Venus and Adonis

Venus and Adonis by John Blow is considered the earliest surviving English opera. Written between 1680 and 1685, it was originally titled A Masque for the Entertainment of the King and performed at court. This work is significant because it is the first surviving English dramatic piece where the entire text is set to music, without spoken dialogue or separate musical interludes. Blow, an organist and composer, was also known for his church music. While Venus and Adonis is important for the development of English opera, the genre faced challenges in England due to the popularity of masques and spoken theatre, and the country did not develop a strong tradition of fully sung opera until the late 19th century.12