Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626 (c. 1688)
Libretto by Nahum Tate; contains Dido's Lament 'When I am laid in earth'
Music
Henry Purcell
1659–1695 · English
Baroque
Purcell was the greatest English composer of the Baroque, organist of Westminster Abbey and composer to the Restoration court from Charles II to William and Mary. In a life of only 36 years he wrote the opera Dido and Aeneas, semi-operas, anthems, odes and theatre music, and was honoured posthumously as "Orpheus Britannicus".
How to spot them
- ▸English-texted Baroque vocal music with vivid word-painting, often built on a repeating ground bass
- ▸A slow, descending chromatic ground under a grieving soprano is Dido's Lament ('When I am laid in earth')
- ▸A solemn slow march for brass and muffled drum is the Funeral Music for Queen Mary, familiar from A Clockwork Orange
- ▸Quiz clues: Westminster Abbey, Restoration court, Nahum Tate, Dryden, Britten's Young Person's Guide
Key works — listen
Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, Z. 860 (1695)
March and anthems for Mary II's funeral; performed again at Purcell's own funeral later that year
Recording: Creator Henry Purcell Uploader Erinaceus · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Abdelazer, or The Moor's Revenge, Z. 570 (1695)
Incidental music; its Rondeau is the theme of Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
Recording: Loris Gerber (User:Loris 85) · CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
King Arthur, Z. 628 (1691)
Semi-opera to a text by John Dryden; includes the shivering 'Cold Song' and 'Fairest Isle'
The Fairy-Queen, Z. 629 (1692)
Semi-opera adapted from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Quick-fire facts
- •Purcell became organist of Westminster Abbey in 1679 and is buried in the Abbey, next to the organ.
- •Dido and Aeneas was performed at Josias Priest's school for girls in Chelsea by 1689.
- •The popular 'Trumpet Voluntary' long attributed to Purcell is actually 'The Prince of Denmark's March' by Jeremiah Clarke.
- •Purcell's works are catalogued with Z numbers, after Franklin B. Zimmerman.
- •Britten based The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1945) on the Rondeau from Purcell's Abdelazer.
- •Wendy Carlos's synthesiser arrangement of the Queen Mary funeral march opens Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971).
- •The posthumous collection of his songs published by Henry Playford (from 1698) was titled Orpheus Britannicus.
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Henry Purcell
- Richard Taruskin — The Oxford History of Western Music