1st Edition
Music in English Children's Drama of the Later Renaissance
Originally published in 1992, Music in English Children’s Drama of the Later Renaissance is the first book-length study to examine the Elizabethan and Jacobean children’s drama, not only from a musicological perspective, but also drawing on the histories of literature, culture, and the theater. It gives the children’s companies new historical significance, showing that they were an integral and ultimately influential part of the London theatrical world. These companies originated important features of later drama, such as music before and between acts, and the exploitation of different timbres for specific effects.
Those interested in music history, English literature, theater history, and cultural history will find this a comprehensive and fascinating study. Of special note are the appendices, which offer a unique and important reference source by providing the only definitive list of the plays and songs used by the children.
Introduction 1. The Children’s Drama Companies 2. The Performers and their Theaters 3. The Plays and Playwrights 4. Practical Music and the Dramatic Text 5. Preliminary, Inter-Act and Finale Music 6. Music for Ceremony, Spectacle and Social Occasion 7. Music for Characterization 8. Music to Move the Affections 9. The Sources of the Music 10. The Musical Styles Appendix A Extant Plays Presented by Children’s Companies 1597–1613 Appendix B A List of Lyrics and Musical Sources to 1700
Biography
Linda Phyllis Austern is Professor in Musicology at Northwestern University, USA. She is a specialist in Western European, and especially English, music of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and early eighteenth centuries. Her expertise includes the intersections between music and the visual arts, gender and sexuality, natural philosophy, and the Shakespearean theater.
Reviews of the first publication:
“[Austern’s] book will become the standard work on children’s drama and an important source for reference for years to come.”
— Howard Mayer Brown, University of Chicago, USA
“This volume covers the field admirably and in a genuinely interdisciplinary way.”
— Michael Shapiro, University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign, USA
