Dibdin, Charles – The Touchstone or Harlequin Traveller, 1779

Description

Dibdin, Charles: The Touchstone
or
Harlequin Traveller, 1779
Ref
LD1
Categories
Collected Editions
,
Group D: Pantomime, Ballet and Dance
,
Music for London Entertainment
By
Charles Dibdin
Facsimile: Printed score, Thompson (1779)
MS libretto, The Huntington Library LA464
Introduction by Anne Dhu Shapiro
In
The Touchstone
all the elements of classic British pantomime are in place: a central theme or plot made known in speech and embellished with choruses, airs and occasional recitatives, interlaced with the traditional antics of
commedia
characters, who perform tricks and comic turns to the accompaniment of instrumental pieces, the staging incorporating as much as possible of spectacle, with elaborate use of scenery and much machinery.