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...(+)
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.
The full anthem O God, thou art my God is a relatively
early work dating from 1680-82, whose subsequent
popularity is indicated by the considerable number of
manuscripts, spread throughout Britain, in which it
appears. Even a hymn tune was based on its final pages.
The style is uncomplicated, suggesting perhaps that
Purcell’s choir was not at its strongest when he was
writing the anthem, and also showing the young
composer’s familiarity with the works of Tallis, Byrd
and Gibbons, whose music he would have copied from an
early age.
The opening demonstrates those influences, with the
first homophonic phrase leading to a brief imitative
section ‘early will I seek thee’. The verse section
for lower voices ‘My soul thirsteth for thee’ shows
a greater degree of melodic and harmonic inventiveness
and leads back to another short chorus section, based
on another two imitative points. The upper voices are
provided with a touching solo trio, the word
‘loving’ treated affectionately and, with the full
choir, counterpoint returns, climbing through the
musical scale for ‘and lift up thy hands in thy
name’. At ‘therefore under the shadow of thy
wings’ Purcell turns to antiphony between decani and
cantoris, the two sides of the choir. With the
‘Halleluia’ churchgoers will find themselves on
familiar ground, for later hymn arrangers, always keen
to spot a fine tune, did so with this, naming
Purcell’s melody ‘Westminster Abbey’.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Purcell).
Although originally composed for Voices (SSATB) & Basso
Continuo, I created this interpretation of "O God, Thou
art my God" (Z.35) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn
& Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
