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.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.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 composed his first ode for St. Cecilia's Day in 1683. The following month, upon Hingeston's death, he was named royal instrument keeper while retaining his other posts. The composer remained quite prolific in the middle part of the decade, primarily producing music for royal occasions. In 1685 the new King, James II, introduced many changes at Court, one of which was to make Purcell the Court harpsichordist and Blow the Court composer. Near the end of 1687, Queen Mary's pregnancy was announced and Purcell was commissioned to compose an anthem with the text of Psalm 128, Blessed are they that fear the Lord. Many other of his anthems appeared in 1688, as did one of his more famous ones for church use, O sing unto the Lord.With the ascension of William and Mary to the throne on April 11, 1689, Purcell retained his post as royal instrument keeper, and he, along with Blow and Alexander Damazene, shared the duties of Court composers. With his royal duties reduced, he was able to pursue other opportunities, including teaching and writing for other organizations. One of Purcell's greatest successes came in 1689 with the production of Dido and Aeneas. He then collaborated with John Dryden on King Arthur in 1691, and also composed the music for The Fairy-Queen (1692), based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream both productions also scoring triumphs. In the final year of his life Purcell remained exceedingly busy, writing much for the stage, including The Indian Queen, left incomplete at his death on November 21, 1695.INTRO - 1-3: nee noc ntcsoanae Caudio track sounds -2 The piece is structured as a ground bass in ‘semitone in Ab Minor) I ternary (ABA) form. Ground bass is a short, aiepeeisaa aA recurring melodic pattern in the bass part that acts as the principal structural element, bass viol. The harpsichord and bass viol act as the basso ee ia i : whilst melodic parts above change. Purcell continuo, providing accompaniment for the singer. ‘sas master of Ground Bass (orin. The ground bass is a 3 bar loop (which is unusual as most are 2, 4 or 8 bars The left hand of the long). It consists entirely of quaver rhythms. Ithas arising pattern harpsichord and the bass viol play = the ground bass—a | sad) ST repeating bass pattern that acts as an accompaniment.There are many examples of word-painting in this aria. Word-painting is the technique of writing music that reflects the literal meaning of a song. The vocal line is mainly syllabic (each syllable of the text given it's own note), with moments of melismatic writing. Inthe ground bass - the first 4 sets of 4 quavers usean ascending sequence, starting one note higher each time. based. theresa fall of an octave, $ It uses intervals of semitones Its melodic shape is arpeggio | ‘At the end of the ground bassAlthough resembling the modern cello, the bass viol is different in that it generally has six strings and isa fretted instrument The harpsichord and bass viol act as the basso continuo, providing accompaniment for the singer. The left hand of the harpsichord and the bass viol play the ground bass—a repeating bass pattern that acts as an accompaniment. SSS S45 «guile shal al, a, all al a, rz ——= =e == = << FSS ett Cee SS a The right hand of the harpsichord plays a “realisation” The right hand of the (which would have been improvised ), which fills out the harpsichord is embellished with chords of the piece. Purcell would originally have provided | | dotted rhythms, mordents, just a figured bass - a shorthand notation system. grace notes and appoggiaturas.Word-painting : The word ‘wond'ring’ in bar 10 captures the mood of the word and shows a wistfully descending legato melismatic melody. Word-painting : Appropriately the word ‘pains’ in bar 12 features a dissonance of E in the melodic line against D in the bass part. - The phrase'wond'ring’ is repeated in an ascending sequence alternating between voice and harpsichord. Many vocal pieces using ground bass were laments - songs displaying sorrowful feelings. It was traditional for laments to have: falling phrases, minor keys, slow tempo. ‘Music for a While’ has all these features. Look at the falling phrases to set the word wond'ring, or the setting of drop (bars 23-26).Word-painting : In the phrase ‘pains were eas'd’ dissonance and resolution is presented on the word ‘eas’d' as it falls in adescending sequence, bars 13-14 The Ground bass is heard 4 % times in the Tonic key before it starts to ‘modulate in bar 14, using motifs from the original ground bass.Word-painting : The word ‘eternal’ in bar 20 is set to a lengthy melisma with repetitive alternating notes showing the everlasting atmosphere of this word.Important words and phrases in are given emphasis through repetition, such as the word "Music"(bar 1) or “shall all” (bars 7-9) There are lots of uses of ornaments (cony/fon to Baroque musid) in the right hand of the harpsichord 4 and the soprano line, such as trills, appoggiaturas, grace ndtes and mordents.Any leaps are small and generally no greater than a perfect fourth (e.g. bar 7) The music isin A a minor, however the tonality is sometimes shall all_your_cares be - ambiguous due a = tothe aaa 7 chromatic and non-diatonic a2 SS nature of the — ground bass. oo ete 3 ’ fr co a ——— The texture is homophonic - one main melody and an accompaniment. The accompaniment £ is provided by the ground bass and the basso continuo. Although, the elaborate realisation played by the right hand of the harpsichord makes the texture feel polyphonic at timesWhat's the difference between Descending seal ig scale, but ascending sequence and upper and lower mordent? fi ring —= —_ Chords are diatonic and = functional. Dissonances are infrequent but examples can be seen on the word ‘pains’ in bar 12 with a D in the bass against and E in the voice and on the word ‘eas’d’ in bars 13-14 where there is dissonance followed by resolution at the start of each repetition of the word.