The Music of Malfi: Dance of the Madmen
The Music of Malfi: Dance of the Madmen
A performance of music to accompany the Dance of the Madmen in The Duchess of Malfi
A dance performed by eight madmen opens Act IV, Scene II of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, following their speeches and a by one of their number.
Here the dance, consisting of Eight Madmen, with music answerable thereuntoJohn Webster's direction, The Duchess of Malfi text
The Duchess of Malfi was originally performed by Shakespeare's King's Men company in 1613. The music was by Robert Johnson.
It is likely that, in the original King's Men performance, the Dance of the Madmen was a reworked version of a short Dance of the Furies from Thomas Campion's Lord's Masque entertainment from the same year.
In Campion's entertainment it accompanied the entry of Mania, the goddess of madness, after which followed a dance of madmen:
At the sound of a strange musicke 12 Franticks enter, 6 men and 6 women ... an absolute medley of madness.
Johnson's adaptation of the dance followed the fashion of giving a taste of current court entertainment during indoor theatre productions.
In this flavour of the piece, the instruments used are the viol or viola da gamba, violin and theorbo.
Music of Malfi
-
![]()
Robert Johnson鈥檚 song, performed by Tom Guthrie and accompanied by Yair Avidor on theorbo
Early Music
大象传媒 Arts at the Globe
-
![]()
The Duchess of Malfi
Andrew Marr presents this production of John Webster's bloody revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi (1614) performed in a perfect recreation of an early Jacobean theatre
-
![]()
The Mysterious Mr Webster
Professor James Shapiro goes in search of the mysterious man behind The Duchess of Malfi, the son of a coachmaker who ended up rivalling Shakespeare
-
![]()
Gemma Arterton as The Duchess of Malfi
Preview Gemma Arterton in the title role of the Globe Theatre's production
More from 大象传媒 Arts
-
![]()
Picasso鈥檚 ex-factor
Who are the six women who shaped his life and work?
-
![]()
Quiz: Picasso or pixel?
Can you separate the AI fakes from genuine paintings by Pablo Picasso?
-
![]()
Frida: Fiery, fierce and passionate
The extraordinary life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, in her own words
-
![]()
Proms 2023: The best bits
From Yuja Wang to Northern Soul, handpicked stand-out moments from this year's Proms
