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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, 18 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. 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). | |||
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