page_title: Early music of the British Isles
section_title: Masques
hierarchical_section_title: Early music of the British Isles / Renaissance c. 1450–c. 1660 / Masques
caption_attribution_description: English: Costume for a Knight, by Inigo Jones: the plumed helmet, the "heroic torso" in armour and other conventions were still employed for opera seria in the 18th century. Inigo Jones design for a Knight in a Court masque. Pen and wash עברית: תחפושת בעיצובו של איניגו ג'ונס
context_page_description: Early music of the British Isles, from the earliest recorded times until the beginnings of the Baroque in the 17th century, was a diverse and rich culture, including sacred and secular music and ranging from the popular to the elite. Each of the major nations of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales retained unique forms of music and of instrumentation, but British music was highly influenced by continental developments, while British composers made an important contribution to many of the major movements in early music in Europe, including the polyphony of the Ars Nova and laid some of the foundations of later national and international classical music. Musicians from the British Isles also developed some distinctive forms of music, including Celtic chant, the Contenance Angloise, the rota, polyphonic votive antiphons and the carol in the medieval era and English madrigals, lute ayres and masques in the Renaissance era, which would lead to the development of English language opera at the height of the Baroque in the 18th century.
context_section_description: Campion was also a composer of court masques, an elaborate performance involving music and dancing, singing and acting, within a complex stage design, in which the architectural framing and costumes might be designed by a renowned architect, such as Inigo Jones, to present a deferential allegory flattering to a noble or royal patron. These developed out of the medieval tradition of guising in the early Tudor period and became increasingly complex under Elizabeth I, James VI and I and Charles I. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts. Shakespeare included masque like sections in many of his plays and Ben Jonson is known to have written them. Often, the masquers who did not speak or sing were courtiers: James I's Queen Consort, Anne of Denmark, frequently danced with her ladies in masques between 1603 and 1611, and Charles I performed in the masques at his court. The masque largely ended with the closure of the theatres and the exile of the court under the Commonwealth.
caption: Costume for a Knight, by Inigo Jones
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