Classical Sunday: 10 Sonatas by Henry Purcell

Top 10 Sonatas by Henry Purcell

Artwork by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 – 1797)

Sonata No. 5 in G Minor, Z. 806 (10 Sonatas in Four Parts – c.1680):
I. Adagio 00:03
II. Canzona 01:40
III. Largo 02:48
IV. Adagio 05:16
V. Presto – Allegro – Adagio 06:00

Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Z. 791 (12 Sonatas of Three Parts – 1683):
I. Adagio 08:33
II. Largo – Presto 10:15
III. Adagio 11:36
IV. Allegro 13:12

Sonata No. 6 in G Minor, Z. 807 (10 Sonatas in Four Parts – c.1680):
I. Chaconne. Adagio 14:41

Sonata No. 3 in A Minor, Z. 804 (10 Sonatas in Four Parts – c.1680):
I. Grave 22:56
II. Largo 24:31
III. Adagio 26:21
IV. Allegro 29:01

Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, Z. 790 (12 Sonatas of Three Parts – 1683):
I. Adagio 30:57
II. Vivace 32:36
III. Adagio – Presto 33:42
IV. Largo 36:04

Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Z. 792 (12 Sonatas of Three Parts – 1683):
I. Grave, Adagio 37:49
II. Canzona 39:30
III. Poco largo – Allegro 41:19

Sonata in G Minor for Violin and Basso Continuo, Z. 780:
I. Adagio 44:07
II. Allegro 47:08
III. Largo 48:28
IV. Vivace 49:55

Sonata in D Major for Trumpet, Strings and Basso Continuo, Z. 850 (1694):
I. Allegro 50:48
II. Adagio 52:05
III. Presto 53:47

Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Z. 803 (10 Sonatas in Four Parts – c.1680):
I. Adagio 55:06
II. Canzona. Allegro 56:31
III. Adagio 58:27
IV. Largo – Allegro 1:00:08

Sonata No. 1 in B Minor, Z. 802 (10 Sonatas in Four Parts – c.1680):
I. Adagio – Canzona. Allegro 1:02:41
II. Largo 1:04:53
III. Vivace 1:07:18

Classical Sunday: Purcell’s Funeral For Queen Mary

Henry Purcell – Funeral For Queen Mary

Orchestra: The Sixteen
Direction: Harry Christophers

1. Man that is born of a woman
hath but a short time to live,
and is full of misery.
He cometh up, and is cut down like a flower;
he fleeth as it were a shadow,
and ne’er continueth in one stay.

2. In the midst of life we are in death:
of whom may we seek for succour,
but of thee, O Lord,
who for our sins art justly displeased?

Yet, O Lord, O Lord most mighty,
O holy and most merciful Saviour,
deliver us not into the bitter pains
of eternal death.

3. Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts;
shut not thy merciful ears unto our pray’rs;
but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty.

O holy and most merciful Saviour,
thou most worthy Judge eternal,
suffer us not, at our last hour,
for any pains of death, to fall from thee. Amen.

 

Henry Purcell, (1659, London – 1695, London), English composer of the middle Baroque period, is most remembered for his more than 100 songs, the miniature opera Dido and Aeneas, and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, called The Fairy Queen.  He is said to have been the most original English composer of his time as well as one of the most original in Europe.

 

Classical Sunday: Purcell’s King Arthur

King Arthur, or The British Worthy.  A semi-opera by Henry Purcell (1691)

Henry Purcell (10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695) is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers.  Purcell’s legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music.  In 1691, he wrote the music for what is sometimes considered his dramatic masterpiece, King Arthur, or The British Worthy, which is our pick for this beautiful spring Sunday.

King Arthur, or The British Worthy

1-3. King Arthur Overture
4. King Arthur Act I: Woden, First to Thee
5. King Arthur Act I: The Lot is Cast, Brave Souls
6. King Arthur Act I: I Call to Woden’s Hall
7. King Arthur Act I: Come If You Dare – First Act Tune
8. King Arthur Act II: Hither, This Way
9. King Arthur Act II: Let Not a Moon-born Elf
10. King Arthur Act II: Hither, This Way
11. King Arthur Act II: Come, Follow Me
12. King Arthur Act II: How Blest Are Shepherds
13. King Arthur Act II: Symphony – Shepherd, Leave Decoying
14. King Arthur Act II: Come Shepherds, Lead Up – Hornpipe
15. King Arthur Act II: Second Act Tune
16. King Arthur Act III: Prélude – What Ho!
17. King Arthur Act III: What Power Art Thou
18. King Arthur Act III: Thou Doting Fool
19. King Arthur Act III: Great Love
20. King Arthur Act III: No Part of My Dominion
21. King Arthur Act III: Prélude
22. King Arthur Act III: See We Assemble – Dance
23. King Arthur Act III: Tis I That Have Warm’d Ye
24. King Arthur Act III: Sound a Parley – Tis Love
25. King Arthur Act III: Third Act Tune – Hornpipe
26. King Arthur Act IV: Aire
27. King Arthur Act IV: Two Daughters of This Aged Stream
28. King Arthur Act IV: Passacaglia
29. King Arthur Act V: Trumpet Tune
30. King Arthur Act V: Ye Blust’ring Brethren of the Skies
31. King Arthur Act V: Symphony
32. King Arthur Act V: Round Thy Coasts
33. King Arthur Act V: For Folded Flocks
34. King Arthur Act V: Your Hay It Is Mowed
35. King Arthur Act V: Fairest Isle
36. King Arthur Act V: You Say ‘Tis Love
37. King Arthur Act V: Trumpet Tune
38. King Arthur Act V: Saint George
39. King Arthur Act V: Our Natives
40. King Arthur Act V: Chaconne

BarokOpera Amsterdam
Frédérique Chauvet, direction

Wendy Roobol, soprano
Mijke Sekhuis, soprano
Klaartje van Veldhoven, soprano
Derek Lee Ragin, countertenor
Gunther Vandeven, countertenor
Lester Lardenoye, countertenor
Mattijs Hoogendijk, tenor
Joost van Velzen, tenor
Pieter Hendriks, baritone
Ragnar van Linden van den Heuvell, baritone
Bas Kuijlenburg, baritone
Wiebe Pier Cnossen, baritone