"No one has done more than Ross Duffin to recover the lost music of Shakespeare's England. This book does much more, and constitutes an essential contribution to Jacobean political and cultural history." -- Stephen Orgel, J. E. Reynolds Professor in Humanities, Emeritus, Stanford University, author of The Jonsonian Masque and The Theatre of the Stuart Court"Building on the handful of examples of songs that provided dual service within a masque and in another context, Ross Duffin makes a strong case for there being more masque song settings hiding in plain sight. Unmasked explores this hypothesis (drawing on Duffin's longstanding scholarly interest in contrafacta) while also providing a practical edition for future reconstructions." -- Peter Walls, Emeritus Professor of Music, Victoria University of Wellington, author of Music in the English Courtly Masque, 1604-1640"This ground-breaking volume should be read by anyone interested in Jacobean drama. I hope it will also inspire performances of these extraordinary works.

" -- Peter Holman, MBE, Emeritus Professor of Musicology, Leeds University, author of Four and Twenty Fiddlers: The Violin at the English Court, 1540-1690, Director, The Parley of Instruments"Through a combination of sheer hard work and aesthetic sensibility, along with no little practical poetic intelligence, Duffin has not merely given new voice to the masque performers of yesteryear, but has allowed them to sing once more." -- Nadine Akkerman, Professor of Early Modern Literature & Culture, Leiden University, author of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts and The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia"Readers interested in the cultural history surrounding these masques might find themselves looking elsewhere, as Duffin's Unmasked will mostly serve those interested in historical performance. They will find this book an invaluable resource in the reconstruction of the Palatine wedding masques." -- Alexandra Siso, MUSICJ.