Paradise Lost in Short: Smith, Stillingfleet, and the Transformation of Epic

Paradise Lost in Short presents the history of early adaptations of Milton's Paradise Lost for the musical stage. Students of Milton and of eighteenth-century music, as well as anyone interested in how generic expectations and social conditions contribute to the shaping of artistic works, will find this volume useful. Paradise Lost: An Oratorio was first performed at Covent Garden the year after Handel's death and revived in two later seasons. The libretto by Benjamin Stillingfleet and the music by John Christopher Smith the younger, friend and former pupil of Handel, provide a reinterpretation of Milton's major poem.