Dido and Aeneas: an Opera

An original concept: in one volume, a study-size score of a major musical work, and a comprehensive body of tools for the study of that work.
- A score embodying the best available musical text
- Historical background - what is know of the circumstances surrounding the origin of the work, including (where relevant) original source material
- A detailed analysis of the music, by the editor of the volume or another well-know scholar
- Other significant analytic essays and citical comments, exposing the student to a variety of opinions about the music

Music examples and charts illustrate the analyses, and each essay is fully annotated by the editor. In some cases, the results of original research by the editor or by others working in the field are published here for the first time. Much of the material has never before appeared in English.

CONTENIDO:

Introduction

Historical Background
- Curtis Price - Dido and Aeneas in context
- A. Margaret Laurie - Allegory, Sources, and Early Performance History

The libretto: A critical edition
- Gildon's conclusion of the prologue (1700)
- Gildon's insertion for the Grove Scene (1700)

The Score
- Michael Tilmouth - A newly-composed finale for the Grove Scene

Criticism and Analysis
- George Bernard Shaw - (A trip to Bow)
- Andrew Porter - (British Worthy)
- Jack Westrup - (A flawed masterpiece)
- Wilfrid Mellers - The tragic heroine and the Un-Hero
- Edward J. Dent - (Recitative, dance and rhythm)
- Robert E. Moore - (Dido and Aeneas and later Opera)
- Joseph Kerman - (A glimmer from the dark ages)
- John Buttrey - (A cautionary tale)

The Missing Music Controversy: Another point of View
- Geoffrey Bush - (A debate with Benjamin Britten)
- Ellen T. Harris - (The design of the Tenbury Manuscript)

Production and Interpretation
- Roger Savage - Producing Dido and Aeneas