Annotation:Duenna (The)

Back to 

 DUENNA, THE. English, Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. In addition to the appearance in the Thompson's 1780 collection, "The Duenna" appears in Longman and Broderip's Compleat Collection of 200 Favorite Country Dance (London, 1781, p. 80). Another 6/8 time melody entitled "Duenna" is to be found in Skillern's Compleat Collection of Two Hundred & Four Reels...Country Dances (London, 1780, p. 22). Both tunes seem to be associated with the three-act comic opera called The Duenna, first staged at in London in 1775 at Covent Garden. It was composed by a father-and-son team, Thomas Linley the elder and Thomas Linley the younger, with a libretto by Richard Sheridan. The opera was hugely successful--Lord Byron opined that it was 'the best opera ever'--and continued to be staged well into the 19th century. The songs in the opera were a mixture of traditional melodies, compositions of the Linleys, and melodies borrowed from other composers.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources: Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 4), 1780; No. 101.  Recorded sources:

Back to