DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS PERFORMANCE PORTFOLIO ...

1791 was also the year The Woodman by William Shield (1748-1829) was presented at
Covent Garden where he was the house composer. Considered Shield's biggest success, the
opera made use of the current rage for women's archery, and included onstage spectaculars such
as rainstorms and archery contests.
Shield was also responsible for the "The Grand March" from Hercules & Omphale, a
ballet-pantomime presented at Covent Garden in 1794. William Reeve (1757-1815) contributed
"A Grand Overture. " Reeve also completed the Shield score to another ballet-pantomime Oscar
& Malvina (179 1). The form of "Adadio, Rondo and Andante" (No. 2) follows exactly the
published keyboard version of the overture, and the "Adagio & Allegretto" (No. 7) comes from
later in the work.
ne Battle ofHexham (178 9) and The Surrender of Calais (179 1), both by Samuel
Arnold (1740-1802), brought to the London stage a new form: a play for the main characters and
an opera for the secondary ones, with the entire plot set in the distant past. Arnold enjoyed great
popularity in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. He understood the nature of musical
drama, varying each of the musical elements to suit the characters and plot design, and creating
what has been called the "musical gesture. " Analysis of the orchestral cues in his vocal scores
shows a keen awareness
of the colours of the instruments and the varieties of textures they can
create.
A foreign composer who enjoyed great success in London during this time was Ignace
Pleyel'(1 757-183 1). He visited London in 1791-92
to conduct the Professional Concert, where
his concerts were well attended and his symphonie concertantes and string quartets highly
praised in the press. The týree works in the Set ofMilitary Pieces are taken from string quartets.
The "Adagio
-Allegro" (No. 5) in set one is from the String Quartet in Bb (B 33 1 /ii) of 1786.
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