Contemporary Verse Dramatists

18th Century

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Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
  • Rosamond, librettist, with music by Thomas Clayton (1707), with music by Thomas Arne (1733) - First Italian-style (sung-through) opera written originally in English
  • Cato, A Tragedy in Five Acts (1713), prologue by Alexander Pope, epilogue by Samuel Garth.  Played in rep with Henry Fielding's The Lottery in 1732.

Thomas Arne (1710-1778)
  • COMPLETE LIST OF ARNE'S WORKS AND COMPOSITIONS
  • Rosamond, opera seria composer for Joseph Addison's libretto (1733) - Reinvigorated Italian-style (sung-through) opera originally written in English
  • The Opera of Operas, or Tom Thumb the Great, burlesque opera composer (1733) libretto by Eliza Haywood and William Hatchett, after Henry Fielding
  • Dido and Aeneas, masque composer (1734), libretto by Barton Booth
  • Love and Glory, masque composer (1734), libretto by T. Phillips
  • Harlequin Orpheus, or The Magical Pipe, pantomime composer (1735), librettist unknown
  • The Twin Rivals, incidental music composer (1735), paragraph play by George Farquhar
  • Harlequin Restor'd, or The Country Revels, pantomime composer (1735), librettist unknown
  • Greenwich Park, incidental music composer (1735), play by William Mountfort
  • The Miser, incidental music composer (1735), play by Henry Fielding, based on the Moliere
  • Harlequin Restor'd, or Taste a la Mode, pantomime composer (1736), play by Richard Charke
  • Zara: A Tragedy, incidental music composer (1736), play by Aaron Hill, based on Voltaire
  • The Fall of Phaeton, masque composer (1736), libretto by W. Pritchard
  • The Rival Queens, or The Death of Alexander the Great, incidental music composer (1736), play by Nathaniel Lee
  • The King and the Miller of Mansfield, incidental music composer (1737), play by Robert Dodsley
  • Comus: A Masque in Three Acts, masque composer (1738), libretto by John Dalton, after John Milton's Comus: A Maske presented at Ludlow Castle (1634)
  • The Tender Husband, or The Accomplish'd Fools, incidental music composer (1738), paragraph play by Richard Steele
  • An Hospital for Fools, dramatic fable composer (1739), text by James Miller
  • Don John, or The Libertine Destroy'd, incidental music composer (1740), play by Thomas Shadwell
  • Lethe, or Esop in the Shades, incidental music composer (1740), play by David Garrick
  • Alfred, opera composer (1740), libretto by David Mallet and James Thomson - Originally a masque in 1740, revised into an oratorio in 1745, expanded into an opera for 1753
  • Oepidius, King of Thebes, incidental music composer (1740), play by John Dryden and Nathanial Lee, after Sophocles
  • The Tempest: In Four Acts, incidental music composer (1740), libretto From The Tempest, or the Enchanted Island: A Comedy (1667) libretto by John Dryden and William Davenant.  Original compositions initially attributed Henry Purcell, but likely John Weldon. Later, Thomas Shadwell composed his music (1674). After William Shakespeare.
  • As You Like It: In Four Acts, incidental music composer (1740), adapted from William Shakespeare
  • Twelfth Night, or What You Will: In Four Acts incidental music composer (1741), adapted from William Shakespeare
  • The Peasant's Triumph on the Death of the Wild Boar, ballet composer (1741)
  • The Merchant of Venice: In Four Acts, incidental music composer (1741), adapted from William Shakespeare
  • The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, ballad opera composer (1741), libretto by Robert Dodsley
  • The Rehearsal, incidental music composer (1741), lyrics by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
  • The Judgement of Paris, masque composer (1742), libretto by William Congreve
  • Miss Lucy in Town, ballad farce composer (1742), libretto by Henry Fielding, revived in 1770 as The Country Madcap
  • The Mock Doctor, farce composer (1743), play by Joseph Addison
  • Theodosius, or The Force of Love, incidental music composer (1744), play by Nathanial Lee (1680) with music by Henry Purcell
  • Cymbeline, incidental music composer (1744), by Theophilus Cibber with text by William Collins, adapted from William Shakespeare
  • The Temple of Dullness, burlesque opera composer (1745), libretto by Colley Cibber, after interludes in Lewis Theobald's The Happy Captive
  • The Picture, or The Cuckold in Conceit, incidental music composer (1745), play by James Millier, after Moliere's Sganarelle
  • King Pepin's Campaign, burlesque opera composer (1745), libretto by William Shirley
  • Harlequin Incendiary, or Colombine Cameron, pantomime coposer (1746), author unkonwn
  • The She-Gallants, or Once a Lover and Always a Lover, incidental music composer (1746), play by George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1695)
  • The Sheep-Shearing, or Florizel and Perdita, incidental music composer (1747), play by Macnamara Morgan, after Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale
  • The Wild Goose Chase, incidental music composer (1747), play by John Fletcher
  • The Foundling, incidental music composer (1748), play by Edward Moore
  • The Provok'd Wife, incidental music composer (1748), play by David Garrick, after John Vanbrugh's The Provoked Wife (1697)
  • The Nunnery Expedition, incidental music composer (1748), author unknown
  • The Triumph of Peace, masque composer (1749), libretto by Richard Dodsley
  • The Muses' Looking Glass, incidental music composer (1749), play by Thomas Randolph (1630)
  • Henry and Emma, or The Nut-Brown Maid, musical drama composer (1749), play by Thomas Holt, after Matthew Prior's "Henry and Emma, a poem, upon the model of The Nut-brown Maid" (1709), based on the 15th Century ballad The Nut-Brown Maid.  Controversy over authorship.
  • Don Saverio, comic opera, composer and librettist (1750).  Controversy over authorship.
  • Harlequin Mountebank, or The Squire Electrified, pantomime composer (1750), author unknown
  • The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, entertainment composer (1750), author unknown
  • The Country Lasses, or The Custom of the Manor, incidental music composer (1751), play by Charles Johnson
  • Harlequin Sorcerer, pantomime composer (1752), based on Lewis Theobald's Harlequin Sorcerer: With the Loves of Pluto and Prosperpine
  • The Oracle, incidental music composer (1752), translation by Susannah Maria Arne Cibber, from L'Oracle Germain-François Poullain de Saint-Foix (1740)
  • Eliza: An Opera in Three Acts, opera composer (1754), libretto by Richard Rolt
  • Britannia: A Masque in Two Acts, composer (1755), author unknown
  • Injured Honour, or The Earl of Westmorland, incidental music composer (1756), play by H. Brooke
  • The Pincushion Farce, farce composer and most likely author (1756), attributed libretto to John Gay
  • The Painter's Breakfast, incidental music composer (1756), play by Beaumont Brenan
  • Catherine and Petruchio, incidental music composer (1756), play by David Garrick after Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew
  • Mercury Harlequin, pantomime composer (1756), play by Henry Woodward
  • The Fair Penitent, incidental music composer (1757), play by Nicholas Rowe, after The Fatal Dowry by Philip Massinger and Nathan Field
  • Isabella, or The Fatal Marriage, incidental music composer (1757), play by David Garrick, after Thomas Southerne's The Fatal Marriage, or the Innocent Adultery (1694), based on Aphra Behn's novel The Nun or the Perjur'd Beauty (1689)
  • The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian, musical play composer (1758), by T. Betterton, after Fletcher and P. Massigner
  • The Sultan, or Solyman and Zaida, masque composer (1758), author unknown
  • The Ambitious Stepmother, incidental music composer (1759), play by Nicholas Rowe
  • Cymbeline, incidental play composer (1759), adapted by William Hawkins, after Shakespeare
  • The Beggar's Opera, ballad opera composer (1759), libretto by John Gay
  • The Desert Island: A Dramatic Poem in Three Acts, incidental music composer (1760), play by Arthur Murphy, inspired by the Italian play L'isola disabitata, by Pietro Metastasio (1753), which was also adapted into an opera by Joseph Haydn (1779).  Murphy's play has a prologue written and spoken by David Garrick in the character of a drunken poet.
  • The Jovial Crew, or The Merry Beggars, comic opera in two acts composer (1760).  Adapted from A Jovial Crew by Richard Brome (1641); readapted as The Jovial Crew by Matthew Concanen, Edward Roome, and Sir William Youge (1731) as a musical.  Presumably Arne reset the lyrics to his own music.
  • Thomas and Sally, or The Sailor's Return, comic opera composer (1760), libretto by Isaac John Bickerstaff
  • The Way to Keep Him: A Comedy in Five Acts, incidental music composer (1761), by Arthur Murphy
  • The Provok'd Husband, or A Journey to London, incidental music composer (1761), play by Colley Cibber (1728), based on a fragment of a play by John Vanbrugh (1726)
  • Artaxerxes: An Opera in Three Acts, composer and librettist (1762), transladaptation from Pietro Metastasio's Artaserse (1730)
  • Beauty and Virtue Reconciled, serenata composer and librettist (1762), translation from Pietro Matastasio
  • Love in a Village: A Comic Opera in Three Acts, pastiche composer (1762), libretto by Isaac John Bickerstaff after Charles Johnson's The Village Opera (1729)
  • The Birth of Hercules, masque composer (1763), libretto by William Shirley (who also wrote Electra, A Tragedy)
  • The Arcadian Nuptials, masque composer and librettist (1764)
  • The Guardian Out-witted: A Comic Opera in Three Acts, composer and librettist (1764)
  • L'olimpiade: Opera Seria in Three Acts, composer (1765), libretto Botarelli after Pietro Metastasio
  • The Summer's Tale: A Musical Comedy in Three Acts, composer (1765), libreto by Richard Cumberland
  • Miss in her Teens, or The Medley of Lovers, farce composer (1766), play by David Garrick after (Florent Carton) Dancourt's La parisienne
  • Lionel and Clarissa: An Opera in Three Acts, composer (1768), libretto by Isaac John Bickerstaff
  • King Arthur, or The British Worthy: A Masque in Three Acts (1770), edited by David Garrick, from the libretto by John Dryden (1691), with revisions of Henry Purcell's music and new songs
  • The Fairy Prince: A Masque in Three Acts, composer (1771), libretto by George Colman the Elder, after Ben Johnson's Oberon, the Faery Prince (1611)
  • Squire Badger: A burletta in two acts, composer and librettist (1772), after Henry Fielding's Don Quixote in England (1729).  The work was revived under the name The Sot in 1775.
  • The Cooper: A Comic Opera in Two Acts, composer and librettist (1772), transladapting from the libretto by Nicolas-Médard Audinot and Antoine François Quétant’s Le tonnelier
  • Elfrida: A Dramatic Opera in Five Acts, composer (1772), adapted by George Colman the elder, after William Mason's Elfrida, A Dramatic Poem, Written on the Model of The Ancient Greek Tragedy (1752)
  • The Rose: A Comid Opera in Three Acts, composer and librettist (1772)
  • The Pigmy Revels, or Harlequin Foundling, pantomime composer (1772), libretto by J. Messink
  • Alzuma: A Tragedy in Five Acts, incidental music composer (1773), libretto by Arthur Murphy, inspired by John Dryden's The Indian Emperour, or the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, being the Sequel of The Indian Queen (1665) and Voltaire's play (also inspired by the Dryden), Alzire, ou les Américains (1736)
  • The Trip to Portsmouth: A Comic Opera, composer (1773), libretto by George Alexander Stevens
  • Achilles in Petticoats: A Burlesque Opera in Three Acts, composer (1773), libretto by George Colman the elder, after John Gay's Achilles: A Ballad Opera
  • Henry and Emma: A Musical Drama in Three Acts (Revised), composer (1774), libretto by Sir Henry Bate Dudley, 1st Baronet, after Matthew Prior's "Henry and Emma, a poem, upon the model of The Nut-brown Maid" (1709), based on the 15th Century ballad The Nut-Brown Maid
  • May-Day, or The Little Gipsy: A Musical Farce in Two Acts, composer (1775), play by David Garrick
  • Phoebe at Court: An Operetta in Two Acts, composer and librettist (1776), after Robert Lloyd's The Capricious Lovers (1764), which was inspired by Charles-Simon Favart's Le caprice amoureux ou Ninette à la cour: comédie en trois actes (1755)
  • The Seraglio: A Comic Opera, composer (1776), libretto by Charles Dibdin and Edward Thompson
  • Caractacus: A Dramatic Poem in Five Acts, composer (1776), libretto inspired by the 1759 poem by William Mason
  • Love Finds a Way: A Comic Opera in Three Acts (1777), libretto by Thomas Hull, after Arthur Murphy's The School for Guardians (1767)

Thomas Clayton (1673-1725)
  • Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus, composer and possible co-transladaptator (1705), transladaptated into English by Peter Anthony Motteux, from the Italian librettist Tommaso Stanzani
  • Rosamond, composer, with libretto by Joseph Addison (1707) - First Italian-style (sung-through) opera written originally in English
  • A Pastoral Mask (1710)
  • If Wine and Music have the Power, composer, with text by Matthew Prior (1711)
  • The Feast of Alexander, composer, with libretto by John Hughes after John Dryden (1711)
  • The Passion of Sappho, composer, with text by William Harrison (1711)

Henry Fielding (1707-1754)

Further Adaptations:

James Hook (1746-1827)
  • Trick Upon Trick, pantomime composer (1772), author unknown
  • Cupid's Revenge, pastoral farce composer (1772), likely after the Beaumont and Fletcher Cupid's Revenge
  • The Ascension, oratorio composer (1776)
  • The Lady of the Manor, comic opera composer (1778)
  • Too Civil by Half, farce composer (1782)
  • The Double Disguise, comic opera composer (1784), libretto by Elizabeth Jane Madden (his wife)
  • The Fair Peruvian, comic opera composer (1786)
  • The Feast of Anacreon, serenata composer (1788)
  • Look ere you Leap serenata composer (1792)
  • Jack of Newbury, comic opera with masque composer (1795), libretto by James Hook (his son)
  • Diamond Cut Diamond, or Venetian Revels, comic opera composer (1797), libretto by James Hook (his son)
  • The Wreath of Loyalty, or British Volunteer, serenata composer (1799)
  • Wilmore Castle, comic opera composer (1800)
  • The Soldier's Return or What Can Beauty Do?, comic opera composer (1805), co-libretto with Theodore Hook (his son)
  • The Invisible Girl, comic opera composer (1806)
  • Catch him who Can, comic opera composer (1806)
  • Tekeli, or the Siege of Montgatz, melodrama composer (1806), co-libretto with Theodore Hook (his son)
  • The Fortress, melodrama composer (1806)
  • Music Mad, comic sketch composer (1807)
  • The Siege of St Quintin, or Spanish Heroism, author and composer (1808)
  • Killing no Murder, farce composer (1809)
  • Safe and Sound, comic opera composer (1809)
  • Sharp and Flat, comic opera composer (1813)

Hugh Kelly (1739-1777)

He wrote several other plays in paragraph form.  His novel, Memoirs of a Magdalen (1767), was satirized in William Kenrick's play The Widowed Wife.

William Kenrick (1725-1779)
  • Fun: a Parodi-tragi-comical Satire (1752), a parody of Macbeth, mocking Henry Fielding and Tobias Smollett
  • Falstaff's Wedding (1760), a comic sequel to Henry IV, Part 2 written in imitation of Shakespeare.  Heavily rewritten in 1766.
  • The Widowed Wife (1767), paragraph comic play satirizing the novel Memoirs of a Magdalen by Hugh Kelly
  • The Lady of the Manor (1778), comic opera with music by James Hook

Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
  • Irene (1726-1749), first performed in 1749 by David Garrick.  Inspired by Richard Knolles's Generall Historie of the Turkes (1603), George Sandys's Relation of a Journey...containing a Description of the Turkish Empire (1615), Herbelot's Bibliothèque Orientale (1697) and Humphrey Prideaux's Life of Mahomet (1697).  Garrick changed the play's title to Mahomet and Irene, as well as suggesting other theatrical changes.

Samuel Johnson (1691-1773)
  • Hurlothrumbo (1729), with an epilogue by John Byrom.  The play includes musical and dancing elements.  Later satirized by Henry Fielding in his novel, Tom Jones, and in his play, Author's Farce (1729)
  • The Chester Comics (1730), with alterations by Colley Cibber
  • The Mad Lovers, or the Beauties of the Poets (1732)
  • All Alive and Merry (1737)
  • A Vision of Heaven (1738)
  • A Fool Made Wise  (1741), comic opera
  • Sir John Falstaff in Masquerade (1741), comic opera
  • Pompey the Great: A Tragedy (1741)
  • Harmony in Uproar (Date unkonwn)
  • Court and Country (Date unknown)

Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718)
  • The Rape of Europa by Jupiter, librettist (1694), music by John Eccles
  • The Loves of Mars and Venus (1695)
  • Love's a Jest (1696)
  • She Ventures and He Wins (1696)
  • The Novelty, or Every Act a Play (1697)
  • Beauty in Distress, A Tragedy (1698)
  • The Island Princess, or the Generous Portugese (1699), an adaptation of John Fletcher's The Island Princess, with music by Daniel Purcell, Richard Leveridge, and Jeremiah Clarke, adapted from the Beaumont/Fletcher 1619 play
  • Acis and Galatea,  librettist (1701), music by John Eccles
  • Britain's Happiness (1704)
  • The Stage Coach (1704)
  • The Amorous Miser, or the Younger the Wiser (1705)
  • Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus, transladaptor (1705), music by Thomas Clayton, from the Italian librettist Tommaso Stanzani
  • Thomyris, Queen of Scythia,  librettist (1707), music by Johann Christoph Pepusch
  • Love's Triumph (1708)
  • Roger and Joan, or the Country Wedding (1739), comic subplot of Acis and Galatea transformed into "a comic mask"
  • The Lying Varlet (1823), farcical adaptation by David Garrick of The Novelty

Robert Southey (1774-1843)

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

See also: