Masques

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masques were a form of English courtly entertainment, involving dancing, speech, song, and instrumental music, that flourished from the later 16th cent. until 1640. In the later 17th and 18th cents. the term was also applied to self-contained musical entertainments, normally accompanying a spoken play. During the reigns of James I and Charles I the masque became an opulent affair, its allegorical or mythological plot symbolizing the monarch's political power and wealth. The most celebrated works involved the collaboration of the first poet laureate Ben Jonson and the architect Inigo Jones, who designed not only the spectacular stage effects and costumes but also the Banqueting House at Whitehall where the works were often performed. The songs, dances, and incidental instrumental music were normally written by different composers. The main characters or ‘masquers’ were courtiers who were joined by members of the audience for the ‘revels’. Professionals were, however, increasingly used, particularly for the ‘antimasques’: grotesque or comic scenes first introduced in Jonson's The Masque of Queens (1609). The only masque whose music survives complete is Cupid and Death (1653 and 1659), which—unusually—experimented with Italianate recitative. After the Restoration the masque transferred to the professional theatre, where its tradition continued in Purcell's semi-operas.

Eric Cross

masques, or masks, dramatic entertainments involving dances and disguises, in which the spectacular and musical elements predominated over plot and character. They were acted indoors by amateurs, and were designed to include their spectators in the action. As they were usually performed at court, many have political overtones. They were perhaps of Italian origin, but assumed a distinctive character in England in the 16th and 17th cents. Many of the great poets and dramatists, S. Daniel, T. Campion, G. Chapman, and T. Middleton, wrote masques, and they reached their highest degree of elaboration in the hands of Jonson who introduced the ‘anti-masque’ as a comic and grotesque foil to the main spectacle. The great architect Inigo Jones designed the machinery or decoration for some of them. Jonson's The Sad Shepherd, Milton's A Maske, better known as Comus, and other such works often called masques are closer to pastoral dramas.