''Psyche'' is a

semi-opera The terms "semi-opera", "dramatic opera" and "English opera" were all applied to Restoration entertainments that combined spoken plays with masque-like episodes employing singing and dancing characters. They usually included machines in the manne ...

in five acts with music by

Matthew Locke Matthew Locke may refer to: * Matthew Locke (administrator) (fl. 1660–1683), English Secretary at War from 1666 to 1683 * Matthew Locke (composer) (c. 1621–1677), English Baroque composer and music theorist * Matthew Locke (soldier) (1974–2 ...

to a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Thomas Shadwell Thomas Shadwell ( – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1689. Life Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm, Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House, Lynford, Norfolk, and educated at Bury ...

with dances by Giovanni Battista Draghi. It was first performed at

Dorset Garden Theatre The Dorset Garden Theatre in London, built in 1671, was in its early years also known as the Duke of York's Theatre, or the Duke's Theatre. In 1685, King Charles II died and his brother, the Duke of York, was crowned as James II. When the D ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 27 February 1675 by the Duke's Company with choreography the French dancing-master Saint-André.

Stage machinery Stage machinery, also known as stage mechanics, comprises the mechanical devices used to create special effects in theatrical productions. See also * Scenic design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the ...

was by

Thomas Betterton Thomas Patrick Betterton (August 1635 – 28 April 1710), the leading male actor and theatre manager during Restoration England, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London. Apprentice and actor Betterton was born in August 16 ...

and the scenery by Stephenson. The work is loosely based on

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...

's 1671 ''tragédie-ballet'' ''

Psyché Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...

''.

Composition, performance and publication

According to Peter Holman, ''Psyche'' was "the first semi-opera written from scratch." It has over a dozen musical episodes and requires a large orchestra. Holman believes Locke composed it in response to the visit to Britain of a French opera company under the direction of

Robert Cambert Robert Cambert (c. 1628–1677) was a French composer principally of opera. His opera '' Pomone'' was the first actual opera in French. Biography Under Mazarin Born in Paris c. 1628, he studied music under Chambonnières. His first position was ...

, which performed the opera ''Ariane, ou le mariage de Bacchus'' at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

in March, 1674. Locke had produced his first semi-opera, ''The Tempest'', in the same year and was eager to follow up its success with ''Psyche''. Despite the theatre charging treble the price for tickets and the lavish staging, it was not as great a financial triumph. As a contemporary, John Downes, wrote:

The long expected Opera of ''Psyche'' came forth in all her Ornaments; new Scenes, new Machines, new Cloaths, new ''French'' Dances. This opera was also splendidly set out, especially in Scenes; the Charge of which amounted to some 800l. .e. £800 It had a Continuance of Performance about 8 Days together, it prov'd very beneficial to the Company; yet the ''Tempest'' got them more Money.

Nevertheless, ''Psyche'' helped establish the genre of semi-opera in England. Locke published his music from both ''The Tempest'' and ''Psyche'' under the title ''The English Opera'', omitting Draghi's dances. For his recording of the work,

Philip Pickett Philip Pickett (born 17 November 1950) is an English musician. Pickett was director of early music ensembles including the New London Consort, and taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He played recorders, shawms and similar in ...

orchestrated some of Draghi's

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

pieces to fill in these gaps.

Roles

Singing roles include: Venus, Proserpine, Pyracmon, River God, Apollo, Chief Priest, Praesul, Mars, Vulcan, Pan, Brontes, Pluto, Envy, Bacchus, Steropes, Nymphs.

Synopsis

The plot, which is extremely complicated, follows the Classical legend of

Cupid and Psyche Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called ''The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyc ...

Cultural references to ''Psyche''

Thomas Duffet Thomas Duffet ( fl. 1673 – 1676), or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, Elkanah Se ...

parodied the work in his play ''Psyche Debauch'd'', performed at Drury Lane in 1675.Allardyce Nicoll ''Restoration Drama: 1600-1700'' (Cambridge University Press, 1923) pp. 125 and 237 It is also mentioned in

Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the peri ...

's satire on Shadwell, ''

Mac Flecknoe ''Mac Flecknoe'' (full title: ''Mac Flecknoe; or, A satyr upon the True-Blue-Protestant Poet, T.S.''Cox, Michael, editor, ''The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature'', Oxford University Press, 2004, ) is a verse mock-heroic satire writte ...

''.

Recordings

*''Psyche''

Catherine Bott Catherine Bott (born 11 September 1952) is a British soprano and a Baroque specialist. She has also pursued a broadcasting career. Following her studies at The King's High School For Girls and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with Arthur R ...

, Christopher Robson,

Paul Agnew Paul Agnew (born 1964 in Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europ ...

, Michael George, New London Consort conducted by

(Decca L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1995)

References

Sources

* Shirley Strum Kenny (editor) ''The British Theatre and the Other Arts: 1660-1800'' (Associated University Presses, 1984) *''The Viking Opera Guide'' ed. Amanda Holden (1993) *''Gramophone'' magazine: review of Pickett's recording by Jonathan Freeman-Attwood (February, 1996) {{Cupid and Psyche Semi-operas Works by Thomas Shadwell Cupid and Psyche Works based on The Golden Ass