Tag: Purcell
-
Purcell King Arthur Programme Notes
Preconceptions can be deceiving. The title ‘King Arthur (Or the British Worthy): An Opera in Five Acts’ might lead the listener to some assumptions. ‘King Arthur’ evokes familiar names like Guinevere, Lancelot, or Gawain. This tale is different. We depart from Camelot and the Round Table, but keep the magic, the conflict, and the timeless…
-
Music from the British Isles – Programme Notes
The Choral music in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales has often taken a different trajectory from its European counterparts. In part, this was due to the increased time it took for artistic ideas to permeate to Britain from the various cultural centres of Venice, the Vatican, or even Vienna. It is possibly the historical context…
-
Verse Anthem
The Verse Anthem: Virtuosic Verse for Making Means? A study into the Verse Anthem and its place in Society c.1560–1690 According to Charles Butler in The Principles of Musik, the finest anthem was one ‘wherein a sweet melodious treble or countertenor singeth single and a full choir answereth [sic]’. He was referring to the Verse…