Nahum Tate
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Nahum Tate was an Anglo-Irish poet, hymnist, and lyricist, who became Poet Laureate in 1692. Tate is best known for The History of King Lear, his 1681 adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, and for hi
Title page of Tate's version of King Lear
Dido and Aeneas
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Dido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the
Nahum Tate
…1692. Tate is best known for The History of King Lear, his 1681 adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, and for his libretto for Henry Purcell's opera, Dido and Aeneas. He also wrote the lyrics to a Christmas carol, "While shepherds watched their flocks". Nahum Tate was born in Dublin and came from a family of Puritan…
The composer, portrait by John Closterman, c. 1695
Dido and Aeneas, from a Roman fresco, Pompeian Third Style (10 BC – 45 AD), Pompeii, Italy
The Meeting of Dido and Aeneas by Nathaniel Dance-Holland, 1766
Low ham mosaic