Themasque was a form of festivecourtlyentertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier inItaly, in forms including theintermedio (a public version of the masque was thepageant). A masque involved music, dancing, singing and acting, within an elaboratestage design, in which the architectural framing and costumes might be designed by a renowned architect, to present a deferential allegory flattering to the patron. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts. Masquers who did not speak or sing were often courtiers: the English queenAnne of Denmark frequently danced with her ladies in masques between 1603 and 1611, andHenry VIII andCharles I of England performed in the masques at their courts.[citation needed] In the tradition of masque,Louis XIV of France danced inballets atVersailles with music byJean-Baptiste Lully.[1]
The masque tradition developed from the elaborate pageants and courtly shows ofducal Burgundy in the lateMiddle Ages. Masques were typically a complimentary offering to the prince among his guests and might combine pastoral settings, mythological fables, and the dramatic elements of ethical debate. There would invariably be some political and social application of the allegory. Such pageants often celebrated a birth, marriage, change of ruler or aroyal entry and invariably ended with a tableau of bliss and concord.
Masque imagery tended to be drawn from Classical rather than Christian sources, and the artifice was part of the Grand dance. Masque thus lent itself toMannerist treatment in the hands of master designers likeGiulio Romano orInigo Jones.
TheNew Historians, in works like the essays of Bevington and Holbrook'sThe Politics of the Stuart Court Masque (1998),[2] have pointed out the political subtext of masques. At times, the political subtext was not far to seek:The Triumph of Peace, put on with a large amount of parliament-raised money byCharles I, caused great offence to thePuritans.Catherine de' Medici's court festivals, often even more overtly political, were among the most spectacular entertainments of her day, although the "intermezzi" of theMedici court inFlorence could rival them.
In English theatre tradition, adumbshow is a masque-like interlude of silentmime usually withallegorical content that refers to the occasion of a play or its theme, the most famous being the dumbshow played out inHamlet (III.ii). Dumbshows might be a moving spectacle, like a procession, as inThomas Kyd'sThe Spanish Tragedy (1580s), or they might form a pictorial tableau, as one in the Shakespeare collaboration,Pericles, Prince of Tyre (III.i)—a tableau that is immediately explicated at some length by the poet-narrator,Gower.
Dumbshows were a medieval element that continued to be popular in earlyElizabethan drama, but by the timePericles (c. 1607–08) orHamlet (c. 1600–02) were staged, they were perhaps quaintly old-fashioned: "What means this, my lord?" is Ophelia's reaction. In English masques, purely musical interludes might be accompanied by a dumbshow.
The masque has its origins in a folk tradition where masked players would unexpectedly call on a nobleman in his hall, dancing and bringing gifts on certain nights of the year, or celebrating dynastic occasions. The rustic presentation of "Pyramus and Thisbe" as a wedding entertainment in Shakespeare'sA Midsummer Night's Dream offers a familiar example. Spectators were invited to join in the dancing. At the end, the players would take off their masks to reveal their identities. In 1377, 130 men came "disguisedly apparelled", their faces covered withvizards to entertainRichard II of England.[3]
In England,Tudor court masques developed from earlierguisings, where a masked allegorical figure would appear and address the assembled company—providing a theme for the occasion—with musical accompaniment.[4] Costumes were designed by professionals, includingNiccolo da Modena.[5]Elizabeth of York paid for costumes for "disguysings" in June and December 1502. Minstrels were dressed in white and green Tudor livery.[6] Henry VIII came toCatherine of Aragon's chamber disguised asRobin Hood in January 1510, perhaps causing initial uneasiness, and there was dancing.[7][8][9]
Hall'sChronicle explained the new fashion of Italian-style masque at the English court in 1512.[10] The essential feature was the entry of disguised dancers and musicians to a banquet. They would appear in character and perform, and then dance with the guests, and then leave the venue.[11] At the meeting atLille in October 1513, when the ladies were dancing after a banquet,Henry VIII and eleven other dancers entered "richely appareled with bonettes of gold". At the conclusion of their performance they gave their masque costumes to the audience.[12]
On 1 May 1515, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon rode from Greenwich Palace to have breakfast in an arbour constructed in a wood atShooter's Hill. Catherine and her ladies were dressed in Spanish-style riding gear, Henry was in green velvet. The royal guard appeared in disguise as Robin Hood and his men. There was a pageant chariot or car with Lady May and Lady Flora, followed by a masque and dancing.[13]
According toGeorge Cavendish, in January 1527Henry VIII came toCardinal Wolsey'sHampton Court orYork Place, by boat "in a masque with a dozen of other maskers all in garments like shepherds made of fine cloth of gold and fine crimson satin paned, and caps of the same with visors", wearing false beards, accompanied with torch bearers and drummers. Their arrival at the palace water gate was announced by cannon fire. The King's part of the entertainment was organised byWilliam Sandys andHenry Guildford. The masquers played a dice game calledmumchance before dancing.[14][15]Edward Hall described similar masques involving the king's disguised appearance.[16]
In the playHenry VIII, byFletcher andShakespeare, Wolsley's masques were recalled when Henry in shepherd's disguise meetsAnne Boleyn.[17][18][19] Anne Boleyn and seven ladies in "maskyng apparel of straunge fashion" performed for Henry VIII andFrancis I of France at Calais on 27 October 1532.[20] Some of the costume, supplied by the yeoman of the revels Richard Gibson, was described as "masking gere".[21]
Masques atElizabeth I's court emphasized the concord and unity between Queen and Kingdom. A descriptive narrative of a processional masque is the masque of theSeven Deadly Sins inEdmund Spenser'sThe Faerie Queene (Book i, Canto IV). A particularly elaborate masque, performed over the course of two weeks for Queen Elizabeth, is described in the 1821 novelKenilworth, bySir Walter Scott. Queen Elizabeth was entertained at country houses during her progresses with performances like theHarefield Entertainment.[22]
In Scotland, masques were performed at court, particularly at wedding celebrations, and theroyal wardrobe provided costumes.[23] At a banquet at the tournament of theWild Knight and the Black Lady in 1507, theBlack Lady came into the hall atHolyroodhouse with Martin the Spaniard who was equipped with anarchery bow and dressed in yellow.[24] A cloud descended from the roof and swept them both away.[25][26]
Performers at a wedding masque atCastle Campbell in 1562 dressed as shepherds.[27]Mary, Queen of Scots,Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, andDavid Rizzio took part in a masque in February 1566.[28] Mary attended the wedding of her servantBastian Pagez, and it was saidshe wore male costume for the masque, "which apparel she loved often times to be in, in dancings secretly with the King her husband, and going in masks by night through the streets".[29]James VI andAnne of Denmark wore masque costumes to dance at weddings atAlloa Tower andTullibardine Castle.[30] At Tullibardine, James VI and his valet, probablyJohn Wemyss of Logie, wore taffeta costumes and Venetian masks.[31]
After James and Anne became king and queen of England at theUnion of the Crowns in 1603, narrative elements of the masque at their court became more significant. Plots were often on classical or allegorical themes, glorifying the royal or noble sponsor. At the end, the audience would join with the actors in a final dance.Ben Jonson wrote a number of masques with stage design byInigo Jones. Their works are usually thought of as the most significant in the form.Samuel Daniel and SirPhilip Sidney also wrote masques.
William Shakespeare included a masque-like interlude inThe Tempest, understood by modern scholars to have been heavily influenced by the masques of Ben Jonson and the stagecraft of Inigo Jones. There is also a masque sequence in hisRomeo and Juliet andHenry VIII.John Milton'sComus (with music byHenry Lawes) is described as a masque, though it is generally reckoned apastoral play.
There is a detailed, humorous, and malicious (and possibly completely fictitious) account by SirJohn Harington in 1606 of a masque ofSolomon and Sheba atTheobalds.[32] Harington was not so much concerned with the masque itself as with the notoriously heavy drinking at the Court of King James I; "the entertainment went forward, and most of the presenters went backward, or fell down, wine did so occupy their upper chambers". As far as we can ascertain the details of the masque, theQueen of Sheba was to bring gifts to the King, representing Solomon, and was to be followed by the spirits of Faith, Hope, Charity, Victory and Peace. Unfortunately, as Harington reported, the actress playing the Queen tripped over the steps of the throne, sending her gifts flying; Hope and Faith were too drunk to speak a word, while Peace, annoyed at finding her way to the throne blocked, made good use of her symbolicolive branches to slap anyone who was in her way.[33]
Francis Bacon paid forThe Masque of Flowers to celebrate the marriage ofRobert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset andFrances Howard, Countess of Somerset.[34]James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, was a performer and sponsor of court masques. He wrote about the tight-fitting costumes, that it was the fashion "to appear very small in the waist, I remember was drawn up from the ground by both hands whilst the tailor with all his strength buttoned on mydoublet".[35]
Reconstructions ofStuart masques have been few and far between. Part of the problem is that only texts survive complete; there is no complete music, only fragments, so no authoritative performance can be made without interpretive invention. By the time of theEnglish Restoration in 1660, the masque was passé, but the Englishsemi-opera which developed in the latter part of the 17th century, a form in whichJohn Dryden andHenry Purcell collaborated, borrows some elements from the masque and further elements from the contemporary courtlyFrench opera ofJean-Baptiste Lully.
In the 18th century, masques were even less frequently staged. "Rule, Britannia!" started out as part ofAlfred, a masque aboutAlfred the Great co-written byJames Thomson andDavid Mallet with music byThomas Arne which was first performed atCliveden, country house ofFrederick, Prince of Wales. Performed to celebrate the third birthday of Frederick's daughterAugusta, it remains among the best-known British patriotic songs up to the present, while the masque of which it was originally part is remembered by only specialist historians.
The most outstandinghumanists, poets and artists of the day, in the full intensity of their creative powers, devoted themselves to producing masques; and until the Puritans closed the English theatres in 1642, the masque was the highest art form in England. But because of its ephemeral nature, not a lot of documentation related to masques remains, and much of what is said about the production and enjoyment of masques is still part speculation.
While the masque was no longer as popular as it was at its height in the 17th century, there are many later examples of the masque. During the late 17th century, English semi-operas by composers such asHenry Purcell had masque scenes inset between the acts of the play proper. In the 18th century,William Boyce andThomas Arne, continued to utilize the masque genre mostly as an occasional piece, and the genre became increasingly associated with patriotic topics.Acis and Galatea (Handel) is another successful example. There are isolated examples throughout the first half of the 19th century.
With the renaissance of English musical composition during the late 19th and early 20th century (the so-calledEnglish Musical Renaissance), English composers turned to the masque as a way of connecting to a genuinely English musical-dramatic form in their attempts to build a historically informed national musical style for England. Examples include those byArthur Sullivan,George Macfarren, and evenEdward Elgar, whose imperialisticThe Crown of India was the central feature at the London Coliseum in 2005. Masques also became common as scenes in operettas and musical theatre works set during the Elizabethan period.
In the 20th century,Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote several masques, including his masterpiece in the genre,Job, a masque for dancing which premiered in 1930, although the work is closer to aballet than a masque as it was originally understood. His designating it a masque was to indicate that the modernchoreography typical when he wrote the piece would not be suitable. Vaughan Williams' protégéElizabeth Maconchy composed a masque,The Birds (1967–68), an "extravaganza" afterAristophanes.
Constant Lambert also wrote a piece he called a masque,Summer's Last Will and Testament, for orchestra, chorus and baritone. His title he took fromThomas Nash, whose masque[36] was probably first presented before theArchbishop of Canterbury, perhaps at his London seat,Lambeth Palace, in 1592.
