''Rosamond '' is an opera in three acts by
Thomas Clayton
Thomas Clayton (July 1777 – August 21, 1854) was an American lawyer and politician from Dover in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party and later the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. He served in the Delawa ...
with a libretto by
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richar ...
. It was first performed on 4 March 1707 at
Drury Lane.
Development
Addison and Clayton both objected to the new practice of having parts of operas performed in London sung in Italian; they felt that the texts used should be examples of the finest literary English.
Addison however followed the norm of Italian opera by having three male and three female characters.
In 1705 Clayton had enjoyed considerable success with his opera ''
Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus
''Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus'' by Thomas Clayton was the first Italian-style opera (in English) to be staged in England. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 16 January 1705. There were various historical women named Arsinoe, but from th ...
'' which had run for twenty-four nights in its first season, as well as eleven nights the following year.
There were three further performances in 1707, but by that time
Antonio Maria Bononcini
Antonio Maria Bononcini (18 June 1677 – 8 July 1726) was an Italian cellist and composer, the younger brother of the better-known Giovanni Bononcini.
Bononcini was born and died at Modena in Italy. Like his brother, he studied with Giovanni Pa ...
’s ''Camilla'' had appeared on the stage, and the public appetite for a better musical experience had moved on.
The cast of ''Rosamond'' was Francis Hughes (King Henry),
Catherine Tofts
Catherine Tofts or Katherine Tofts (died 1756) was the first English singer who sang Italian opera in England.
Life
About 1704, the competition between Tofts and Margherita de l'Épine was in earnest. Perhaps to illustrate the famed rivalry, M ...
(Queen Elinor),
Richard Leveridge
Richard Leveridge (or Leueridge) (19 July 1670 – 22 March 1758) was an English bass singer of the London stage and a composer of baroque music, including many popular songs.
Life
Richard Leveridge was born in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Field ...
(Sir Trusty), Miss Gallia (Rosamond) and
Miss Lindsey as Grideline.
This was the same cast as had performed ''Arsinoe'', suggesting that Addison was seeking to introduce his English libretto to a company of singers who had already shown they could achieve great success.
Action
The action is drawn from the poem ''The Death of Rosamond'' by
Thomas May
Thomas May (1594/95 – 13 November 1650) was an English poet, dramatist and historian of the Renaissance era.
Early life and career until 1630
May was born in Mayfield, Sussex, the son of Sir Thomas May, a minor courtier. He matriculated a ...
. It concerns the story of
Rosamond Clifford, mistress of
Henry II of England
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...
. A jealous
Queen Elinor poisons her but she recovers, and Henry repents of his sin.
While Queen Elinor regains her husband’s love by appealing to his sense of destiny, a comic subplot involves Sir Trusty and his wife
Grideline, and the interplay between the two is similar to the ‘split-plot’ plays of
John 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 per ...
.
The opera emphasised the importance of unity and Britishness, contrasting the gentle character of Rosamond with the vengeful French queen. It was accompanied by a prologue that compared
Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
to Henry II, and at the climax of the story the sleeping Henry sees a vision of the future of the spot where he is resting and a huge plan of
Blenheim Palace is unfurled on stage.
The opera seemed full of absurdities, for example when King Henry approaches the bower where he meets Rosamond, there is a fanfare of instruments and the verse proclaims: ‘Hark, hark! What sound invades me ear? The conqueror’s approach I hear.’ Rosamond herself dies in the second act and this loss is ‘not compensated by a single interesting event in the third.’
Critical reception
The production was a disaster and the opera closed after just three nights.
Clayton’s music was described as ‘a jargon of sounds.’
Roger Fisk described it as ‘cretinous.’
Charles Burney said that Addison ‘never manifested a greater want of taste and intelligence in music than when he employed Clayton to set his opera of Rosamond.”
In 1837
John Barnett
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
created another opera on the same theme, ''
Fair Rosamond'', and ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'' reminded its readers that Clayton’s ''Rosamond'' had been ‘an utter failure’ that ‘had the effect of paralysing every effort to perpetuate or revive the fading glory of English dramatic music. Clayton’s ''Rosamond'' was the funeral dirge of the English opera.’
Addison never wrote another libretto. Clayton wrote music for a work called 'The Passion of Sappho, and Feast of Alexander’ that was performed at his house in York Buildings, but he appears never to have written again for a professional production.
Legacy
The score was published in 1707 by John Walsh and P. Randall. The libretto was published by Jacob Tonson in the same year.
After the failure of ''Rosamund'' there were no further attempts to write a libretto in English until 1733, when Addison’s libretto was set to new music by
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'', wh ...
.
See also
*
''Rosamond'', 1733 opera by Thomas Arne
External links
digital copy of scoredigital copy of libretto
References
{{reflist
Opera in England
English-language operas
1707 operas
Operas