Book contents
- Compositional Artifice in the Music of Henry Purcell
- Musical Performance and Reception
- Compositional Artifice in the Music of Henry Purcell
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Music Examples
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Music Examples
- Abbreviations
- Glossary of Analytical Terms
- Introduction
- Part I Purcell’s ‘Art of Descant’
- Part II ‘Thou dost thy former skill improve’
- Bibliography
- Index of Compositions
- General Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 September 2019
- Compositional Artifice in the Music of Henry Purcell
- Musical Performance and Reception
- Compositional Artifice in the Music of Henry Purcell
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Music Examples
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Music Examples
- Abbreviations
- Glossary of Analytical Terms
- Introduction
- Part I Purcell’s ‘Art of Descant’
- Part II ‘Thou dost thy former skill improve’
- Bibliography
- Index of Compositions
- General Index
Summary
What was Purcell aiming to do when he wrote his Chaconne for two flutes in Act III of The Prophetess, or the History of Dioclesian (1690; see facing page)? Such questions are not always easy to answer, but in this particular case there are strong grounds for optimism. Even without the informative heading, it is quickly obvious how the piece is constructed. Neither the repetitive ground bass nor the canon at the unison between the recorder parts could plausibly have arisen fortuitously, so at least in the context of compositional technique we can disregard many of the usual caveats about intention: in this work, Purcell was seeking to compose a canon ‘Two in one upon a Ground’, with the second recorder following the first, two bars later, at the unison.
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- Compositional Artifice in the Music of Henry Purcell , pp. 1 - 20Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019