The Beggar's Opera piece satirised Italian opera, which had become popular in London. According to "The New York Times": "Gay wrote the work more as an anti-opera than an opera, one of its attractions to its 18th-century London public being its lampooning of the Italian opera style and the English public's fascination with it." Instead of the grand music and themes of opera, the work uses familiar tunes and characters that were ordinary people. Some of the songs were by opera composers like Handel, but only the most popular of these were used. The audience could hum along with the music and identify
1991 in British music husband Gerald, was one of the most notable events on the classical music scene. Harrison Birtwistle's opera, "Gawain", with a libretto by David Harsent, was performed for the first time on 30 May at the Royal Opera House. The 1991 BRIT Awards winners were: 1991 in British music This is a summary of 1991 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year. Like 1990, this year saw 17 songs at number 1. The first number 1 of the year surprisingly came from heavy metal band Iron Maiden, scoring their first and only number one "Bring