Purcell: Music for While Section A: Musicl contexts Like the Bch Brndenurg Concerto No. 5 in Workook 1, this song y Henry Purcell ws composed during the Broque er. To understnd the music it is helpful to look t the wider context of Purcell s vocl music of this period. 1 Find out out Purcell s fmous oper Dido nd Aenes (c.1689). The oper contins choruses, dnces nd solo songs, severl of which re in ground ss form. Listen to the solo song Ah, Belind, which comes from ner the strt of the oper. (Context: t this point Dido is feeling sorrowful nd nxious s she wits for Aenes.) Answer the following question: How is this mood chieved through the following? Tempo. Melody. Key.. Bss prt. 2 The most fmous ground ss piece from Dido nd Aenes comes towrds the end of the oper nd is sung y Dido. The ri is clled When I m lid in erth. Write short prgrph, s if for note in n oper progrmme, out this piece. Descrie the mood of the music nd how this is chieved. Write your nswer here: This is the finl ri in the oper. It is sung y Dido 1
3 Which four fetures re found in Music for While s well s the two ris from Dido nd Aenes? All three pieces re in ground ss form They re ll in the sme key The three pieces re ll sung y soprno soloist The tempos chnge in ech ri The hrpsichord is used in ll three ris The texture of ech ri is contrpuntl throughout Ech piece hs t lest two contrsting moods The voclist uses melisms s descriptive word-pinting 4 Now reserch other fmous composers of the Broque er. Using the timeline elow, dd in the nmes, dtes nd ntionlities of t lest four other Broque composers. Purcell hs een included s n exmple. Timeline: 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1 Henry Purcell (c.1659 95) (English) 2 3 4 5 2
Purcell: Music for While Vocl Music Section B: Broque fetures in Music for While 1 The song is performed y solo voice ccompnied y nd. 2 The piece used ground ss throughout the song. Give three fetures of the ground ss used in this piece. Hint: think out the length, note vlues, shpe of phrse, etc. c 3 Complete the following sentences out the structure of this set work. This song is n exmple of ternry d ri. The first section A is followed y contrsting section nd then concludes with vried section A1. In section A1, the singer is free to dd to some of the words. 4 Wht is the effect of the following two techniques used etween the vocl melody nd ground ss prts? The vocl melody nd ground ss prt overlpping ech other throughout helps the music to. The use of dissonnt intervls etween vocl melody nd ground ss prts cretes feelings of. 3
5 (i) Listen to the first two sections of the song (rs 1 28). How re the following words set to music? music (rs 4 5) wond ring (rs 10 12) c eternl (rs 19 21) d drop (rs 23 25) The first one hs een done to help you. c d The word music is set to two notes nd is syllic (mu-sic). The first syllle is long note followed y short quver note on the second syllle. The second music is fifth higher in pitch. (ii) Why re these words in prticulr chose y Purcell to e set to music in the wy they re? 6 Severl key fetures of this song re listed elow. Give rief definition of ech of the following: Ground ss Figured ss c D cpo ri d Word-pinting e Syllic f Melismtic g Sequence h Suspension i Tierce de Picrdie 4
7 Explin how the chrcteristics of lment re represented in the music. Write your nswer here: Purcell: Music for While Section C: Wider listening In this section you will compre fetures of Purcell s Music for While with G.F. Hndel s The trumpet shll Sound from Messih. 1 Listen to oth d cpo ris one fter the other crefully nd then complete the following oxes, listing oth similrities nd differences you cn her etween the two works. One exmple of ech hs een given to get you strted, i.e. They oth use word-pinting. Only one uses ground ss. 2 Discuss your findings in clss with your techer. Hint: think out the musicl elements in your nswers: pitch, melody, texture, tempo, sonority (timre), instrumenttion, hrmony, rhythm nd metre. Similrities: Word pinting (e.g. the long, drwn out melism on the word eternity in Purcell nd the scending melody to the words the ded shll e rised in the Hndel piece) Differences: Only one piece uses ground ss (Purcell) 5
3 Thinking out wht you discovered nd lernt in Questions 1 nd 2, decide for yourself which of the two pieces you prefer nd why. This weighing up of the qulity nd effectiveness of oth pieces is clled evlution nd you need to support your choice with good musicl resons. This will e expected in Question 9 of the listening pper. For exmple, you might prefer the Hndel wider listening piece to the Purcell ecuse it is uses ss voice s opposed to soprno nd lso fetures prominent solo trumpet prt. I prefer the piece.. composed y My resons for choosing this piece over the other re: 6