Play of Daniel

The "Play of Daniel", or "Ludus Danielis", refers to either of two medieval Latin liturgical dramas, one of which is accompanied by monophonic music.

Two medieval Plays of Daniel survive. The first is one of the plays in the Fleury Play Book, a 13th century manuscript containing ten liturgical dramas; the text is by Hilarius, and no music accompanies it. The play itself dates from the 12th century. The second is a 13th century drama with monophonic music, written by students at the school of Beauvais Cathedral. A large portion of the text is poetic rather than strictly liturgical in origin; it closely follows the narrative of the biblical story of Daniel at the court of Belshazzar.

The Play of Daniel was revived in the 1950s by Noah Greenberg, director of the New York Pro Musica; a commentary in English, written and performed by W. H. Auden, was given in some of their performances.Joseph Kerman, "Contemplating Music". Harvard, 1985, p. 195.] Since then it has enjoyed many performances among early music troupes.

References

Further reading

* Richard H. Hoppin, "Medieval Music". New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1978.
* Stevens, John. "Medieval Drama, II", in Grove Music Online (Accessed October 11, 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)]