Arthurian cycle (Boughton)

The English composer Rutland Boughton's Arthurian cycle consists of five music dramas in a Romantic and sometimes Wagnerian musical style, presenting the legend of King Arthur from his begetting to his death:

  • The Birth of Arthur, originally called Uther and Igraine, 2 acts, first performed 1920
  • The Round Table, prologue and 3 acts, first performed 1916
  • The Lily Maid, 3 acts, first performed 1934
  • Galahad, 4 scenes, never performed, written 1943–1944
  • Avalon, 2 acts, never performed, written 1944–1945.

The librettos of the first two are by the poet Reginald Buckley, heavily revised by Boughton, and those of the last three are by Boughton. Intended for Boughton's Glastonbury Festival, they were never widely produced elsewhere and have been almost entirely unperformed since Boughton's heyday between the two world wars. Critical judgement on the five music dramas has been mixed, and The Lily Maid is the only one considered still capable of revival. The scores have never been published.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.