Henry Purcell was a composer from London who championed a uniquely English form of opera. He would be the most famous English composer until the 20th century. The large majority of his output was vocal music of several styles. But he also wrote excellent instrumental works.
Purcell grew up a couple hundred yards from Westminster Abbey and studied under the church's composer and organist John Blow. In 1679, Purcell became the church's organist when Blow resigned. Purcell's main composing career was only about 8 years. He died of an illness in 1695 at about 36 years old. He received many honors at the time of his death, including being buried near the organ in Westminster Abbey.
Purcell's most important composition was his one opera, Dido and Aeneas, a landmark in English stage music.
Instrumental Music
Abdelezar (1695) is incidental music for Aphra Behn's 1676 tragic play Abdelazer; or The
Abdelezar (1695) is incidental music for Aphra Behn's 1676 tragic play Abdelazer; or The
Moor's Revenge. The rondeau was used by Benjmin Britten as the theme for his set
of variations The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946). The rondeau
has also been used for music for films and TV shows.
Ground in C minor (piano version) Vadim Claimovich, piano
Vocal Music
Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary (1695)
This was reworked by Wendy Carlos for the title music of the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film,
A Clockwork Orange.
Librettist Nahum Tate (1652 – 1715) was an Irish poet, hymnist and lyricist, who became England's poet laureate in 1692. Tate is best known for The History of King Lear, his 1681 adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear.
The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid. It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work.
Originally based on Nahum Tate's play Brutus of Alba, or The Enchanted Lovers (1678), the opera is likely, at least to some extent, to be allegorical. The prologue refers to the joy of a marriage between two monarchs, which could refer to the marriage between William and Mary. In a poem of about 1686, Tate alluded to James II as Aeneas, who is misled by the evil machinations of the Sorceress and her witches (representing Roman Catholicism, a common metaphor at the time) into abandoning Dido, who symbolises the British people. The same symbolism may apply to the opera. This explains the addition of the characters of the Sorceress and the witches, which do not appear in the original Aeneid. It would be noble, or at least acceptable, for Aeneas to follow the decree of the Gods, but not so acceptable for him to be tricked by ill-meaning spirits.
Although the opera is a tragedy, there are numerous seemingly lighter scenes, such as the First Sailor's song, "Take a boozy short leave of your nymphs on the shore, and silence their mourning with vows of returning, though never intending to visit them more." Musicologist Ellen T. Harris considers the callousness and cynicism of the song to underline the "moral" of the story, that young women should not succumb to the advances and promises of ardent young men.
Dido and Aeneas (c. 1683 - 1688) (45:00)
Librettist Nahum Tate (1652 – 1715) was an Irish poet, hymnist and lyricist, who became England's poet laureate in 1692. Tate is best known for The History of King Lear, his 1681 adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear.
The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid. It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work.
Originally based on Nahum Tate's play Brutus of Alba, or The Enchanted Lovers (1678), the opera is likely, at least to some extent, to be allegorical. The prologue refers to the joy of a marriage between two monarchs, which could refer to the marriage between William and Mary. In a poem of about 1686, Tate alluded to James II as Aeneas, who is misled by the evil machinations of the Sorceress and her witches (representing Roman Catholicism, a common metaphor at the time) into abandoning Dido, who symbolises the British people. The same symbolism may apply to the opera. This explains the addition of the characters of the Sorceress and the witches, which do not appear in the original Aeneid. It would be noble, or at least acceptable, for Aeneas to follow the decree of the Gods, but not so acceptable for him to be tricked by ill-meaning spirits.
Although the opera is a tragedy, there are numerous seemingly lighter scenes, such as the First Sailor's song, "Take a boozy short leave of your nymphs on the shore, and silence their mourning with vows of returning, though never intending to visit them more." Musicologist Ellen T. Harris considers the callousness and cynicism of the song to underline the "moral" of the story, that young women should not succumb to the advances and promises of ardent young men.
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