The original play was _The
Prophetess_ of Beaumont and Fletcher, straightforward Elizabethan stodge
and fustian: and if Betterton, who chose to maltreat it, was bent on
making the very worst play ever written, it must be conceded that his
success was nearly complete. It gets down to the plane of pure and
sparkling idiocy that the world admires in, say, "The Merry Widow." Yet
the masque afforded him opportunities of which he made splendid use. The
overture is a noble piece of workmanship. There is a Handelian dignity
without any bow-wow or stiffness, and the freshness and freedom are of a
kind that Handel never attained to. Of course, it has no connection with
the drama: it would serve for many another play just as well. What the
theatre manager demanded of Purcell was a piece of music to occupy the
audience before the curtain went up; and Purcell wrote it. There are
songs and dances of a rare quality, and the biggest thing of all is the
chorus, "Let all rehearse," which rivals Handel's "Fixed in his
everlasting seat," a plain copy of it, down to many small points. Those
who say Purcell had no influence upon his successors evidently know
little either of Purcell's music or Handel's.
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