This is the series of "choral dances" from Benjamin Britten's opera,
GLORIANA, which is about Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex. These
pieces are sung during a court masque in Act II that is interrupted,
periodically, by the actual dramatic action of the opera.
The opera itself, which Britten composed to help commemorate Elizabeth
II's coronation, was not a great success. But it does have some great
musical moments in it, particularly the choral and instrumental "dances",
Elizabeth I's big aria, and the quartet in Act III for Essex, his wife,
Mountjoy, and Penelope.
One of these days I'm going to get around to putting up a web page about
the opera, which is a favourite of mine. In the meantime, you can read a
little more about it on the web at:
http://classical.efront.com/music/comp.lst/works/britten/gloriana.html
Karen Mercedes
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My NEIL SHICOFF Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
My Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
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Es en balde, majo mio, que sigas hablando
porque hay cosas que contesto yo
siempre cantando:
Tra la la...
Por mas que preguntes tanto:
tra la la...
En mi no causas quebranto
ni yo he de salir de mi canto:
tra la la...
- Fernando Periquet
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