Description
Restoration Theatre Airs
Ref
MB110
Categories
Collected Editions
,
Instrumental Music
,
Latest Titles
,
Musica Britannica
Transcribed and edited by Peter Holman & Andrew Woolley
First published in 2025
Pages: 216
Format: Hardback
Dimensions (mm): 330 x 254 x 26
Weight: 1.561kg
An extensive survey of the genre from the mid-1670s to the reign of Queen Anne, thirteen sets of theatre airs by Purcell’s contemporaries and followers offer valuable context for his own contribution to the repertoire, and broaden our appreciation of secular music-making in Restoration England. Earlier collections of airs by Locke and Smith, Turner, Anonymous and Grabu were composed for the Duke’s Company and its successor, the United Company. Following the latter’s dissolution in 1695, further sets were written for the Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre by Finger, Forcer, Eccles, Corbett and Gillier, and for the Drury Lane Theatre by Croft, Clarke, Paisible and Barrett. Representing important composers and idioms has been the primary criterion for selection – from nearly 150 known sets – where possible avoiding material already available in scholarly editions.
Performing material for all complete pieces in this volume is available as sets of digital downloads (cat. nos. Y405D–Y417D) – see below.
