Who was Lampe?

John Frederick Lampe was born in Saxony in 1703 but spent most of his life in Britain. He played bassoon in one of the theater orchestras in London, wrote a textbook on thoroughbass and composed a fair amount, though did not actually have many successes.

Handel was the great composer of the city then and brought Italian style opera and many Italian singers to perform his operas. Thomas Arne, compose of "Alfred" (which contains Rule Brittania), was the active English composer. Lampe married the sister of Arnes wife in 1737. And that is the year he composed his best known piece, "The Dragon of Wantley". There is a preface to the early edition in which his librettist describes "many joyous hours...chopping and changing, lopping, ekeing out and coining Words, Syllables, and Jingles, to display in English the Beauty of Nonsense, so prevailing in the Italian Operas."

It seems clear that the satire was aimed at Handel and the rather unheroic hero, Moore of Moore Hall was was spoofing a popular Italian singer then in London, Farinelli.

So in the spirit of the Beauty of Nonsense, we present the Dragon of Wantley.

There was a sequel..."Margery, or a Worse Plague than the Dragon"

I'm afraid there is very little chance of any of us seeing that.....it did not do as well.