Table of Contents

Contents List of Plates I. Background to the Music Introduction to Part I
1. Synopsis: Literary and Textual Antecedents
2. Premiere: Place, Date, and Meaning II. The Music Introduction to Part II
3. The Tenbury Manuscript: Discrepancies and Omissions
4. Musical and Dramatic Structure 5. Musical Declamation
6. Ground Bass Techniques III. Performance History Introduction to Part III
7. The Late Eighteenth Century: Revival and Adaptation
8. The Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century: Scholarly Editions and Added Accompaniments
9. Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Interpretations: The Early Music Movement and Postmodernism Bibliography

About the Author

Ellen T. Harris is Professor Emeritus at MIT in Music and Theater Arts. Her research has focused largely on the music of Handel. Her books include the award-winning George Frideric Handel: A Life with Friends (Norton, 2014) and Handel as Orpheus: Voice and Desire in the Chamber Cantatas (Harvard, 2001). She has performed twice with John Williams and the Boston Pops and sung the National Anthem at Fenway Park.

Reviews

"Harris' comprehensive, concise, and well-organized volume will prove a durable, invaluable guide for musicologist, conductor, singer, stage director, dramaturg, or opera fan." --Ryan James Brandau, Early Music America
"The first edition is a fine study, but the renewal of interest in both scholarship and performance of Purcell's works in general and of Dido and Aeneas in particular make the second edition a welcome contribution. ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals." --M. J. Duffy IV, CHOICE