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''Kenilworth, A Masque of the Days of Queen Elizabeth'' (commonly referred to as "The Masque at Kenilworth"), is a cantata with music by Arthur Sullivan and words by Henry Fothergill Chorley (with an extended Shakespeare quotation) that premiered at the Birmingham Festival on 8 September 1864. In 1575, Queen Elizabeth visited Robert Dudley at Kenilworth Castle, where he presented her with lavish entertainments over a period of several weeks. This piece attempts to recreate the sort of masque that might have been performed for the queen's pleasure. The text is based partly on the description of the queen's visit in the 1821 novel ''Kenilworth'', by Sir Walter Scott and on other contemporary accounts and fiction. ==Background== ''Kenilworth'' is one of Arthur Sullivan's earliest choral works, coming only three years after he completed his studies. Early in 1862, the critic Henry Fothergill Chorley, who served on the committee that had awarded the Mendlessohn scholarships to Sullivan,〔Ainger, p. 43〕 had hosted a private performance of Sullivan's incidental music to Shakespeare's ''The Tempest'' at his home, where George Grove, at that time Secretary to The Crystal Palace, heard the piece. Grove was sufficiently impressed to arrange for a performance of the work at ''The Crystal Palace''〔Robin Gordon-Powell (Archivist & music librarian of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society), Preface to the score of ''Kenilworth'', published by The Amber Ring, London, 2002〕 This piece was a hit and launched Sullivan's reputation. Sullivan and Chorley then began collaborating on songs and other works.〔Ainger, p. 56〕 In 1863, Sullivan and Chorley were collaborating on an opera, ''The Sapphire Necklace'', that they had hoped would be produced by the Royal Italian Opera House at Covent Garden. Sullivan met the music director of the opera house, Sir Michael Costa, seeking to cultivate a relationship with the important conductor. He expressed his eagerness to learn all that he could about opera and asked to attend rehearsals. Costa hired Sullivan as an organist at Covent Garden.〔Ainger, p. 57〕 Costa also began to send composing commissions to Sullivan. In 1864, at the recommendation of Costa, who was also chief conductor of the triennial Birmingham Musical Festival, Sullivan received a commission to write a cantata for the Festival. At the time, Sullivan and Chorley had submitted ''The Sapphire Necklace'' to the Royal Opera House, but the opera was turned down. Instead, Costa, perhaps in consolation for rejecting the opera, arranged for Chorley to write the libretto for the masque.〔Shepherd, Marc. (''Sullivan: 'The Masque at Kenilworth' – Music for Royal and National Occasions'' ), The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 24 December 2003, accessed 2 July 2014〕 Chorley's libretto draws on the description in the 1821 novel ''Kenilworth'', by Sir Walter Scott, of the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Kenilworth Castle in 1575. Chorley's libretto also draws on other contemporary accounts and fiction.〔 Chorley noted in his preface to the libretto that his "fancy was directed" to the subject matter not only for its "local interest" (Kenilworth is near Birmingham), but because he had long enjoyed Scott's "wondrously musical, but as wondrously simple" description of Elizabeth's arrival for the masque. Chorley does not allude to it, but Michael Costa had composed a ballet on the subject of ''Kenilworth'' in 1831.〔(Profile of Costa )〕 The 22-year-old Sullivan composed the piece over the summer of 1864 and travelled to Birmingham in early September for the first rehearsal. He conducted the première of the cantata on 8 September 1864, which was generally well received.〔Ainger, p. 58〕 However, ''The Times'' was disappointed in the young composer's missing so "golden a chance" to provide something of "more dignity" for such a grand event and dismissed the music as merely "trivial prettiness". It noted, however, that had the piece been written for a less exceptional occasion, it "would be welcomed as a very agreeable work, unambitious in plan, unpretending in style, but at the same time lively, tuneful, fresh, and extremely well-written both for voices and instruments."〔"Birmingham Musical Festival", ''The Times'' review, 12 September 1864, p. 10〕 After two further performances (at The Crystal Palace on 12 November 1864; and by the Dublin Philharmonic Society in 1868), Sullivan withdrew the piece and refused to allow it to be performed.〔 There were also three known complete performances of the masque around the first anniversary of the composer's death and additional performances in 1903 and 1907. The "Shakespeare Duet" and "Brisk Dance" were performed independently, with the composer's permission, on many occasions and continued to be performed well into the 20th century.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Masque at Kenilworth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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