sábado, 2 de octubre de 2021
martes, 28 de septiembre de 2021
martes, 13 de octubre de 2020
martes, 25 de septiembre de 2018
The Arthurian Legend
(From George Sampson's Concise Cambridge History of English
Literature, 3rd ed.).
XII. THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND
The mystery of Arthur's end is not darker than the mystery of his
beginning. While the ancient tradition is everywhere, the facts and
records are nowhere. The earliest English Arthurian literature is
singularly meagre and undistinguished. The romantic exploitation of
"the matter of Britain" was the achievement, mainly, of French writers,
and, indeed, some critics would have us attach little importance to
British influence on the development of the Arthurian legend. The
"matter of Britain" very quickly became international property—a vast
composite body of romantic tradition, which European poets and
story-tellers of every nationality drew upon and used for their own
purposes. Arthur was non-political and could be idealised without
offence to any ruling family. The British king himself faded more and
more into the background, and became, in time, but the phantom monarch
of a featureless "land of faëry". His knights quite overshadow him in
the later romances; but they, in their turn, undergo the same process
of denationalization, and appear as natives of some region of fantasy,
moving about in a golden atmosphere of illusion. The course of the
story is too obscure to be made clear in a brief summary which must
necessarily ignore the hints and half-tones that count for much in the
total effect, and which can take no account of French, German and
Italian contributions to the legend. Old English literature, even the Chronicle,
knows nothing whatever of Arthur. To find any mention of him earlier
than the twelfth century we must turn to Wales, where, in a few obscure
poems, a difficult prose story, and two dry Latin chronicles we find
what appear to be the first written references, meagre and casual, but
indicating a tradition already ancient. The earliest is in Historia
Britonum, which, as we have seen (p. 9), dates from 679, though the
existing recension of Nennius was made in the ninth century. The
reference of Nennius to Arthur occurs in a very short account of the
conflict that culminated in Mount Badon, usually dated 516, though some
would put it as early as 470. Gildas, who was a youth in 516, also
mentions Mount Badon; but the only hero he names is "Ambrosius
Aurelianus". In Nennius the hero has become "The magnanimous Arthur",
who was twelve times victorious, last of all at Mount Badon; but he is
a military leader, not a king—or, perhaps, as the anthropologist Lord
Raglan thinks, "a god of war".
The poems of the ancient Welsh bards have been discussed almost as
fiercely as the poems of Ossian; yet there is no doubt that together
with much of late and doubtful invention they contain something of
indisputably ancient tradition. But the most celebrated of the early
Welsh bards know nothing of Arthur. Llywarch Hên, Taliesin and Aneirin
(sixth or seventh century?) never mention him; to the first to Urien,
Lord of Rheged, is the most imposing figure among all the native
warriors. There are, indeed, only five ancient poems that mention
Arthur at all. The reference most significant to modern readers occurs
in the Stanzas of the Graves contained in the Black Book of
Caermarthen (twelfth century): "A grave there is for March (Mark),
a grave for Gwythur, a grave for Gwgawn of the Ruddy Sword; a mystery
is the grave of Arthur." Another stanza mentions both the fatal battle
of Camlan and Bedwyr (Bedivere) , who shares with Kai (Kay)
pre-eminence among Arthur's followers in the primitive Welsh fragments
of Arthurian fable. Another Arthurian knight, Geraint, is the hero of a
poem that appears both in The Black Book of Caermarthen and in
the Red Book of Hergest (fourteenth century). One of the
eighteen stanzas just mentions Arthur by name. The Chair of the
Sovereign in The Book of Taliesin (thirteenth century)
alludes obscurely to Arthur as a "Warrior sprung from two sources".
Arthur, Kai and Bedwyr appear in another poem contained in The
Black Book; but the deed celebrated in the almost incomprehensible
lines of this poem are the deeds of Kai and Bedwyr. Arthur recedes
still further into the twilight of myth in the only other Old Welsh
poem where any extended allusion is made to him, a most obscure piece of
sixty lines contained in The Book of Taliesin. Here, as Matthew
Arnold says, "The writer is pillaging an antiquity of which he does not
fully possess the secret". Arthur sets upon various expeditions over
perilous seas in his ship Pridwen; one of them has as its object the
rape of a cauldron belonging to the King of Hades. Ancient British
poetry has nothing futher to tell us of this mysterious being, who is,
even at a time so remote, a vague, impalpable figure of legend.
The most remarkable fragment of the existing early Welsh literature
about Arthur is the prose romance of Kulhwch and Olwen,
assigned by most authorities to the tenth century. It is one of the
stories that Lady Charlotte Guest translated from the Red Book of
Hergest and published in The Mabinogion (1838). Of the
twelve "Mabinogion", or stories for the young (the word has a
special meaning but is loosely used), five deal with Arthurian themes.
Two, Kullwch and Olwen and The Dream of Rhonabury, are
British; the other three are based on French originals. In The
Dream of Rhonabury, Arthur and Kai apper, Mount Badon is mentioned,
and the fatal battle of Camlan with Mordred is referred to in some
detail. The Arthuro Kullwch and Olwen bears little resemblance
to the mystic king of later legend, except in the magnitude of his
warrior retinue, in which Kai and Bedwyr are leaders. Arthur, with his
dog Cavall, joins in the hunt for the boar Twrch Trwyth through
Ireland, Wales and Cornwall, and his many adventures are clearly relics
of ancient wonder-tales of bird and beast, wind and water. The wild and
even monstrous Arthur of this legend is equally remote from Nennis and
from Malory; but the charm of the story is someething that the
long-winded Continental writers could not achieve.
The serious historian William of Malmesbury, who wrote a few years
earlier than Geoffrey of Monmouth, refers to Arthur as a hero worthy to
be celebrated in authentic history and not in idle fictions. He adds,
"The sepulchre of Arthur is nowhere to be seen, whence ancient ballads
fable that he is to come." Plainly, Arthur was already a popular
tradition. The transformation of the British Arthru into a romantic
hero of European renown was the result of contact between British and
Norman culture. No doubt the Normans got their first knowledge of
Arthurian story from Brittany; but the real contact was made in Britain
itself, where the Normans had succeeded in establishing intimate
relations with the Welsh. Thus the true father of the Arthurian legend
is Geoffrey of Monmouth. How much he derived from ancient sources we
shall probably never find out; but we can reasonably assume that he did
not invent the fabric of the story, however fancifully he embroidered
it. And, after all, the real point is not how much he invented, but how
he used his matter, historical or legendary. Geoffrey had the art of
making the improbable seem probable, and his ingenious blending of fact
and fable not only gave his book a great success with readers, but made
Arthur and Merlin the romantic property of literary Europe. So it has
been urged thet we shoul take Geoffrey's compilation, not as a national
history, but as a national epic, doing for Britain what the Aeneid
did for Rome, and finding in the mythical Brutus, great-grandson of
Aeneas, the name-giving founder of the British state. In such a story
all the legends have their natural place. Geoffrey's History is
thus the first Brut—for so in time the records of early British
kings with this mythical starting-point came to be called. The first
few books of Historia Regum Britanniae relate the deeds of
Arthur's predecessors. At the close of the sixth book the weird figure
of Merlin appears on the scene, and romance begins to usurp the place
of sober history. Arthur is Geoffrey's hero. He knows nothing of
Tristam, Lancelot or the Holy Grail; but it was he who, in the Mordred
and Guenevere episode, first sugggested the love-tragedy that was to
become one of the world's imperishable romances.
In the Latin Life of Gildas written at about the time of
Geoffrey's death there is a further interesting allusion. Arthur is
described as being engaged in deadly feud with the King of Scotland,
whom he finally kills; he subsequently comes into collision with
Melwas, the wicked king of the "summer country" or Somerset, who had,
unknown to him, abducted his wife Guenevere, and concealed her in the
abbey of Glastonia. This seems to be the earliest appearance o the
tradition which made Melwas (the Mellyagraunce of Malory) an abductor
of Guenevere. Some of the Welsh traditions are used in Peacock's
delightful story The Misfortunes of Elphin, Melwas and the
abduction both appearing.
The value of the Arthurian story as matter for verse was first
perceived in France; and the earliest surviving standard example of
metrical narrative or romance derived directly or indirectly from
Geoffrey is Li Romans de Brut by Wace, who, born in Jersey,
lived at Caen and Bayeux, and completed his poem in 1155. Some of the
matter is independent of Geoffrey's History. Thus, it is Wace,
not Geoffrey, who first tells of the Round Table. The poem, 15,000
lines long, written in lightly rhyming verse and in a familiar
language, was very popular. Wace's Brut, possibly in some form
not now existing, or in some blend with other chronicles, provided the
foundation of Layamon's Brut, the only English contrubution of
any importance to Arthurian literature before the fourteenth century;
for, so far, all the matter discussed is in Welsh or Latin or French.
Layamon added something personal to the essntially English character of
his style and matter, and he gives us as well details not to be found
in Wace or Geoffrey. Thus, he amplifies the story of the Round Table
and narrates the dream of Arthur, not to be found in Geoffrey or Wace,
which foreshadows the treachery of Mordred and Guenevere, and disturbs
the king with a sense of impending doom. Layamon's enormous and uncouth
epic has the unique distinction of being the first celebration of "the
matter of Britain" in the English tongue.
Not the least remarkable fact about the story of King Arthur is its
rapid development as the centre of many gravitating stories, at first
quite independent, but now permanently part of the great Arthurian
system. Thus we have the stories of Merlin, of Gawain, of Lancelot, of
Tristram, of Perceval, and of the Grail. A full account of these
associated legends belongs to the history of French and German, rather
than of English, literature, and is thus outside our scope. In origin
Merlin may have been a Welsh wizard-bard, but he makes his first
appearance in Geoffrey and quickly passes into French romance, from
which he is transferred to English story. Gawain is the hero of more
episodic romances than any other British knight; when he passes into
French story he begins to assume his Malorian (and Tennysonian)
lightness of character. He is the hero of the finest of all Middle
English metrical romances, Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight,
and, as Gwalchmai, he plays a large part in the story called Peredur
the Son of Evrawc, included in the Mabinogion. Peredur is
Perceval, and the story comes from French romance. The love of Lancelot
for Guenevere is now a central episode of the Arthurian tragedy, but
Lancelot is actually a late-comer into the legend, and his story is
told in French. The book to which Chaucer refers in The Nun's
Priest's Tale and Dante in the famous passage of Inferno VI
is perhaps the great prose Lancelot traditionally attributed to
Walter Map (see p. 21). The Grail story is another complicated addition
to the Arthurian cycle. Out of the quest for various talismans, no
doubt a part of Celtic tradition, developed the story of Perceval, as
told in French and German romances; and the "Grail", a primitive
symbol, proved capable of semi-mystical religious interpretation, and
came to be identified with the cup of the Last Supper in which Joseph
of Arimathea treasured the blood that flowed from the wounds of the
Redeemer. The story of Tristram and Iseult is probably the oldest of
the subsidiary Arthurian legends, and we find the richest versions in
fragments of French poems and fuller German compositions. The English
literature of Tristram is very meagre. The whole story bears every mark
of remote pagan and Celtic origin. Finally, as an example of how
independent legends were caught into the great Arthurian system, let us
note the Celtic fairy tale of Lanval, best known in the lay of
Marie de France (c. 1175), a fascinatingly obscure personality
who, possibly English, wrote in French. And as a postcript we may note
that the sceptical twentieth century has nevertheless not lagged behind
the Middle Ages or the Victorians in its devotion to King Arthur, as
witness the Arthurian trilogy Merlin, Lancelot and Tristram
(1917-27) by the American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson, the reshaping
of the Grail legend in John Cowper Powys's Glastonbury Romance
(1933), Charles Williams's Taliessin through Logres (1938) and The
Reign of the Summer Stars (1944), and T. H. White's
trilogy The Once and Future
King (1958), which inspired the American stage and film success Camelot.
Through all the various strains of Arthurian story we hear "the horns of Elfland faintly blowing"; and it is quite possible that, to the Celtic wonderland, with its fables of the "little people", we owe much of the fairy-lore which has, thorugh Shakespeare and poets of lower degree, enriched the literature of England. Chaucer, at any rate, seemed to have no doubt about it, for he links all that he knew, or cared to know, about the Arthurian stories with his recollections of the Fairy world:
In th' oldë dayës of the King Arthoúr,So let us believe with the poets, and leave the British Arthur in his unquestioned place as the supreme king of Romance.
Of which that Britons speken greet honóur,
Al was this land fulfild of fayerye;
The elf-queen with hir joy companye
Dauncëd ful ofte in many a greneë mede.
The Celts: From Camelot to Christ:
viernes, 13 de noviembre de 2015
Retropost #304 (7 de julio de 2005): Lanzarote cuando de Bretaña vino
Acabo de leerme con Álvaro un libro rescatado del baúl de los recuerdos, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, que es uno de los libros de iniciación a la lectura que mi padre conseguía obtener con esfuerzos considerables en los años sesenta para enseñarnos inglés. Allí oí hablar por primera vez del rey Arturo, Sir Gawain, Lancelot, y la reina Ginebra (hips!). Considerablemente modernizada, por cierto, esta reina, en la última versión fílmica de las aventuras del rey Arturo. A ver si antes que ésa, localizo Excalibur para que la vean los chavales. Ahora a Álvaro también le ha tocado estudiar el mismo libro y conocer las mismas leyendas. Y muy a punto, porque, adivinanza, ¿qué relación existe entre los caballeros de la Mesa Redonda y el lugar a donde nos hemos ido de vacaciones junto al mar? Hemos descubierto, para sorpresa nuestra, que según las leyendas locales hay una conexión directa. Una pista: no, no estamos en Lanzarote. (Ver más pistas en el 1 de julio).
domingo, 8 de noviembre de 2015
Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - King Arthur
Henry Purcell, King Arthur or The British Worthy. (With Dryden's libretto).
—oOo—
JOHN DRYDEN: KING ARTHUR OR THE BRITISH WORTHY, "A Dramatick Opera"
KING ARTHUR or THE BRITISH WORTHY
Semi opera in five acts
Libretto
John Dryden
Premiere
May or June 1691, London (Dorset Garden Theatre)
Cast
PHILADEL (Soprano)
GRIMBALD (Bass / Baritone)
SHEPHERD (Tenor)
CUPID (Soprano)
COLD GENIUS (Bass)
AEOLUS (Bass / Baritone)
VENUS (Soprano)
CHORUS
sheperds and shepherdesses, soldiers, spirits, satyrs etc.
Place
Britanny
Time
Middle Ages
ACT ONE
FIRST SCENE
King Arthur has secured all of his kingdom except Kent in the course of
the battles with the Saxons; they are led by Oswald, who has set out to
win not only his throne but his love, the blind Emmeline, daughter of
Conon, Duke of Cornwall. Arthur takes leave of her for the final,
decisive battle against the heathen invader.
SECOND SCENE
A place of heathen worship; the three saxon gods, Woden, Thor and Freya
placed on pedestals; an altar. Oswald, his magician Osmond and the
earthly evil spirit Grimbald have brought victims for a sacrifice, to
ensure victory in battle, and are preparing for the rites. Grimbald
goes to the door, and re-enters with six Saxons in white, with swords in
their hands. They range, themselves three and three in opposition to
each other. The rest of the stage is filled with priests and singers.
BASS
Woden, first to thee
A milk-white steed, in battle won,
We have sacrific'd.
CHORUS
We have sacrific'd.
TENOR II
Let our next oblation be
To Thor, thy thund'ring son,
Of such another.
CHORUS
We have sacrific'd.
BASS
A third (of Friesland breed was he)
To Woden's wife, and to Thor's mother;
And now we have aton'd all three.
CHORUS
We have sacrific'd.
TENOR I & II
The white horse neigh'd aloud.
To Woden thanks we render,
To Woden we have vow'd,
To Woden, our defender.
CHORUS
To Woden thanks we render,
To Woden we have vow'd,
To Woden, our defender.
SOPRANO
The lot is cast, and Tanfan pleas'd;
Of mortal cares you shall be eas'd.
CHORUS
Brave souls, to be renown'd in story.
Honour prizing,
Death despising,
Fame acquiring
By expiring,
Die and reap the fruit of glory.
TENOR I
I call you all
To Woden's Hall,
Your temples round
With ivy bound
In goblets crown'd,
And plenteous bowls of burnish'd gold,
Where ye shall laugh
And dance and quaff
The juice that makes the Britons bold.
CHORUS
To Woden's Hall all,
Where in plenteous bowls of burnish'd gold,
We shall laugh
And dance and quaff
The juice that makes the Britons bold.
The six Saxons are led off by the priests, in order to be sacrificed.
Exeunt omnes. A battle supposed to be given behind the scenes, with
drums, trumpets, and military shouts and excursions, after which the
Britons, expressing their joy for the victory, sing this song of
triumph.
TENOR II
"Come if you dare," our trumpets sound.
"Come if you dare," the foes rebound.
We come, we come, we come, we come,"
Says the double, double, double beat of
the thund'ring drum.
CHORUS
"Come if you dare," our trumpets sound, etc.
TENOR II
Now they charge on amain.
Now they rally again.
The Gods from above the mad labour behold,
And pity mankind that will perish for gold.
CHORUS
Now they charge on amain, etc.
TENOR II
The fainting Saxons quit their ground,
Their trumpets languish in their sound,
They fly, they fly, they fly, they fly,
"Victoria, Victoria," the bold Britons cry.
CHORUS
The fainting Saxons quit their ground, etc.
TENOR II
Now the victory's won,
To the plunder we run,
We return to our lasses like fortunate traders,
Triumphant with spoils of the vanquish'd invaders.
CHORUS
Now the victory's won, etc.
ACT TWO
Philidel, a repentant airy spirit, reports to Merlin that Grimbald is
approaching and will attempt to mislead the conquering Britons to
cliffs, where they will fall to their deaths, by telling them that they
are pursuing the retreating Saxons. Merlin commands Philidel, assisted
by his band of spirits, to protect the Britons and counter. Grimbald's
forces. Exit Merlin in this chariot. Merlin's spirits stay with
Philidel. Enter Grimbald in the habit of a shepherd, followed by King
Arthur, Conon, Aurelius, Albanact and soldiers, who wander at a distance
in the scenes.
PHILIDEL
Hither, this way, this way bend,
Trust not the malicious fiend.
Those are false deluding lights
Wafted far and near by sprites.
Trust 'em not, for they'll deceive ye,
And in bogs and marshes leave ye.
CHORUS OF PHILIDEL'S SPIRITS
Hither, this way, this way bend.
CHORUS OF GRIMBALD' S SPIRITS
This way, hither, this way bend.
PHILIDEL
If you step no longer thinking,
Down you fall, a furlong sinking.
'Tis a fiend who has annoy'd ye:
Name but Heav'n, and he'll avoid ye.
Hither, this way.
PHILIDEL' S SPIRITS
Hither, this way, this way bend.
GRIMBALD' S SPIRITS
This way, hither, this way bend.
PHILIDEL' S SPIRITS
Trust not the malicious fiend.
Hither, this way, etc.
Conon and Albanact are persuaded not to follow Grimbald any further, but
Grimbald produces fresh footprints as proof that they are following the
Saxons.
GRIMBALD
Let not a moon-born elf mislead ye
From your prey and from your glory;
To fear, alas, he has betray'd ye;
Follow the flames that wave before ye,
Sometimes sev'n, and sometimes one.
Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry on.
Ritornello
GRIMBALD
See, see the footsteps plain appearing.
That way Oswald chose for flying.
Firm is the turf and fit for bearing,
Where yonder pearly dews are lying.
Far he cannot hence be gone.
Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry on.
All are going to follow Grimbald.
Ritornello
PHILIDEL'S SPIRITS
Hither, this way, this way bend.
GRIMBALD' S SPIRITS
Hither, this way, this way bend.
PHILIDEL'S SPIRITS
Trust not that malicious fiend.
Hither, this way, etc.
They all incline to Philidel. Grimbald curses Philidel and sinks with a
flash. Arthur gives thanks that the fiend has vanished.
PHILIDEL
Come, follow me.
SOLOS
Come, follow me,
And me, and me, and me, and me.
CHORUS
Come, follow me.
PHILIDEL, SOPRANO
And green-sward all your way shall be.
CHORUS
Come, follow me.
BASS
No goblin or elf shall dare to offend ye.
CHORUS
No goblin or elf shall dare to offend ye.
Ritornello
TWO SOPRANOS, TENOR
We brethren of air
You heroes will bear
To the kind and the fair that attend ye.
CHORUS
We brethren of air, etc.
Philidel and the spirits go off singing, with King Arthur and the rest
in the middle of them. Enter Emmeline led by Matilda. Pavilion Scene.
Emmeline and Matilda discuss King Arthur. Matilda entreats Emmeline to
forget her cares and let a group of Kentish lads and lasses entertain
her while she awaits Arthur's return. Enter shepherds and shepherdesses.
SHEPHERD
How blest are shepherds, how happy their lasses,
While drums and trumpets are sounding alarms.
Over our lowly sheds all the storm passes
And when we die, 'tis in each other's arms
All the day on our herds and flocks employing,
All the night on our flutes and in enjoying.
CHORUS
How blest are shepherds, how happy their lasses, etc.
SHEPHERD
Bright nymphs of Britain with graces attended,
Let not your days without pleasure expire.
Honour's but empty, and when youth is ended,
All men will praise you but none will desire.
Let not youth fly away without contenting;
Age will come time enough for your repenting.
CHORUS
Bright nymphs of Britain with graces attended, etc.
Here the men offer their flutes to the women, which they refuse.
Symphony
TWO SHEPHERDESSES
Shepherd, shepherd, leave decoying:
Pipes are sweet on summer's day,
But a little after toying,
Women have the shot to pay.
Here are marriage-vows for signing:
Set their marks that cannot write.
After that, without repining,
Play, and welcome, day and night.
Here the women give the men contracts, which they accept.
CHORUS
Come, shepherds, lead up a lively measure
The cares of wedlock are cares of pleasure:
But whether marriage bring joy or sorrow.
Make sure of this day and hang tomorrow
Hornpipe
The dance after the song, and exeunt shepherds and shepherdesses.
Second Act Tune: Air
Emmeline and Matilda are captured by Oswald, who has refused to release
them during a parley with Arthur. The Britons prepare to rescue Emmeline
from the Saxon fortress.
ACT THREE
FIRST SCENE
The Britons are panicked by the magic horrors that have been put around
the Saxon fortress to protect it and want to retreat. Arthur, however,
is prepared to attempt to penetrate them alone. Merlin advises him to
wait until after the spells have been broken, but does promise to spirit
him off to the captive Emmeline, and to restore her sight.
SECOND SCENE
A Deep Wood
Philidel is captured by Grimbald while trying to find Emmeline, but he
escapes and casts a strong spell over the evil spirit. Merlin and Arthur
enter; Merlin gives Philidel a vial containing the drops that will
restore Emmeline's sight and leaves to attempt to dispel the
dire enchantments in the wood. Emmeline and Matilda enter from the far
end of the wood. Arthur withdraws as Philidel approaches Emmeline,
sprinkling some of the water out of the vial over her eyes. Emmeline
sees Arthur for the first time, and tells him that not only Oswald, but
also Osmond desires her love. Airy spirits appear to congratulate her on
the recovery of her sight, but then vanish when Philidel announces the
approach of their foes. Emmeline and Matilda are left alone. Osmond,
whom Emmeline now sees for the first time, ardently woos her and boasts
how he has thrown Oswald into prison. Emmeline, frozen with terror,
refuses his advances, but Osmond assures her that Love will thaw her,
and demonstrates by using his magic wand to change Britain's mild clime
to Iceland and farthest Thule's frost.
THE FROST SCENE
Prelude
Osmond strikes the ground with his wand, the scene changes to a prospect
of winter in frozen countries.
Cupid descends.
CUPID
What ho! thou genius of this isle, what ho!
Liest thou asleep beneath those hills of snow?
Stretch out thy lazy limbs. Awake, awake!
And winter from thy furry mantle shake.
Prelude
Genius arises.
COLD GENIUS
What power art thou, who from below
Hast made me rise unwillingly and slow
From beds of everlasting snow?
See'st thou not how stiff and wondrous old,
Far unfit to bear the bitter cold,
I can scarcely move or draw my breath?
Let me, let me freeze again to death.
CUPID
Thou doting fool forbear, forbear!
What dost thou mean by freezing here?
At Love's appearing, All the sky clearing,
The stormy winds their fury spare.
Winter subduing,
And Spring renewing,
My beams create a more glorious year.
Thou doting fool, forbear, forbear!
What dost thou mean by freezing here?
COLD GENIUS
Great Love, I know thee now:
Eldest of the gods art thou.
Heav'n and earth by thee were made.
Human nature is thy creature,
Ev'rywhere thou art obey'd.
CUPID
No part of my dominion shall he waste:
To spread my sway and sing my praise
E'en here I will a people raise
Of kind embracing lovers, and embrac'd.
Cupid waves his wand, upon which the scene opens, discovers a prospect
of ice and snow. Singers and dancers, men and women, appear.
Prelude
CHORUS OF COLD PEOPLE
See, see, we assemble
Thy revels to hold:
Tho' quiv'ring with cold
We chatter and tremble.
Dance
CUPID
'Tis I, 'tis I, 'tis I that have warm'd ye.
In spite of cold weather
I've brought ye together.
'Tis I, 'tis I, 'tis I that have warm'd ye,
Ritornello
CHORUS
'Tis Love, 'tis Love, 'tis Love
that has warm'd us.
In spite of the weather
He brought us together.
'Tis Love, 'tis Love, 'tis Love
that has warm'd us.
CUPID & COLD GENIUS
Sound a parley, ye fair, and surrender,
Set yourselves and your lovers at ease.
He's a grateful offender
Who pleasure dare seize:
But the whining pretender
Is sure to displease.
Sound a parley, ye fair, and surrender.
Since the fruit of desire is possessing,
'Tis unmanly to sigh and complain.
When we kneel for redressing,
We move your disdain.
Love was made for a blessing
And not for a pain.
Ritornello
CHORUS
'Tis Love, 'tis Love, 'tis Love
that has warm'd us, etc.
Third Act Tune: Hornpipe
A dance; after which the singers and dancers depart. Emmeline is saved
from Osmond's lustful advances when the ensnared Grimbald cries out,
compelling the magician to go to the rescue of his evil spirit.
ACT FOUR
FIRST SCENE
Osmond learns that Merlin has broken his spells but plans to cast new
spells and seduce Arthur with visions of beauty.
SECOND SCENE
The Wood
Arthur, having first been warned by Merlin that everything he sees is
illusion, is left alone in the wood under the watchful eye of Philidel,
who can reveal any evil spirits with a wave of Merlin's wand. Arthur is
amazed that instead of the horrors and dangers he had expected, he hears
soft music and sees a golden bridge spanning a silver stream. Though
suspecting a trap, he approaches the bridge. Two sirens naked to the
waist, emerge, begging him to lay aside his sword and join them.
TWO SIRENS
Two daughters of this aged stream are we,
And both our sea-green locks have comb'd for ye.
Come bathe with us an hour or two;
Come naked in, for we are so.
What danger from a naked foe?
Come bathe with us, come bathe, and share
What pleasures in the floods appear.
We'll beat the waters till they bound
And circle round, and circle round.
Though sorely tempted, Arthur resists and presses on.As he is going
forward, nymphs and sylvans come out from behind the trees. Dance with
song, all with branches in their bands.
Passacaglia
TENOR I
How happy the lover,
How easy his chain!
How sweet to discover
He sighs not in vain.
CHORUS
How happy the lover, etc.
Ritornello
SYLVAN & NYMPH
For love ev'ry creature
Is form'd by his nature.
No joys are above
The pleasures of love.
CHORUS
No joys are above.
The pleasures of love.
THREE NYMPHS
In vain are our graces,
In vain are your eyes.
In vain are our graces
If love you despise.
When age furrows faces,
'Tis too late to be wise.
THREE SYLVANS
Then use the sweet blessing
While now in possessing.
No joys are above
The pleasures of love.
THREE NYMPHS
No joys are above
The pleasures of love.
CHORUS
No joys are above
The pleasures of love.
Fourth Act Tune: Air
Arthur commands the sylvans, nymphs and sirens begone and they vanish.
In an attempt to break the spells, he draws his sword and strikes a blow
at the finest tree in the wood. A vision of Emmeline appears from its
trunk, her arm wounded by the blow; it persuades him to lay down his
sword and take her hand. Philidel rushes in, and with a touch of the
wand reveals the vision to be Grimbald in disguise, Arthur then fells
the tree, breaking the spells and opening a safe passage for the Britons
to the Saxon fortress. Grimbald is bound up by Philidel and led out
into daylight.
ACT FIVE
FIRST SCENE
Osmond's spells have been broken and his spirit Grimbald captured. He
decides to release Oswald from the prison in the hope that together they
may at last defeat Arthur.
SECOND SCENE
The Britons march on the Saxon fortress, and are met by Oswald, who
proposes the war be decided in single combat with Arthur. After a very
close fight, in which the two magicians are also pitted against each
other, Arthur finally succeeds in disarming Oswald, but grants him his
life.
Trumpet Tune
A consort of trumpets within, proclaiming Arthur's victory. While they
sound, Arthur and Oswald seem to confer. Arthur commands Oswald to
return to Saxony with his men. Emmeline is restored to Arthur. Merlin
imprisons Osmond and proclaims the triumph of British sovereignty, faith
and love. Merlin waves his wand; the scene changes, and discovers the
British Ocean in a storm. Aeolus in a cloud above: Four Winds hanging,
etc.
AEOLUS
Ye blust'ring brethren of the skies,
Whose breath has ruffled all the wat'ry plain,
Retire, and let Britannia rise
In triumph o'er the main.
Serene and calm, and void of fear,
The Queen of Islands must appear.
Aeolus ascends, and the Four Winds fly off. The scene opens, and
discovers a calm sea, to the end of the house. An island arises, to a
soft tune; Britannia seated in the island, with fishermen at her feet,
etc. The tune changes; the fisher men come ashore, and dance a while;
after which, Pan and a Nereid come on the stage, and sing.
Symphony
NEREID, PAN
Round thy coast, fair nymph of Britain,
For thy guard our waters flow:
Proteus all his herd admitting
On thy green to graze below:
Foreign lands thy fish are tasting;
Learn from thee luxurious fasting.
CHORUS
Round thy coast, fair nymph of Britain, etc.
ALTO, TENOR, BASS
For folded flocks, and fruitful plains,
The shepherd's and the farmer's gains,
Fair Britain all the world outvies;
And Pan, as in Arcadia, reigns
Where pleasure mix'd with profit lies.
Tho' Jason's fleece was fam'd of old,
The British wool is growing gold;
No mines can more of wealth supply:
It keeps the peasants from the cold,
And takes for kings the Tyrian dye.
Enter Comus with peasants.
COMUS
Your hay, it is mow'd and your corn is reap'd,
Your barns will be full and your hovels heap'd.
Come, boys, come,
Come, boys, come,
And merrily roar out our harvest home.
CHORUS OF PEASANTS
Harvest home,
Harvest home,
And merrily roar out our harvest home.
COMUS
We've cheated the parson, we'll cheat him again,
For why shou'd a blockhead have one in ten?
One in ten, one in ten,
For why shou'd a blockhead have one in ten?
PEASANTS
One in ten, one in ten,
For why shou'd a blockhead have one in ten?
COMUS
For prating so long, like a book-learn'd sot,
Till pudding and dumpling are burnt to the pot:
Burnt to pot, burnt to pot,
Till pudding and dumpling are burnt to pot.
PEASANTS
Burnt to pot, burnt to pot,
Till pudding and dumpling are burnt to the pot.
COMUS
We'll toss off our ale till we cannot stand;
And heigh for the honour of old England;
Old England, Old England,
And heigh for the honour of old England.
PEASANTS
Old England, Old England,
And heigh for the honour of old England.
Dance
The dance varied into a round country-dance.
Enter Venus.
VENUS
Fairest isle, all isles excelling,
Seat of pleasure and of love;
Venus here will choose her dwelling,
And forsake her Cyprian grove.
Cupid from his fav'rite nation,
Care and envy will remove;
Jealousy that poisons passion,
And despair that dies for love.
Gentle murmurs, sweet complaining,
Sighs that blow the fire of love;
Soft repulses, Kind disdaining,
Shall be all the pains you prove.
Ev'ry swain shall pay his duty,
Grateful ev'ry nymph shall prove;
And as these excel in beauty,
Those shall be renown'd for love.
SHE
You say, 'tis Love creates the pain,
Of which so sadly you complain,
And yet would fain engage my heart
In that uneasy cruel part;
But how, alas! think you that
I Can bear the wounds of which you die?
HE
'Tis not my passion makes my care,
But your indiff'rence gives despair:
The lusty sun begets no spring
Till gentle show'rs assistance bring;
So Love, that scorches and destroys,
Till kindness aids, can cause no joys.
SHE
Love has a thousand ways to please,
But more to rob us of our ease;
For waking nights and careful days,
Some hours of pleasure he repays;
But absence soon, or jealous fears,
O'erflows the joy with floods of tears.
HE
But one soft moment makes amends
For all the torment that attends.
BOTH
Let us love, let us love and to happiness haste.
Age and wisdom come too fast.
Youth for loving was design'd.
HE
I'll be constant, you be kind.
SHE
You be constant, I'll be kind.
BOTH
Heav'n can give no greater blessing
Than faithful love and kind possessing.
Trumpet Tune (Warlike Consort)
The scene opens above, and discovers the Order of the Garter. Enter
Honour, attended by heroes.
HONOUR
Saint George, the patron of our Isle,
A soldier and a saint,
On this auspicious order smile,
Which love and arms will plant.
CHORUS
Our natives not alone appear
To court the martial prize;
But foreign kings adopted here
Their crowns at home despise.
Our Sov'reign high, 'in awful state,
His honours shall bestow;
and see his sceptred subjects wait
On his commands below.
—oOo—
Another excellent version if you can get it:
KING ARTHUR or the British Worthy /
LE ROI ARTHUR or le valeureux Breton /
KING ARTHUR oder Britanniens Würde
"A dramatick opera"
Livret/ Libretto : John DRYDEN (1631-1700)
==============================
VENUS
Veronique GENS, soprano/Sopran
PHILIDEL, HONOUR
Claron McFADDEN, soprano/Sopran
SHE
Sandrine PIAU, soprano/Sopran
CUPID, NEREID
Susannah WATERS, soprano/Sopran
Mark PADMORE, ténor/Tenor
Iain PATON, ténor/Tenor
GRIMBALD, HE
Jonathan BEST, basse/bass/Baß
COLD GENIUS, AEOLUS, COMUS
Petteri SALOMAA, basse/bass/Baß
PAN
François BAZOLA, basse/bass/Baß
==============================
LES ARTS FLORISSANTS
Direction/Conductor/Dirigent : WILLIAM CHRISTIE
----------------------------------------
CHŒUR/CHORUS/CHOR
Anha
Bölkow, Anne Cambier, Mhairi Lawson, Violaine Lucas, Anne Mopin,
Brigitte Pelote, Valérie Picard, Anne Pichard, Sylviane Pitour, Carys
Lloyd Roberts, Sheena Wolstencroft, sopranos/Sopran
Jean-Xavier Combarieu, Richard Duguay, Jean-Yves Ravoux, Didier Rebuffet, Bruno Renhold, ténors I/Tenor I
Bruno-Karl Boës, François Piolino, Jean-Marie Puissant, Deryck Huw Webb, ténors II/Tenor II
François Bazola, Laurent Collobert, Jean-François Gay, David Le Monnier, Jean-Marc Mory, Christophe Olive, basses/Baß
Spirits of Grimbald
Mhairi
Lawson, Sheena Wolstencroft, Didier Rebuffet, Bruno Renhold, François
Piolino, Deryck Huw Webb, Laurent Collobert, David Le Monnier
Spirits of Philidel
Violaine
Lucas, Carys Lloyd Roberts, Richard Duguay, Jean-Yves Ravoux,
Bruno-Karl Boës, Jean-Marie Puissant, François Bazzola, Jean-François
Gay
Assistant musical charge du choeur/
musical assistant and chorus master/
Musikalischer Assistant und Choreinstudierung
François Bazola
----------------------------------------
ORCHESTRE/ORCHESTRA/ORCHESTER
Hiro
Kurosaki, Roberto Crisafulli. Simon Heyerick, Michèle Sauvé, Isabelle
Serrano, Peter Van Boxelaere, violons/violins/Violine I
Catherine Girard, Sophie Gevers-Demoures, Guya Martinini, Martha Moore, Ruth Weber, George Willms, violons/violins/Violine II
Galina Zinchenko, Nadine Davin, Marcial Moreiras, Anne Weber, altos/Violas/Viole
Emmanuel Balssa, Elena Andreyev, Paul carlioz, Alix Verzier, violoncelles/Cello
Jonathan Cable, contrebasse/double basse/Kontrabass
Sébastien Marq, flûte à bec/recorder/Querflöte
Christian Moreaux, Geoffrey Burgess, hatbois/Oboe
Hugo Reyne, taille de hautbois et flûte à bec/recorder/Querflöte
Paolo Tognon, Simon Rickard, bassons/bassoons/Fagott
Per Olov Lindeke, Gilles Rapin, trompettes/trumpets/Trompete
Marie-Ange Petit, Françoise Rivalland, percussions/percussion/Schlagzeug
CONTINUO
Jonathan Rubin, Elisabeth Kenny, théorbe/Théorbo
David Simpson. violoncelle/Cello
Anne-Marie Lasla, viole de gambe/viola da Gamba
Laurence
Cummings, clavecin et assistant à la direction musicale/harpsichord and
assistant director/ Cembalo und Assistent der musikalischen Leitung
(Harpsichord Rückers, D. Jacques Way et Marc Ducornet, Paris)
martes, 21 de mayo de 2013
La Structure de 'La Mort le Roi Artu'
Un petit commentaire sur ce roman arthurique anonyme que j'avais écrit il y a bien d'années. Voila qu'il paraît à présent dans deux revues électroniques du SSRN, Literary Theory and Criticism eJournal et Rhetorical Analysis eJournal.
—oOo—
Il existe maintes versions littéraires de la mort du roi Arthur avant les œuvres les mieux connues, celles de Malory et Tennyson. Cet article examine une des versions de l'histoire dans la littérature française médiévale, l'ouvrage narratif anonyme du treizième siècle "La Mort le Roi Artu", troisième section du "Lancelot en prose", qui fait partie de la Vulgate de la "Matière de Bretagne" française. Nous commentons quelques lignes thématiques importantes de l'ouvrage, avec une approche à son style et son structure du point de vue de la narratologie.
_________
There are many literary versions of the death of King Arthur before the well-known works by Malory and by Tennyson. This paper is concerned with one of the medieval French versions of the story, the anonymous 13th-century narrative "La Mort le roi Artu," the third section of the "Lancelot en prose," and part of the so-called Vulgate version of the French 'matière de Bretagne'. This paper comments some thematic concerns of the work and analyses some aspects of its structure and style from a narratological viewpoint.
Note: Downloadable document is in French.
_______
La Structure de 'La Mort le Roi Artu' (The Structure of 'The Death of King Arthur')
http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2174522| eJournal Classifications | Date |
LIT Subject Matter eJournals | 15 Nov. 2012 |
| RCRN Subject Matter eJournals | 15 Nov. 2012 |
jueves, 7 de marzo de 2013
Dos Excalibures
Daniel Tubau comenta las teorías de Dumézil y Grisward sobre la espada o espadas de Arturo:
Grisward considera que el mito de un héroe oseta llamado Batraz no sólo coincide sino que explica el tema mítico de la espada en el lago del mito artúrico:
“Ciertos elementos del relato han sido aclarados poco a poco, pero al parecer el suntuoso motivo de la espada arrojada al lago ha resistido hasta el presente cualquier intento de elucidación”.
Para demostrarlo. compara la clásica Mort Artur (Muerte de Arturo) con la Mort Batraz. Estamos en el momento en el que Batraz comunica a los Nartos su próxima muerte:
“Pero no podré morir en tanto que mi espada no haya sido arrojada al mar: así lo ha decidido el destino.” Los Nartos cayeron en una nueva desolación: ¿Cómo lanzar al mar la espada de Batraz? Resolvieron engañar al héroe, hacerle creer que su espada era tirada la mar y que le había llegado la hora de morir. Se acercaron pues al enfermo y le juraron que la condición del destino estaba cumplida. “¿Qué prodigios habéis visto cuando cayó mi espada al mar?” les preguntó. “Ninguno”, le respondieron los Nartos con embarazo. “Entonces es que mi espada no ha sido arrojada al mar; de otra manera, habríais visto prodigios”. Los Nartos tuvieron que resignarse. Desplegaron todas sus fuerzas, engancharon varios millares de animales. Por último, consiguieron arrastrar la espada de Batraz hasta la costa y la lanzaron al mar. En el acto se alzaron olas y huracanes, el mar hirvió y luego se puso color de sangre. Los Nartos cayeron en un asombro y un gozo sin límites. Corrieron a anunciarle a Batraz lo que habían visto. Convencido, exhaló el último suspiro.”
Como se ve, la vida de Batraz esta ligada a su espada, del mismo modo que la de Arturo (...).
Una teoría acerca del origen del mito de Arturo sostiene que en el siglo II el general romano Lucio Artorio Castro estuvo al mando en Britania de una legión romana formada por sármatas. Entre los caballeros sármatas, osetas y escitas y los de Arturo existen bastantes semejanzas llamativas.
Hay que tener en cuenta, sin embargo, que en el relato artúrico, la espada que Arturo extrae de la roca no es Excalibur, pues esta Excalibur le es entregada posteriormente por la dama del lago. Sin embargo, en todos los mitos se producen desplazamientos y confusiones
Especialmente interesante es el paralelismo con la leyenda de los Osetas; se echa de ver que ambos relatos tienen un origen folklórico común. En cuanto a las dos espadas de Arturo, es casi la prueba del algodón de que la leyenda se forjó con fuentes de diversa procedencia. Parece claro que en una leyenda elemental la espada debería ser sólo una—que Excalibur debía ser a la vez la espada de la dama del lago y la hincada en la roca, y eso es lo que procura hacer Boorman, y otras versiones de la historia, juntar dos en una. Pero claro, en realidad son dos historias de dos espadas diferentes, y de dos héroes diferentes también en origen.
Mi fotoblog
se puede ver haciendo clic en la foto ésta de Termineitor. Y hay más enlaces a cosas mías al pie de esta página.