''Leucothoé'' is a 1756
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
tic
poem
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...
by the
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
playwright
Isaac Bickerstaff
Isaac Bickerstaff Esq was a pseudonym used by Jonathan Swift as part of a hoax to predict the death of then famous Almanac–maker and astrologer John Partridge.
“All Fools' Day” (now known as April Fools' Day which falls on 1 April) was Swif ...
. It was Bickerstaff's first published work. The plot was based on the story of the Greek Goddess
Leucothea
In Greek mythology, Leucothea (; grc-gre, Λευκοθέα, Leukothéa, white goddess), sometimes also called Leucothoe ( grc-gre, Λευκοθόη, Leukothóē), was one of the aspects under which an ancient sea goddess was recognized, in this ...
.
''Leucothoé'' was originally intended to be a
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
but Bickerstaff was unable to secure a composer to set it to music. In May 1756 it was published by
Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer.
Life
Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school.
He ...
at the price of 1
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
and
sixpence.
In a contemporary review in the ''
Monthly Review
The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States.
History Establishment
Following ...
'', critic
Ralph Griffiths
Ralph Griffiths (c.1720 – 28 September 1803) was an English journal editor and publisher of Welsh extraction. In 1749, he founded London's first successful literary magazine, the ''Monthly Review'' (1749–1845), and remained its editor un ...
generally praised the work, although he criticised the
tragic ending, as "the laws of the Opera require a happy ending".
[Tasch p.29] While well received by the limited critics who reviewed it, the work was largely ignored both by critics and the public. This failure led Bickerstaff to rejoin the military, although he went on to have a string of successes between 1760 and 1772 often in collaboration with the composer
Thomas Arne
Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of ''The Beggar's Opera'', whic ...
.
References
Bibliography
Tasch, Peter A. ''The Dramatic Cobbler: The Life and Works of Isaac Bickerstaff''. Associated University Presses, 1971.
1756 poems
Pastoral operas
English-language operas
Operas
{{English-opera-stub