No complete scores of masques from this period have survived, but the genre became lighter in character and continued to be featured in publications like 'The Monthly Masque' until the mid-18th century.
Instruments
The instruments used by The Theater of Music ensemble are those most frequently played in England during the last twenty-five years of the 17th century.
Cultural Impact
John Playford the Elder's 'The English Dancing Master' volumes contain over five hundred country dances and tunes used in masques, which were omnipresent in London and taught in dance schools connected to theatres and the court.
Composition History
This recording reconstructs the musical part of a masque, a courtly entertainment combining instrumental music, dance, theatre, song, and pantomime, as it might have been performed in London around 1685.
Compositional Technique
Masques often included 'antemasques'—comic or grotesque scenes that filled pauses for set changes and contrasted with the solemn main masque dances.
Historical Context
The English masque, which combined instrumental music, dance, theatre, song, and pantomime, was most popular between 1560 and 1640 during the reigns of Elizabeth I and Charles I.
Historical Context
The year 1685, when this reconstructed masque is set, also marked the death of Charles II, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
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