Scribd
Upload
3 views

Purcell Revision summary and Qs

Purcell's 'Music for a While,' composed in 1692, is a Baroque aria characterized by string instruments, harpsichord, and ornamentation, and it serves as a lament reflecting sorrowful themes. The piece features a ground bass structure repeated 12 times, with a slow tempo and homophonic texture, and it incorporates word painting and melisma throughout. The piece transitions through various keys, starting and ending in A Minor, and utilizes diatonic chords and perfect cadences typical of the Baroque era.

Uploaded by

zygmund.hill
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
3 views

Purcell Revision summary and Qs

Purcell's 'Music for a While,' composed in 1692, is a Baroque aria characterized by string instruments, harpsichord, and ornamentation, and it serves as a lament reflecting sorrowful themes. The piece features a ground bass structure repeated 12 times, with a slow tempo and homophonic texture, and it incorporates word painting and melisma throughout. The piece transitions through various keys, starting and ending in A Minor, and utilizes diatonic chords and perfect cadences typical of the Baroque era.

Uploaded by

zygmund.hill
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Purcell: “Music for a While” – DR SMITH Revision

Context:
• The piece was written in 1692 (Baroque era). Characteristics of this era:
 Mainly string instruments
 Harpsichord
 Lots of ornaments (eg trills)
 Terraced dynamics (no crescendos or diminuendos)
 Basso continuo

• This is an Aria – A long accompanied song for solo voice, usually from opera or oratorio
• It is also a Lament - A song which displays sorrowful feelings. Features of a lament include slow
tempo, falling phrases and minor keys.

• This piece was written for the play “Oedipus”, a Greek mythology legend which is a tragic story
about the title character killing his father to marry his mother. He then plucks out his eyes before
committing suicide.
• The song features Alecto, who was one of the Furies (goddess of vengeance) in Greek mythology.
In this aria, the soloist sings to Alecto, to calm her down, until she drops her whip and the snakes fall
from her head.

Dynamics
No dynamics written on score, typical of Baroque era
Some terraced dynamics used.

Rhythm:
The ground bass uses quavers throughout
The voice uses dotted notes, mainly semiquavers and quavers, some syncopation, on the word
“drop”
The harpsichord uses a lot of dotted notes (which fitted, in with stile Italiano), along with mainly
quavers and semiquavers

Tempo:
Tempo is slow

Metre:
4/4 time

Structure:
Ternary Form (ABA) – Second A section is shorter than first, and uses more ornamentation
The piece also has a Ground Bass Structure and has the following features:
3 bars long – all quavers, rising pattern.
Based on a 4 note sequence formed from rising 5 ths and falling 6ths
Uses semitone intervals
At the end, there is a fall of an octave
The ground bass in this piece is repeated 12 times, but Purcell makes it more interesting by
modulating to related keys
Melody:
Voice: Pitch range of a 9th, uses mainly steps with some leaps, trills used
In the 2nd A section, there are more decorations in the vocal melody line
Word setting is mainly syllabic, especially from bar 1-10, but uses some melisma.

Melisma:
“Wond’ring” – b10 is represented with a descending legato melismatic melody
“Eternal” – b20 – long melismatic phrase.
“Free” – bar 16

Word painting is also used:


Pains” – bar 12, beat 3. The soprano sings the note E above a D minor chord causing dissonant
intervals
“Pains were eas’d” – bar 12-13. dissonant and resolution
“Drop” – b23-25. The descending phrases represent snakes falling from Alecto’s head. This is also
onomatopoeic (the music setting sounds like the word)
“Wond’ring” – b10 is represented with a descending legato melismatic melody
“Eternal” – b20 – long melismatic phrase.
“Free the dead” – key modulates to G Major from E Minor

Harpsichord: Often imitates the vocal line


Originally written in figured bass
Lots of ornaments

Bass Viol: Plays the Ground Bass along with the LH of the harpsichord

Instrumentation: Bass Viol (played like a cello, but 6 strings instead of 4)


Harpsichord (Typical of the Baroque era
The LH of the harpsichord and the Bass Viol play the
Basso Continuo (continuous bass line)
Counter Tenor – A male with the range of a mezzo soprano

Texture: Texture is Homophonic – melody and accompaniment. The piece starts with
just the harpsichord for 3 bars, then the singer comes in.
At the beginning and end of the B section, the harpsichord plays on its own
to give the singer time to catch his/her breath

Harmony/ Chords are diatonic and functional


Perfect cadences are used lots, often at the end of the ground bass
Suspensions are used very occasionally.
Some dissonances used, eg “pain” at bar 12.
There is also a Tierce de Picardie at bar 23 on “snakes”. This is where the 3rd
note of the tonic chord (A Minor) is sharpened to create a major chord

Tonality: Begins in A Minor


Bar 15-17: E Minor (dominant)
Bar 18-21: G Major
Bar 22-23: C Major (relative major)
Bar 23-28: A Major (tonic major)
Bar 29-end – A Minor
Questions - Purcell

1) How many bars is the Ground Bass?


2) How many times is the Ground Bass repeated?
3) What is the structure of the whole piece
4) What TYPE of piece is this?
5) Give an example of word painting in this piece
6) Give an example of melisma used in the piece
7) What is the instrumentation of the piece?
8) Which key does the piece start and finish in?
9) What type of cadences are used a lot?
10) Which dynamic markings are used in the piece?
11) What is the time signature?
12) What is a lament?
13) What is a Tierce de Picardie?
14) What is the texture of the piece?
15) What do the Bass Viol and the Left hand of the harpsichord play?
16) How is the second A section different to the first?
17) What is the tempo of the piece?
18) What date was the piece written?
19) What are the note values of the Ground Bass?
20) Write down 2 reasons why this piece is typical of the Baroque era.

You might also like