Baroque music of the British Isles bridged the gap between the early music of the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

periods and the development of fully fledged and formalised orchestral classical music in the second half of the eighteenth century. It was characterised by more elaborate musical ornamentation, changes in musical notation, new instrumental playing techniques and the rise of new genres such as

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 libr ...

. Although the term Baroque is conventionally used for European music from about 1600, its full effects were not felt in Britain until after 1660, delayed by native trends and developments in music, religious and cultural differences from many European countries and the disruption to

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

music caused by the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...

and Interregnum.J. P. Wainright, 'England ii, 1603–1642' in J. Haar, ed., ''European Music, 1520–1640'' (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2006), pp. 509–21. Under the restored

Stuart monarchy The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

the court became once again a centre of musical patronage, but royal interest in music tended to be less significant as the seventeenth century progressed, to be revived again under the

House of Hanover The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house or ...

. The Baroque era in British music can be seen as one of an interaction of national and international trends, sometimes absorbing continental fashions and practices and sometimes attempting, as in the creation of

ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of English stage entertainment that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier '' comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Singspiel'', its dist ...

, to produce an indigenous tradition. However, arguably the most significant British composer of the era, George Frideric Handel, was a naturalised German, who helped integrate British and continental music and define the future of music in the United Kingdom.

Charles II

With the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II made the court once more the centre of musical patronage in Britain, the

theatres Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

were reopened and, after the introduction of a new

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

in 1662, choral music began to be developed again.T. Carter and J. Butt, ''The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Music'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 280, 300, 433 and 541. The king's time on the continent, his (hidden) preference for Catholicism and explicit desire for entertainment led to the embracing of the Baroque and continental forms of music. The court became something of a crossroads of European musicians and styles on a much grander scale than previously achieved. It was probably in these circumstances that Welsh musicians at the court encountered the Italian

triple harp The triple harp is a type of multi-course harp employing three parallel rows of strings instead of the more common single row. One common version is the Welsh triple harp (Welsh: ''telyn deires''), used today mainly among players of traditional W ...

, which they adopted and which by the end of the century had supplanted simpler harps to become a national Welsh symbol. As well as encouraging many French musicians to join his court, the king dispatched the young

Pelham Humfrey Pelham Humfrey (''Humphrey, Humphrys'') (1647 in London – 14 July 1674 in Windsor) was an English composer. He was the first of the new generation of English composers at the beginning of the Restoration to rise to prominence. Life and career ...

(1647–74) to study in Paris, probably in 1665. When he returned he became the

Master of the Children Master of the Children is a title awarded to an adult musician who is put in charge of the musical training, and in some cases the general education (which sometimes gets offered as a priceless perk to recruit the best singers) of choir boy (or si ...

of the Chapel Royal and composer to the Court. Although he died aged only 27 he was highly influential on other English composers like William Turner (1651–1740),

John Blow John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of the Baroque period. Appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in late 1668,Henry Purcell (1659–95).I. Spink, ''Restoration Cathedral Music, 1660–1714: 1660–1714'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 104–5, 121, 137 and 148. Early in his career Purcell wrote secular music, including for the theatre. Later, as organist of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

and the Chapel Royal, he devoted himself to sacred music. In both fields he emerged as the most influential British composer of the era.

English opera

It was directly due to Charles II's patronage that English language opera, which had briefly surfaced in the 1650s, was re-established in the 1670s.G. J. Buelow, ''History of Baroque Music: Music in the Seventeenth and First Half of the Eighteenth Centuries'' (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004), pp. 26, 306, 309 and 327–8. In 1673,

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 B ...

's ''Psyche'', patterned on the 1671 'comédie-ballet' of the same name produced by

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

and Jean-Baptiste Lully, marked the revival of the genre.

William Davenant Sir William Davenant (baptised 3 March 1606 – 7 April 1668), also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned b ...

produced ''The Tempest'' in the same year, which was the first

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play to be set to music (composed by Locke and Johnson). About 1683, Blow composed '' Venus and Adonis'', often thought of as the first true English-language opera. Purcell produced ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was com ...

'' (1689), often described as the finest in the genre, in which the action is furthered by the use of Italian-style

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat ...

, but much of Purcell's best work was not involved in the composing of typical opera, but instead he usually worked within the constraints of the

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 ...

format, where isolated scenes and masques are contained within the structure of a spoken play, such as Shakespeare's ''

Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' in his ''

The Fairy-Queen ''The Fairy-Queen'' (1692; Purcell catalogue number Z.629) is a semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's comedy ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. First performed ...

'' (1692) or

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I (1603–25). They became known as a team early in their association, so much so that their joi ...

dramas in ''The Prophetess'' (1690) and ''Bonduca'' (1696). The main characters of the play tended not to be involved in the musical scenes, which meant that Purcell was rarely able to develop his characters through song. Despite these hindrances, his aim (and that of his collaborator

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 ...

) was to establish serious opera as a dramatic form in England, but these hopes ended with Purcell's early death at the age of 37 in 1695 and English opera gradually fell out of favour and Italian opera began to dominate.

Court music after the Glorious Revolution

After the death of Charles II in 1685, royal patronage of music became less significant. In the short and troubled reign of his successor James II (1685–88), whose more overt Catholicism, together with his preference for Italian music and musicians, limited patronage of Anglican church music and the Chapel Royal, English composers were pushed towards secular music. Under William III and Mary II (1689–1702) there was an emphasis on combating rebellion and foreign policy, rather than on culture. There was also a reaction against the Catholic and French culture of the court of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, resulting in limitations on some elements of the Baroque, most obviously reflected in the royal couple's orders to remove orchestration from anthems from 1689 and from the Chapel Royal in general from 1691, meaning that royal patronage for orchestrated works now only extended to special occasions. The last of the Stuarts, Queen Anne (1702–14), had a reputation for being uninterested in culture, but had a considerable musical education and some talent.R. O. Bucholz, ''The Augustan Court: Queen Anne and the Decline of Court Culture'' (Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 1993), pp. 229–30. As a princess she was a patron of Purcell, Turner and Blow and from the early years of her reign she sponsored compositions for Royal processions and occasions including her coronation and the Acts of Union in 1707, which created the Kingdom of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. Her successor George Elector of Hanover, king of Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 to 1727 as

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

, was perhaps the most musically minded monarch of the era, bringing German and Italian music and musicians with him when he acceded to the throne, among them George Frideric Handel.J. A. Sadie, ''Companion to Baroque Music'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 285.

George Frideric Handel

The leading figure in British music of the early 18th century was a naturalized Briton, George Frideric Handel (1685–1759). Although he was born in Germany, he first visited England in 1710, later moving there and becoming a naturalised citizen, playing a defining role in the music of the British Isles. Handel drew heavily on the continental, particularly Italian, Baroque style, but was also highly influenced by English composers such as Purcell. He was a prolific composer, producing major orchestral works such as the ''

Water Music The ''Water Music'' is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I's request for a concert on the River Thames. Structu ...

'', and the ''

Music for the Royal Fireworks The ''Music for the Royal Fireworks'' ( HWV 351) is a suite in D major for wind instruments composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749 under contract of George II of Great Britain for the fireworks in London's Green Park on 27 April 1749. The ...

''. His opera, including '' Rinaldo'' (1711, 1731), ''

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

'' (1733), ''

Ariodante ''Ariodante'' ( HWV 33) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 4, 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's ''Orlando Furioso''. E ...

'' (1735), ''

Alcina ''Alcina'' (Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis, HWV 34) is a 1735 opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of ''L'isola di Alcina'', an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during ...

'' (1735) and ''

Serse ''Serse'' (; English title: ''Xerxes''; HWV 40) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London on 15 April 1738. The Italian libretto was adapted by an unknown hand from that by Silvio Stampiglia (1 ...

'' (1738, also known as ''Xerxes''), helped make Britain second only to Italy as a centre of operatic production. His sacred drama and choral music, particularly the coronation anthem ''

Zadok the Priest ''Zadok the Priest'' ( HWV 258) is a British anthem that was composed by George Frideric Handel for the coronation of King George II in 1727. Alongside '' The King Shall Rejoice'', '' My Heart is Inditing'' and '' Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened' ...

'' (written for the inauguration of

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

in 1727) which has remained part of the ceremony for British monarchs, and above all, the ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

'', helped set the British taste in music for the next 200 years. He was a major influence on future classical composers including

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

, Mozart and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Ballad opera

Ballad operas developed as a form of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

stage entertainment Stage Entertainment is an international operating live entertainment company, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. The company was founded in 1998 by Joop van den Ende in Amsterdam. History The Netherlands / Corporate The root of the company l ...

, partly in opposition to the Italian domination of the London operatic scene.M. Lubbock, ''The Complete Book of Light Opera'' (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962) pp. 467–8. It consisted of racy and often satirical spoken (English) dialogue, interspersed with songs that were deliberately kept very short to minimize disruptions to the flow of the story. Subject matter involved the lower, often criminal, orders, and typically showed a suspension (or inversion) of the high moral values of the Italian opera of the period. The first, most important and successful was ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

'' of 1728, with a libretto by John Gay and music arranged by John Christopher Pepusch, both of whom probably influenced by

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

ian

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and the burlesques and musical plays of

Thomas D'Urfey Thomas d'Urfey (a.k.a. Tom Durfey; 165326 February 1723) was an English writer and wit. He wrote plays, songs, jokes, and poems. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the ballad opera. Life D'Urfey was born in Devonsh ...

(1653–1723), a number of whose collected ballads they used in their work. Gay produced further works in this style, including a sequel under the title ''Polly'' and he was followed by many other composers. There was also a general revival in English language opera in the 1730s, largely attributed to

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 ...

, the first English composer to experiment with Italian-style all-sung comic opera, unsuccessfully in ''The Temple of Dullness'' (1745), ''Henry and Emma'' (1749) and ''Don Saverio'' (1750), but triumphantly in '' Thomas and Sally'' (1760). His opera '' Artaxerxes'' (1762) was the first attempt to set a full-blown opera seria in English and was a huge success, holding the stage until the 1830s.G. Newman and L. E. Brown, eds, ''Britain in the Hanoverian age, 1714–1837: an Encyclopedia'' (Taylor & Francis, 1997), p. 29. Arne played a major role in moving the ballad opera into a more pastoral form, together with

Isaac Bickerstaffe Isaac Bickerstaffe or Bickerstaff (26 September 1733 – after 1808) was an Irish playwright and Librettist. Early life Isaac John Bickerstaff was born in Dublin, on 26 September 1733, where his father John Bickerstaff held a government posi ...

producing ''Love in a Village'' (1763) using more original music that imitated, rather than reproduced, existing ballads. It was followed by other works like

William Shield William Shield (5 March 1748 – 25 January 1829) was an English composer, violinist and violist. His music earned the respect of Haydn and Beethoven. Life and musical career Shield was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, County Durham, the so ...

's ''Rosina'' (1781). Although the form declined in popularity towards the end of the eighteenth century, it was maintained into the nineteenth century by figures such as

Charles Dibdin Charles Dibdin (before 4 March 1745 – 25 July 1814) was an English composer, musician, dramatist, novelist, singer and actor. With over 600 songs to his name, for many of which he wrote both the lyrics and the music and performed them himself, ...

and his family and its influence can be seen in light operas like those of Gilbert and Sullivan's, particularly their early works like ''

The Sorcerer ''The Sorcerer'' is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of ''The Sorcerer'' is based on a Christmas story, ''An Elixir of Lo ...

'' (1877).

The popularisation of music

In the eighteenth century the increasing availability of instruments such as the harpsichord,

spinet A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ. Harpsichords When the term ''spinet'' is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the ''bentside spinet'', described in this ...

and later the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, and cheap print meant that works created for opera and the theatre were often published for private performance, with

's (1710–78) song "

Rule Britannia "Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the 1740 poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in the same year. It is most strongly associated with the Royal Navy, but is also used by the ...

" (1740) probably the best-known. From the 1730s elegant concert halls began to be built across the country and attendance rivalled that of the theatre, facilitating visits by figures such as Haydn, J. C. Bach and the young Mozart.G. Newman and L. E. Brown, eds, ''Britain in the Hanoverian age, 1714–1837: an Encyclopedia'' (Taylor & Francis, 1997), pp. 474–7. The Italian style of classical music was probably first brought to Scotland by the Italian cellist and composer Lorenzo Bocchi, who travelled to Scotland in the 1720s, introducing the cello to the country and then developing settings for lowland Scots songs. He possibly had a hand in the first Scottish Opera, the pastoral '' The Gentle Shepherd'', with libretto by the makar Allan Ramsay. The extension of interest in music can be seen in the volume of musical publication, festivals, and the foundation of over 100 choral societies across the country.

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

(reigned 1760–1820), and the aristocracy in general, continued to be patrons of music through the foundation of organisations like the Royal Concert of Music in 1776 and events like the Handel Festival from 1784. Outside of court patronage there were also a number of major figures, including the Scottish composer

Thomas Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

(1732–81) well known in his era, but whose work was quickly forgotten after his death and has only just begun to be reappraised.A. S. Garlington, ''Society, Culture and Opera in Florence, 1814–1830: Dilettantes in an "Earthly Paradise"'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005), , pp. 19–20.

Notes

{{Music of the United Kingdom Baroque music British music history History of the British Isles