Ben Jonson’s Oberon, the Faery Prince
Throughout September, the Daily Classical Music Post celebrates the music of 15th-, 16th-, and 17th-century England. https://youtu.be/XVD648IOAK4 The English playwright Ben Jonson wrote a number of masques in the early 17th century. Masques, elaborate stage shows often based on mythological or allegorical themes, were especially popular in England, where they were primarily court entertainments. The masque is one of the forms of sung and staged entertainment that is seen as a precursor to opera. Jonson’s masques were the pinnacle of the form; he and his designer Inigo Jones produced many popular masques with music by top composers of the day. Jones’s stage designs and costumes were unbelievably detailed and really quite over the top. In 1611, Jonson and Jones collaborated with two musicians, Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger (c. 1575–1628) and Robert Johnson (c. 1583 –1633), on Oberon, the Faery Prince. The masque, with Henry, Prince of Wales, in the lead role, is particularly notable for...