French opera. The combination of aria and recitative in the relation of the story-arias serving to comment on action, while recitative moves action along-is typical of both French and Italian opera, while the frequent inclusion of dances (many of the originals of which have been lost and are, subsequently, replaced with alternates or not included) is a characteristic of French opera, with the heavy presence of ballet in many French operatic compositions or those modeled on the French style. Only an hour long and requiring a fai rly small cast (although size depends on your resources and requirements and can be altered to fit such), Purcell 's only opera is performed in boarding and preparatory schools and universities around the world. Limited resources are frequently limiting concerns in terms of opera production, especially in small schools with small Departments of Music. Written originally for a girl's boarding school, Dido and Aeneas demands less than most traditional operas. However, although the required level of mastery is less than that of some opera, Dido and Aeneas still requires well-trained singers who can perform, at times, very challenging passages, the acc,ess to which is limited by the size of the Department of Music and the school. Participation in Dido and Aeneas provides classically trained voice students with invaluable experience and exposure to realistic professional perfonmance. Opportunities to sing opera roles with orchestra can greatly aid in the development of singers and their education in performance and history. Dido and Aeneas is also very flexible in terms of staging. Depending on financial resources and performance spaces, the opera can be staged to varying degrees, from the very simplistic with little or no acting, costumes, and scenery and with a minimal cast; to the grandiose and ornate wilth huge sets, elaborate costumes, and large casts; and everything in between, which, perhaps, also speaks to its frequent use by schools and universities of all types. Dido and Aeneas was never publicly performed during Purcell's lifetime outside of its initial performance at Josias Priest's boarding school. However, today it is widely performed, which is a tribute to the accessibility of the opera to modem audiences as well as to the true genius of both Purcell and Tate in their creation of a work that truly transcends time. BIBLIOGRAPHY "Dido & Aeneas, 2002". The Oxford Girls Choir. <http://www.ox fordgirlschoi r .co .uk/ events/dido2002.html>. "Dido and Aeneas". The Treble Chorus of New England <http://www.treblechorus.com/ content/main/chorusOpera200 I .htm Fisk, Deborah Payne and Jessica Munns. "Clamorous with War and Teeming with Empire: Purcell and Tate's Dido and Aeneas." Eighteenth-Century Life, Spring 2002, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 23-44. 37 Harris, Ellen T. Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Clarendon Press (Oxford): 1987. 

Recalcitrance and Reformation: Virgil, Purcell, and Tate\u27s \u3ci\u3eDido and Aeneas\u3c/i\u3e

https://digitalcommons.denison.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1054&amp;context=ephemeris

Recalcitrance and Reformation: Virgil, Purcell, and Tate\u27s \u3ci\u3eDido and Aeneas\u3c/i\u3e

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Denison University