While we hear lots about masks these days, masques were very popular in the16th and 17th century Europe (especially England). Masques were courtly entertainments that included music, dancing, singing and acting; they were associated with masked balls. Performers wore costumes and the setting could be quite elaborate. The story line typically presented classical fables or allegories. At that time, instruments for masques consisted of stringed and wind instruments. Unfortunately, no early scores from those times survived.
Interestingly, masque music for piano appeared centuries later.
For example, Claude Debussy's piano solo Masques L. 105 was composed in 1904. While brisk in pace (almost frantic at times), Debussy's piece expressed his sense of tragedy, reflecting his sad separation from his first wife.
Karol Szymanowski's Masques for piano, opus 34, consists of three pieces: Scheherazade, Tantris the Fool, and a Don Juan serenade. The miniature pieces parodied Western mythic characters; for instance, Tantris was a variation of Tristan and Iseult in which Tantris/Tristan masquerades as a fool in order to meet his love. Written during World War I in his Ukraine home town, the composition was inspired by his travels in the Mediterranean and by Debussy's impressionistic style.
Vincent Persichetti was an American composer and teacher. His students included, among others, Philip Glass and Peter Schickele, Masques for violin and piano, opus 99, was written in 1965. It consists of ten short movements, and was commissioned for the Preparatory Division of the Juilliard School of Music where he taught.
Most recently, Philippe Saisse is a current French composer. His 1995 album Masques includes eleven smooth jazz piano pieces, a long way from the Renaissance and Baroque masques.
