The Fairy-Queen, Z. 629 is a 1692 masque (semi-opera) by Henry Purcell, to an anonymous libreto based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Purcell wrote it three years before his death at age 35, and the lost score was only rediscovered early in the 20th century. Purcell did not set any of Shakespeare's text to music; instead he composed music for short masques in every act but the first. The play itself was also slightly modernised in keeping with seventeenth-century dramatic conventions. The masques are related to the play metaphorically, rather than literally. Growing interest in Baroque music and the rise of the countertenor contributed to the work's re-entry into the repertoire. The opera received several full-length recordings in the latter part of the 20th century and several of its arias, including "The Plaint" ("O let me weep"), have become popular recital pieces.
