''Music at Night'' is a play by

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

. Although written in 1938 for the Malvern Drama Festival, and performed there on 2 August, the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

meant that its performance in London at the

Westminster Theatre The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Ri ...

was delayed until 10 October 1939; it was the first play to be performed in London after restrictions were lifted. It was published in 1944.

Plot introduction

An assortment of middle- and upper-class people come to the house of the widowed Mrs Amesbury to hear a new violin concerto by David Shiel. As the music plays their minds wander, and their reveries are theatrically performed. Each act of the play corresponds with a movement of the concerto: ''Allegro capriccioso'', ''Lento'', and ''Allegro — agitato — maestoso nobile''.

Characters

* David Shiel, a composer * Nicholas Lengel, first violin, a refugee * Mrs Amesbury, a wealthy sponsor * Katherine Shiel, David's wife * Peter Horlett, a Communist poet * Ann Winter, a childhood friend and fan of Peter * Philip Chilham, a columnist for the ''Daily Gazette'' * Lady Sybil Linchester, a tactless wit from a rich family * Sir James Dirnie, her husband, an aspiring patron of the arts * Charles Bendrex, a Cabinet minister * Parks, an elderly manservant * Rupert Amesbury, a pilot, the deceased son of Mrs Amesbury * Mrs Chilham, Philip's mother * Tom, a former coworker whom Sir James betrayed * Deborah, Sybil's elder sister * Dr Ebenthal, David's former teacher in Vienna

References

{{JBPriestley 1938 plays Plays by J. B. Priestley