Thomas Gray in London - 13 January, 1736

from Letter from Thomas Gray to Horace Walpole, 14 Jan 1736:

I went to King Arthur last night, which is exceeding fine... the inchanted part of the play, is not Machinery, but actual magick: the second scene is a British temple enough to make one go back a thousand years, & really be in ancient Britain: the Songs are all Church-musick, & in every one of ye Choruſ's Mrs Chambers sung ye chief part, accompanied with Roarings, Squawlings & Squeakations dire; the Frost Scene is exceſsive fine; the first Scene of it is only a Cascade, that seems frozen; with the Genius of Winter asleep & wrapt in furs, who upon the approach of Cupid, after much quivering, …   more >>
cite as

Thomas Gray, Letter from Thomas Gray to Horace Walpole, 14 Jan 1736. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1388181515062 accessed: 28 March, 2024 (Bodleian Library Oxford)

location of experience: London

Listeners

Thomas Gray
scholar, Poet
1716-1771

Listening to

hide composers
King Arthur
written by Henry Purcell

Experience Information

Date/Time 13 January, 1736
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by Ivan Hewett on Fri, 27 Dec 2013 21:58:35 +0000