Music for a While Flashcards
Context
Written during the Baroque period for the play Oedipus. It is about 2 priests summoning and calming the ghost Alecto - A character with snakes for hair and eyes dripping blood.
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell, born in 1659, was a leading English composer in the 17th century and is still considered one of the most important and influential composers of all time. He worked for the British Royal family and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
He died in his mid-thirties, at the peak of his career, in 1695. In his short life, he wrote for many different occasions. Purcell wrote many anthems - similar pieces of music to hymns - for the Church of England’s full morning and evening services. He composed music for over 40 plays, including Oedipus and Arthur. Purcell also wrote operas, such as the hugely popular Dido and Aeneas.
In his early career, Purcell wrote mostly instrumental music - for harpsichord and stringed instruments. It was later that he composed the majority of his vocal music, for the Church and for opera.
Melody
Mostly Scalic with many passing notes, which often form a descending shape, as in bar 5 when the word ‘‘for’’ is sung
In bar 20 the lyric ‘‘Eternal’’ Is a drawn out melisma - Word painting. Harpsichord plays a lower mordent in bar 1, an appoggiatura in bar 2 and an acciaccatura in bar 7. The soprano sings a trill in bar 13
Harmony and tonality
A Minor modulating through E minor to G major and C major in the middle before RETURNING to A Minor.
Dissonance in bar 12 where E clashes with the D in the bass line.
Suspensions in bar 13, falls from note the doesnt belond to the chord that a note does.
Tierce de picardie in bar 23
Structure
De capo aria form - Type of ternary form. Ground bass is used throughout.
Metre and tempo
4/4 Simple time. Piece is performed slowly to fit the context of the song - suitable description would be largo (slow tempo faster than grave but slower than adagio)
Timbre and texture
Written at comfortable range for a soprano - Lowest note is E and highest is F.
Melody Dominated Homophony texture - soprano line sometimes imitates the right hand harpsichord
