Music in Elizabethan Private Theatres

This article, written by John Scott Colley and taken from The Yearbook of English Studies Vol. 4, offered useful background information on the reputation of private theatre music, and the difference between public and private music (a relevant topic in regards to the Knight of the Burning Pestle, by the way.) 

An interesting section of the article talks about how "the new playwrights of the revitalized boys companies are said to have emphasized the singing and musical talents of their troupes because the children were unable to compete effectively with adult acting ability and adult stage presence" (62). This indicates that the focus in artistocratic or upper-class private theatres was, in fact, on singing and music, as opposed to acting. 

I was reading somewhere else - I can't remember right now, but perhaps it was in Stephen Orgel's The Illusion of Power - that even the language used to describe theatre was more focused on the musicality rather than the physical performance itself. The words "audience" and "auditorium" indicate the favor placed on music over staging or acting. I just thought that was a fascinating point, and perhaps relevant to some future research of mine, because I was really interested in my topic this semester. 

Colley, John Scott. "Music in the Elizabethan Private Theatres." The Yearbook of English Studies Vol. 4 (1974): 62-69. JSTOR. 10 May 2015.