Henry Purcell (1659–1695) ODES The ceremonial splendour of the Stuart court led the poet and playwright Ben Jonson to revive the Pindaric ode – a celebratory lyric poem derived from the Greek examples of Pindar. Purcell’s immediate forebears – Locke and Blow – both set odes to music, but it was Purcell who perfected the form, exploiting the expressive riches of the Baroque orchestra. He wrote them for a wide range of different occasions (including the Yorkshire Ode for an annual feast of Yorkshiremen in London), but the most important were written either for royal events or for the annual celebration of St Cecilia’s Day (the patron saint of music) first organized by London musicians in 1683. Birthday Odes for Queen Mary For each of the six birthdays of Queen Mary’s reign, Purcell composed a celebratory ode on a poem written especially for the occasion. All are contrasted in style, two of them are masterpieces. Sir Charles Sedley’s rather stilted verses for Love’s Goddess Sure Was Blind (1692) inspired an intimate, if rather mournful, setting from Purcell, dominated by the soloists. There’s just one incongruous section when the soprano sings a solo verse over a bass line derived from a Scottish ballad (favoured by the queen), but the ode closes with a really magical moment – a quartet of soloists sing a lament, in canon, for Mary’s inevitable death. Come Ye Sons of Art (1694) is a much grander and more festive affair with a large Baroque orchestra complete with trumpets and drums. The verses, possibly by Nahum Tate, are crude and unmetrical but, as is so often the case, the poorer the text, the more brilliant Purcell’s response. There are no weak moments, just a wonderful series of contrasted solos and duets which include the sparkling “Sound the Trumpet” for two altos, an amazingly deft setting for bass and chorus of the clumsy fourth verse, and – best of all – a glorious melismatic soprano solo (“Bid the Virtues”) with an ornate oboe obbligato. Ode for St Cecilia’s Day –Hail, Bright Cecilia! Although Nicholas Brady’s verses for Hail, Bright Cecilia! are mediocre, with Purcell it was often the case that the more lacklustre the words the more imaginative was his response. In this particular case, his setting was deemed such a success that the first audience demanded to hear the whole work all over again. The ode is scored for the grandest of forces – an orchestra of strings, recorders, oboes, trumpets and kettle drums, six soloists and a six-part choir – and begins with a long orchestral sinfonia, after which a varied succession of solos, ensemble and choruses begins to unfold. The profoundest music is reserved for the text’s more speculative moments, in particular the extraordinary solo “’Tis Nature’s Voice” which describes the emotional impact music has on the listener. It was written for a high male voice as an incredibly free-flowing and heavily ornamented declama
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 03:19:06 +0000
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