Henry Purcell: 'Hornpipe' (flute & organ).

Описание:    • willie-whistleblower  

Purcell's 'Hornpipe', in the version for flute and piano marked 'allegro con brio'.

Purcell is often linked with William Byrd as England's most important early music composers. No later native-born English composer approached his fame until Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan -Williams, Gustav Holst, William Walton and Benjamin Britten in the 20th century.

Henry Purcell began writing anthems during the public hysteria generated by the Popish Plot, war with the Dutch, and fear of the French and the papacy--one wonders what he would have made of Brexit and its aftermath...

Among Purcell's most notable works are his opera 'Dido and Aeneas' (1688), his semi-operas 'Dioclesian' (1690), 'King Arthur' (1691), 'The Fairy-Queen' (1692) and 'Timon of Athens' (1695), as well as the compositions 'Hail! Bright Cecilia' (1692), 'Come Ye Sons of Art' (1694) and 'Funeral Sentences' and 'Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary' (1695).

'The Fairy Queen' (1692) is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' and displays Purcell’s vivacity. Inspired by the French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, the ‘Frost Scene’ from King Arthur uses repeated notes in the strings and vocal line to suggest that the singer is shivering in the cold. Winter is equally vividly portrayed in the various evocations of the seasons in 'The Fairy Queen'. Indeed, Purcell’s word-setting would influence later composers, not only Handel, whose English oratorios would replace Italian opera in the affections of the London public, but also Benjamin Britten in the 20th century.

Purcell's influence was perhaps strongest on the composers of the English musical renaissance of the early 20th century, most notably Britten, who arranged many of Purcell's vocal works for voice and piano, as in the 'Purcell Realizations' and themes from 'Dido and Aeneas'. His 'The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra' is based on a theme from Purcell's 'Abdelazar'. Stylistically, the aria "I know a bank" from Britten's opera 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is clearly inspired by Purcell's aria "Sweeter than Roses".

Purcell died in 1695 at his home in Marsham Street, at the height of his career. He is believed to have been 35 or 36 years old at the time. The cause of his death is unclear: one theory is that he caught a chill after returning home late from the theatre one night to find that his wife had locked him out. Another story suggests that he was one of a number of Londoners to be poisoned by a contaminated shipment of chocolate.

(The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. It is performed in hard shoes, which are used to help the dancers keep in time).