 | Purcell, Henry - "Rejoice in the Lord alway" for Winds & Strings Z.49 Winds & String Orchestra |
Vidéo :
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| Composer : | Purcell, Henry (1659 - 1695) | ||||
| Instrumentation : | Winds & String Orchestra | ||||
| Style : | Baroque | ||||
| Arranger : Publisher : | MAGATAGAN, MICHAEL (1960 - ) | ||||
| Copyright : | Public Domain | ||||
| Added by magataganm, 19 Feb 2023 As England's greatest composer of the Baroque, Henry Purcell was dubbed the "Orpheus Britannicus" for his ability to combine pungent English counterpoint with expressive, flexible, and dramatic word settings. While he did write instrumental music, including the important viol fantasias, the vast majority of his output was in the vocal/choral realm. His only opera, Dido and Aeneas, divulged his sheer mastery in the handling of the work's vast expressive canvas, which included lively dance numbers, passionate arias and rollicking choruses. Purcell also wrote much incidental music for stage productions, including that for Dryden's King Arthur. His church music includes many anthems, devotional songs, and other sacred works, but few items for Anglican services. Purcell was born in 1659 to Henry Purcell, master of choristers at Westminster Abbey, and his wife Elizabeth. When he was five, his father died, forcing his mother to resettle the family of six children into a more modest house and lifestyle. In about 1668, Purcell became a chorister in the Chapel Royal, studying under chorus master Henry Cooke. He also took keyboard lessons from Christopher Gibbons, son of the composer Orlando Gibbons, and it is likely that he studied with John Blow and Matthew Locke. In 1673, Purcell was appointed assistant to John Hingeston, the royal instrument keeper. On September 10, 1677, Purcell was given the Court position of composer-in-ordinary for the violins. It is believed that many of his church works date from this time. Purcell, a great keyboard virtuoso by his late teens, received a second important post in 1679, this one succeeding Blow as organist at Westminster Abbey, a position he would retain all his life. That same year saw the publication of five of the young composer's songs in John Playford's Choice Ayres and Songs to Sing to the Theorbo-lute or Bass-viol. Around the same time, he began writing anthems with string accompaniment, completing over a dozen before 1685, and welcome songs. Purcell was appointed one of three organists at the Chapel Royal in the summer of 1682, his most prestigious post yet. Purcell’s famous ‘Bell Anthem’, dating from his prolific period for anthems with strings of 1682-5, seems to have acquired its title early on in its career, for an early eighteenth-century copy in the British Museum (which is also the source for the second violin and viola parts, missing from the autograph) labels it ‘Rejoice in the Lord … with a Symphony imitating Bells (it was originally call’d the Bell Anthem)’. Tudway’s score of 1716 simply calls it ‘The Bell Anthem’. In the glorious opening ‘Prelude’ (not given the more usual label of ‘Symphony’) the pealing of bells is everywhere, not only in the bass part where Purcell’s ten-beat ground is repeated five times, but also in the intertwining upper parts where the juxtaposition of joyous scales with Purcell’s wistful harmonies give the music a delicious bittersweet quality. The use of the Chapel Royal’s high pitch gives the string writing a wonderful sheen, and the two theorbos colour the texture with their constantly descending scales. Finally three solo voices break in with the eight bars of triple-time they reiterate throughout the anthem, and their new tune is quickly taken up and extended by the strings, the more lyrical middle section of Purcell’s Symphony contrasting with the dancing opening. The trio repeat their eight bars and the briefest of instrumental comments closes the section. The soloists call that ‘your moderation be known unto all men’ and the choir joyfully breaks in, their rejoicing interspersed with the solo trio’s exhortation ‘and again’. The instruments take the instruction literally and we are treated to a complete repetition of the Symphony. The solo bass brings a more staid tone with his instruction to prayer and supplication ‘Be careful for nothing’, and the triple time is replaced by a more thoughtful passage of homophony for ‘and the peace of God which passeth all understanding’. The strings develop the idea, but they are interrupted by the return of the soloists’ triple section: eight bars of this, repeats of both the instrumental ritornello and the chorus (complete with the soloists’ cries of ‘and again’) bring to a close one of Purcell’s most enduringly popular anthems. Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Purcell). Although originally composed for Voices (SSATB) & Basso Continuo, I created this interpretation of "Rejoice in the Lord alway" (Z.49) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, English Horn, French Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello). Sheet central : | Rejoice in the Lord Alway (3 sheet music) | | |||
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