fbpx
Wikipedia

Thomas d'Urfey

April 07, 2024

Thomas d'Urfey (c. 1653 – 26 February 1723) was an English writer and playwright. He wrote plays, songs, jokes, and poems. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the ballad opera.

Thomas d'Urfey

Life edit

D'Urfey was born in Devonshire and began his professional life as a scrivener, but quickly turned to the theatre. In personality, he was considered so affable and amusing that he could make friends with nearly everyone, including such disparate characters as Charles II of England and his brother James II, and in all layers of society.

 
Memorial to Durfey at St James's Church, Piccadilly

D'Urfey lived in an age of self-conscious elitism and anti-egalitarianism, a reaction against the "leveling" tendencies of the previous Puritan reign during the Interregnum. D'Urfey participated in the Restoration's dominant atmosphere of social climbing: he claimed to be of French Huguenot descent, though he might not have been; and he added an apostrophe to the plain English name Durfey when he was in his 30s. He wrote 500 songs, and 32 plays, starting with The Siege of Memphis, or the Ambitious Queen in 1676. This first play was a failure, but he responded in the following year (1677) with a comedy, Madam Fickle, which proved more successful.

His plays include A Fond Husband (1676), The Virtuous Wife (1680), and Wonders in the Sun, or, The Kingdom of the Birds (1706). In 1698 he wrote The Campaigners as a reply and satire of Jeremy Collier's anti-theatrical scourges. When it was performed Mary Lindsey took the part of the nurse although her major contribution was to sing a comedic ballad.[1] His multi-volume Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy, written between 1698 and 1720, is a collection of songs and ballads. d'Urfey's play The Injured Princess is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Cymbeline. Durfey wrote widely in a witty, satirical vein, usually from a courtly point of view, and his works are a compendium of comedic ideas with brisk, complicated plots carried out in lively dialogue.[2]

His songs, which were often introduced into his plays,[2] generally fell into three types: court songs, political songs (such as "Joy to Great Caesar"), and country songs—the latter tending to be more than a little bawdy. ("The Fart" was one of his hits; The Lusty Young Smith was another.) Over forty different composers set his lyrics to music, including Ed McCurdy and Henry Purcell. Purcell composed music for D'Urfey's play The Comical History of Don Quixote (1694), one of the first dramatisations of Miguel de Cervantes' celebrated novel.

D'Urfey wrote tunes himself as well, although he admitted that they were not very good. Many of the songs' lyrics in Wit and Mirth are preceded by their melodies written in musical notation. He was a friend of the great essayists Joseph Addison and Richard Steele; but, as was not atypical of the time, he also quarreled energetically with other poets and writers. He wrote parodies, and was parodied in return. He stuttered slightly—except, it was said, when he sang or swore. At one point in his career, a jealous rival would respond to D'Urfey's play Love for Money with a parody called Wit for Money, or, Poet Stutterer.

D'Urfey's songs met with royal approval. Addison (in The Guardian) related that he remembered seeing Charles II leaning on Tom d'Urfey’s shoulder and humming a song with him. Even William III liked to hear him sing his songs, and as a strong Tory he was sure of the favour of Princess Anne, who is said to have given Tom fifty guineas for a song on the Electress Sophia, then the next heir in succession to the crown.[2]

Although he was poor in his old age, his friends revived A Fond Husband in 1713, with a prologue written by Alexander Pope, which seems to have eased his difficulties.[2]

Death edit

He was buried on the day of his death at St James's, Piccadilly, in London. His lasting achievement lay in his best songs: 10 of the 68 songs in The Beggar's Opera were by d'Urfey.[citation needed]

Selected plays edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Lindsey, Mary (fl. 1697–1713), singer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/70111. Retrieved 13 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "D'Urfey, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 703–704.

Further reading edit

  • Cyrus Lawrence Day, The Songs of Thomas D'Urfey, Volume IX, Harvard Studies in English, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1933.
  • Thomas D'Urfey, Lewd Songs and Low Ballads of the Eighteenth Century: Bawdy Songs From Thomas D'urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy (1719), Boulder, Colorado, Bartholomew Press, 1991.
  • Thomas D'Urfey, The Comical History of Don Quixote, Part I, with Introduction, Critical Edition and Notes by Luca Baratta, Spanish Translation by Aaron M. Kahn and Vicente Chacón Carmona, Presentation by Rafael Portillo García, Research Coordinator Agapita Jurado Santos, Firenze, Società Editrice Fiorentina, 2019 ISBN 978-88-6032-530-3.

External links edit

 
Wikisource has original works by or about:
Thomas d'Urfey

April 07, 2024
thomas, urfey, 1653, february, 1723, english, writer, playwright, wrote, plays, songs, jokes, poems, important, innovator, contributor, evolution, ballad, opera, contents, life, death, selected, plays, references, further, reading, external, linkslife, editd, . Thomas d Urfey c 1653 26 February 1723 was an English writer and playwright He wrote plays songs jokes and poems He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the ballad opera Thomas d Urfey Contents 1 Life 2 Death 3 Selected plays 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksLife editD Urfey was born in Devonshire and began his professional life as a scrivener but quickly turned to the theatre In personality he was considered so affable and amusing that he could make friends with nearly everyone including such disparate characters as Charles II of England and his brother James II and in all layers of society nbsp Memorial to Durfey at St James s Church PiccadillyD Urfey lived in an age of self conscious elitism and anti egalitarianism a reaction against the leveling tendencies of the previous Puritan reign during the Interregnum D Urfey participated in the Restoration s dominant atmosphere of social climbing he claimed to be of French Huguenot descent though he might not have been and he added an apostrophe to the plain English name Durfey when he was in his 30s He wrote 500 songs and 32 plays starting with The Siege of Memphis or the Ambitious Queen in 1676 This first play was a failure but he responded in the following year 1677 with a comedy Madam Fickle which proved more successful His plays include A Fond Husband 1676 The Virtuous Wife 1680 and Wonders in the Sun or The Kingdom of the Birds 1706 In 1698 he wrote The Campaigners as a reply and satire of Jeremy Collier s anti theatrical scourges When it was performed Mary Lindsey took the part of the nurse although her major contribution was to sing a comedic ballad 1 His multi volume Wit and Mirth or Pills to Purge Melancholy written between 1698 and 1720 is a collection of songs and ballads d Urfey s play The Injured Princess is an adaptation of Shakespeare s Cymbeline Durfey wrote widely in a witty satirical vein usually from a courtly point of view and his works are a compendium of comedic ideas with brisk complicated plots carried out in lively dialogue 2 His songs which were often introduced into his plays 2 generally fell into three types court songs political songs such as Joy to Great Caesar and country songs the latter tending to be more than a little bawdy The Fart was one of his hits The Lusty Young Smith was another Over forty different composers set his lyrics to music including Ed McCurdy and Henry Purcell Purcell composed music for D Urfey s play The Comical History of Don Quixote 1694 one of the first dramatisations of Miguel de Cervantes celebrated novel D Urfey wrote tunes himself as well although he admitted that they were not very good Many of the songs lyrics in Wit and Mirth are preceded by their melodies written in musical notation He was a friend of the great essayists Joseph Addison and Richard Steele but as was not atypical of the time he also quarreled energetically with other poets and writers He wrote parodies and was parodied in return He stuttered slightly except it was said when he sang or swore At one point in his career a jealous rival would respond to D Urfey s play Love for Money with a parody called Wit for Money or Poet Stutterer D Urfey s songs met with royal approval Addison in The Guardian related that he remembered seeing Charles II leaning on Tom d Urfey s shoulder and humming a song with him Even William III liked to hear him sing his songs and as a strong Tory he was sure of the favour of Princess Anne who is said to have given Tom fifty guineas for a song on the Electress Sophia then the next heir in succession to the crown 2 Although he was poor in his old age his friends revived A Fond Husband in 1713 with a prologue written by Alexander Pope which seems to have eased his difficulties 2 Death editHe was buried on the day of his death at St James s Piccadilly in London His lasting achievement lay in his best songs 10 of the 68 songs in The Beggar s Opera were by d Urfey citation needed Selected plays editMadam Fickle 1676 A Fond Husband 1677 Squire Oldsapp 1678 Trick for Trick 1678 The Virtuous Wife 1679 Sir Barnaby Whigg 1681 The Royalist 1682 A Commonwealth of Women 1685 The Banditti 1686 A Fool s Preferment 1688 Love for Money 1691 Bussy D Ambois 1691 The Marriage Hater Matched 1692 The Richmond Heiress 1693 The Campaigners 1698 The Bath 1701 The Old Mode and the New 1703 References edit Lindsey Mary fl 1697 1713 singer Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press 2004 doi 10 1093 ref odnb 70111 Retrieved 13 November 2020 Subscription or UK public library membership required a b c d nbsp One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 D Urfey Thomas Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 8 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 703 704 Further reading editCyrus Lawrence Day The Songs of Thomas D Urfey Volume IX Harvard Studies in English Cambridge Harvard University Press 1933 Thomas D Urfey Lewd Songs and Low Ballads of the Eighteenth Century Bawdy Songs From Thomas D urfey s Pills to Purge Melancholy 1719 Boulder Colorado Bartholomew Press 1991 Thomas D Urfey The Comical History of Don Quixote Part I with Introduction Critical Edition and Notes by Luca Baratta Spanish Translation by Aaron M Kahn and Vicente Chacon Carmona Presentation by Rafael Portillo Garcia Research Coordinator Agapita Jurado Santos Firenze Societa Editrice Fiorentina 2019 ISBN 978 88 6032 530 3 External links edit nbsp Wikisource has original works by or about Thomas d Urfey Works by Thomas d Urfey at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Thomas d Urfey at Internet Archive Digitised copy of Wit and mirth or Pills to purge melancholy in six volumes from National Library of Scotland Free scores by Thomas d Urfey at the International Music Score Library Project IMSLP Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thomas d 27Urfey amp oldid 1180103382, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.