Gay, John 1685-1732

Overview

Works:	2,500 works in 9,888 publications in 7 languages and 113,541 library holdings
Genres:	Ballad operas Drama Librettos Criticism, interpretation, etc Picaresque drama Operas Vocal scores Musical films History Film adaptations
Roles:	Author, Librettist, Translator, Other, Composer, Creator, Lyricist, Bibliographic antecedent, Editor, Honoree, Contributor, Adapter, Musician, Photographer, Illustrator, Performer
Classifications:	PR3474, 822.5

Publication Timeline

Most widely held works about John Gay

John Gay and the London theatre by Calhoun Winton( )
John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, 1728-2004 : adaptations and re-writings( )
John Gay by Patricia Meyer Spacks( Book )
John Gay : social critic by Sven Armens( Book )
Slavery and Augustan literature : Swift, Pope and Gay by J. A Richardson( )

The letters of John Gay by John Gay( Book )
Documenting eighteenth century satire : Pope, Swift, Gay, and Arbuthnot in historical context by Pat Rogers( )
Die 3groschenoper = The threepenny opera by Kurt Weill( Visual )
John Gay, favorite of the wits by William Henry Irving( Book )
John Gay by Oliver Warner( Book )
John Gay, a profession of friendship by David Nokes( Book )
John Gay and the Scriblerians by Peter Elfed Lewis( Book )
John Gay : his place in the eighteenth century by Phoebe Fenwick Gaye( Book )
Deep play : John Gay and the invention of modernity by Dianne Dugaw( Book )
John Gay: an annotated checklist of criticism by Julie Thompson Klein( Book )
Slavery and Augustan literature : Swift, Pope, Gay by J. A Richardson( Book )
Mr. Gay; being a picture of the life and times of the author of the Beggar's opera by Oscar Sherwin( Book )
The life of Mr. John Gay : author of the Beggar's-opera, &c by Edmund Curll( )
Life and letters of John Gay (1685-1732) : author of "The beggar's opera" by Lewis Saul Benjamin( Book )
Miscellanies by Austin Dobson( Book )

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Most widely held works by John Gay

The beggar's opera by John Gay( )

691 editions published between 1072 and 2016 in 6 languages and held by 11,828 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

In this work, John Gay turned the conventions of Italian opera riotously upside-down, instead using traditional popular ballads and street tunes, while also indulging in political satire at the expense of the then Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole

Fables by the late Mr. Gay. In one volume complete by John Gay( )

221 editions published between 1764 and 2010 in English and French and held by 3,471 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The beggar's opera : as it is acted at the Theatre-Royal in Lincolns-Inn-Fields by John Gay( )

207 editions published between 1728 and 2018 in English and held by 2,538 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Acis and Galatea by George Frideric Handel( )

47 editions published between 1951 and 2019 in English and German and held by 2,351 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Recorded Feb. 1978 in Henry Wood Hall, London

Fables. By the late Mr. Gay by John Gay( )

120 editions published between 1733 and 2018 in English and held by 1,799 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Polly : an opera. Being the second part of The beggar's opera. Written by Mr. Gay by John Gay( )

87 editions published between 1729 and 1777 in English and held by 1,507 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The beggar's opera by Benjamin Britten( Recording )

140 editions published between 1929 and 2016 in 7 languages and held by 1,376 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

N 1981 Richard Bonynge, together with an illustrious cast of singers (Joan Sutherland, Kiri Te Kanawa, et. al.) and actors (Angela Lansbury, Warren Mitchell, Michael Hordern, et. al.) went into Kingsway Hall for a recording of a new edition (by Richard Bonynge and Douglas Gamley) of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Written in 1728, it is a ballad opera in three acts (Ballad operas were satiric musical plays that used some of the conventions of opera, but without recitative. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the time.) Running for 62 consecutive performances, the piece notched up a record the longest run in theatre history up to that time. Unlike other existing recordings of The Beggar's Opera, this new performing edition features opera stars alongside great actors as well as a full-size (double woodwind) orchestra. One of the most sought after of Sutherland/Bonynge collaborations, the original CD has long been out of print and here reappears with the original liner notes as well as the full libretto

Fables. By the late Mr Gay. Volume the second by John Gay( )

77 editions published between 1738 and 1772 in 3 languages and held by 1,301 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The shepherd's week : In six pastorals. By Mr. J. Gay by John Gay( )

75 editions published between 1714 and 2018 in English and held by 1,297 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Poems on several occasions. By Mr. John Gay. by John Gay( )

79 editions published between 1720 and 1776 in English and held by 1,095 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Wine : a poem by John Gay( )

60 editions published between 1708 and 2018 in English and Undetermined and held by 849 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Gay's first known printed piece, in which he denies that water-drinkers can make successful authors. cf. Oxford companion to English literature

Trivia : or, the art of walking the streets of London. By Mr. Gay by John Gay( )

48 editions published between 1716 and 2018 in English and held by 831 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The poetical works of John Gay, including 'Polly', 'The beggar's opera' and selections from the other dramatic work by John Gay( Book )

25 editions published between 1926 and 1985 in English and held by 814 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Eighteenth century plays by John Hampden( Book )

9 editions published between 1928 and 1980 in English and held by 776 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The distress'd wife : a comedy by John Gay( )

53 editions published between 1734 and 2018 in English and held by 695 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The beggar's opera by John Gay( Visual )

56 editions published between 1983 and 2016 in English and Undetermined and held by 690 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

A ballad opera set among London's 18th century criminal classes, full of satirical jibes about corruption in high places. Created specially for television, this Beggar's Opera captures the characters of London low-life thrived on thieving, lechery and deceit. The music for this production has been arranged from the eighteenth-century folksongs of the original (selected by Johann Christoph Pepusch) by baroque specialists Jeremy Barlow and John Eliot Gardiner, who conducts The English Baroque Soloists, performing on authentic period instruments

Fables. By the late Mr. John Gay. In two parts. Complete in one volume by John Gay( )

36 editions published between 1774 and 2018 in English and held by 674 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Ovid's Metamorphoses in fifteen books by Ovid( Book )

16 editions published between 1717 and 1961 in English and held by 606 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The beggar's opera : a ballad-opera by John Gay (1728) in a new musical version realised from the original airs : op. 43 by Benjamin Britten( )

50 editions published between 1949 and 2016 in 3 languages and held by 591 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Fables in two parts. By the late Mr John Gay. by John Gay( )

60 editions published between 1738 and 2018 in English and held by 549 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

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Audience Level