It was the "soundtrack music" of its day, written to underscore the live performance of a play, and many classical composers turned out what's called "incidental music." In most cases, the results are far better known than the plays they were written for - sometimes justifiably so.
On this edition of "Connections," theatrical works by Purcell, Bizet, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Grieg, and Vaughan Williams, and the stories behind them.