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From Tragicomedy to Opera? John Marston's Antonio and Mellida

From Tragicomedy to Opera? John Marston's Antonio and Mellida
From Tragicomedy to Opera? John Marston's Antonio and Mellida
John Marston’s tragicomedy Antonio and Mellida, written for the St Paul’s boys company, is full of music: seven songs; two ballads; dances; dumbshows; sennets, flourishes, sound effects and musical images all underscore and sometimes prompt stage action. The songs, however, appear merely as stage directions – ‘they sing’. Without words or settings, it is impossible to evaluate them adequately.
This chapter identifies a number of songs whose lyrics closely match the dialogue and scene structures surrounding the song spaces in the play. Composed by Robert Jones (one of the most prolific and popular of Elizabethan song writers, and later a sharer, with Marston, in another boys company, the Children of the Queen’s Revels), they were published shortly after the play appeared. Separately, play and songs can seem incomplete, bizarre, or merely misogynistic. Together, they enhance each other, offering indications of staging, and implications for meaning.
This analysis offers new understanding of the cultural aesthetic of boys company performance, with dramas that exploit the particular sound qualities of their actors’ singing voices and instrumental playing. The extremes of emotion displayed – from sublime to ridiculous – and the integration of words and music suggest an art form that veers towards opera.
John Marston, Antonio and Mellida, Robert Jones, boy actors, boys company, tragicomedy, early opera, lute song, lament, cornet (cornetto)
219 - 233
Edinburgh University Press
King, Ros
7b27456c-0da8-432b-a82f-ee19af23d4fb
King, Ros
DaSousa, Delia
King, Ros
King, Ros
7b27456c-0da8-432b-a82f-ee19af23d4fb
King, Ros
DaSousa, Delia
King, Ros

King, Ros (2020) From Tragicomedy to Opera? John Marston's Antonio and Mellida. In, King, Ros, DaSousa, Delia and King, Ros (eds.) Edinburgh Companion to Literature and Music. Edinburgh, GB. Edinburgh University Press, 219 - 233.

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

John Marston’s tragicomedy Antonio and Mellida, written for the St Paul’s boys company, is full of music: seven songs; two ballads; dances; dumbshows; sennets, flourishes, sound effects and musical images all underscore and sometimes prompt stage action. The songs, however, appear merely as stage directions – ‘they sing’. Without words or settings, it is impossible to evaluate them adequately.
This chapter identifies a number of songs whose lyrics closely match the dialogue and scene structures surrounding the song spaces in the play. Composed by Robert Jones (one of the most prolific and popular of Elizabethan song writers, and later a sharer, with Marston, in another boys company, the Children of the Queen’s Revels), they were published shortly after the play appeared. Separately, play and songs can seem incomplete, bizarre, or merely misogynistic. Together, they enhance each other, offering indications of staging, and implications for meaning.
This analysis offers new understanding of the cultural aesthetic of boys company performance, with dramas that exploit the particular sound qualities of their actors’ singing voices and instrumental playing. The extremes of emotion displayed – from sublime to ridiculous – and the integration of words and music suggest an art form that veers towards opera.

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More information

Submitted date: October 2015
Published date: March 2020
Keywords: John Marston, Antonio and Mellida, Robert Jones, boy actors, boys company, tragicomedy, early opera, lute song, lament, cornet (cornetto)
Organisations: English

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 385108
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/385108
PURE UUID: 0f239db9-a511-43e3-9eb9-5b102befb3e0

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 21 Jan 2016 12:09
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 22:10

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Contributors

Author: Ros King
Editor: Ros King
Editor: Delia DaSousa
Editor: Ros King

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