Rinaldo and Armida

The tragedy Rinaldo and Armida by John Dennis with "musical entertainments" by John Eccles was performed in London at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in 1698. A rich example of "dramatick opera," this collaboration of Dennis and Eccles continues the hybrid form of musical theater nurtured earlier by Purcell and Dryden, a form that would soon give way to the hegemony of Italian opera in England.

Rinaldo and Armida garnered wide-spread attention in its performance by Thomas Betterton's troupe amid the theatrical rivalry between the companies at Lincoln's Inn Fields and Drury Lane. Importantly, Dennis's design of the drama and his claims for the music are innovative, stressing the unusual degree of integration between the music and drama. This edition presents the spoken and sung texts as a continuous dramatic unit preceded by a transcription of the prefatory materials from the printed primary sources.

The dances and one additional air associated with the play are also included in the volume.