Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Timms, Colin, author

Title Music, books and theatre in eighteenth-century Exton : a context for Handel's 'Comus' / Colin Timms
Edition [1.]
Published Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2024

Copies

Description 1 online resource
Series Royal Musical Association monographs
Contents The 4th Earl of Gainsborough -- Evidence from the Archives -- Gainsborough's Legacy -- Appendix I. Subscriptions and Dedications -- Appendix II. Documents on Music, Books and Theatre
Summary "This book establishes the cultural background to the productions of Milton's Comus that were staged in the 1740s by Baptist Noel, 4th Earl of Gainsborough, at Exton Hall, his country seat in the East Midlands of England. The author reveals that Handel's visit in 1745 occurred in a richer and fuller context of cultural interests among the Noel family. Most of the music at Exton was selected from existing works by Handel, but the four movements of the finale were new, written by the composer specifically for the occasion. The study is based on receipted bills and other documents in an archival collection of Noel family papers, that provide evidence of the Earl's purchase of books and music and of the musical and theatrical activities undertaken on his Exton estate. The author discusses the Earl's interests in music, books and theatre, indicating a belief in performance as a valuable and enjoyable experience and as a vehicle for the education of the young. In addition to creating a context for Comus, this book sheds light on cultural life in a mid-eighteenth-century English country house and how the Earl's productions made a significant contribution to the cultural life of the East Midlands. The book will be of great value to cultural musicologists, historians and Handelians, as the documentation sheds a huge amount of light on a variety of cultural practices in eighteenth-century England"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed
Subject Gainsborough, Baptist Noel, Earl of, 1708-1751.
Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759. There in blissful shades and bow'rs.
Milton, John, 1608-1674. Comus.
SUBJECT Comus (Milton, John) fast
Subject Masques with music -- 18th century -- History and criticism
Music patronage -- England -- Rutland -- History -- 18th century
Masques with music
Music patronage
Exton Hall (Rutland, England)
England -- Rutland
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2023047279
ISBN 9781032627915
1032627913