It will be
remembered that during the Puritan, joyless reign of dunderheadedness
the playhouses were closed; but Cromwell, who loved music and gave State
concerts, licensed Davenant to give "entertainments"--plays in which
plot, acting, and everything else were neglected in favour of songs,
dances, and such spectacles as the genius and machinery of the stage
managers enabled them to devise. When the Puritan rule faded, the taste
for these shows still persisted. Dryden took full advantage of this
taste, and after 1668 threw songs wholesale into his plays. Further, it
would seem to have been the custom of theatre managers, when "reviving"
forgotten or half-forgotten plays, to put in new songs and dances and
gorgeous scenes, in the very spirit of Mr. Vincent Crummles, as the
extra attractions. As Purcell's fame spread, his help would be more and
more sought. At first Mr. Crummles would be content with a few simple
things, but later, finding these "a draw," he would rely more on
Purcell's aid. This is pure speculation, but it is fact that the earlier
plays embellished by Purcell have nothing like the quantity of music we
find in the later ones.
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