| First Publication | 1796 (Libretto) |
|---|---|
| Genre Categories | Pantomimes; Theatrical Works; Ballets; |
| Work Title | Harlequin and Oberon |
|---|---|
| Alternative. Title | A Chace to Gretna |
| Composer | Reeve, William |
| I-Catalogue NumberI-Cat. No. | IWR 2 |
| First Performance. | 1796 December 19
|
| First Publication. | 1796 (Libretto) |
| Language | English |
| Composer Time PeriodComp. Period | Classical |
| Piece Style | Classical |
| Instrumentation | Voices, chorus, accompaniment (orchestra) |
A pantomime - so referred to in Sainsbury (1824), "A Dictionary of Musicians: From the Earliest Ages to the Present", p.324, but also in this report in December 1796 on its premiere and even in the libretto-like thing linked to below.
The descriptions @ Worldcat of some of the songs in the pantomime suggests there may have been at least an ad libitum chorus, unless those are due entirely to the arrangements made later by others.
Ah. It helps that part or all of the libretto has been scanned by Google and is available here, and can be uploaded to go along with the sinfonia we already have?... Ah. Yep, p.9, "Catch" sung by the chorus of Gypsies, already from the original 1796 edition. So the only question in the instrumentation is, vv ch orch (orchestral) or vv ch pf (piano accompaniment) (or maybe chamber acc., but the first two seem most likely I guess...hrm... don't know.) - ES (mention of orchestra - oboe e.g. - in sinfonia rather clinches it though.)
