DIDO AND AENEAS by Henry Purcell Major Characters: Dido, Queen of Carthage (soprano) Aeneas, Prince of Trojan (baritone) Belinda, Dido's serving maid (soprano) Sorceress (mezzo-soprano) This is Purcell's operatic masterpiece: Dido and Aeneas. First performed in 1689 as a school production, at Mr. Josias Priest's boarding school at Chelsy by girls, this relatively short length one-hour English opera (in three acts) has a lot of choral singing and dancing. In this opera Purcell, known as "the British Orpheus" because of the lyricism of his works, assimilated the achievements of the Continent- the dynamic instrumental style, the movement toward major-minor tonality. the recitative, aria and ground bass of Italian opera, and the French overture and the dance rhythms of the French- and adapted them to England. The story is taken from Book Four of Virgil's 'Aeneid', in which the hero Aeneas, returning from Troy, is shipwrecked at Carthage where he falls in love with its queen, Dido. But the gods urge him to leave and the broken-hearted Dido kills herself. Here is a detailed outline of the music: In the third act, Dido prepares to meet her fate - death - in the moving recitative "Thy hand, Belinda", with much chromaticism and half-step movement (sigh motive), that introduces her lament aria. In the recitative secco, Dido sings, accompanied by continuo only, to her maid: darkness shades me. The word darkness is highlighted by falling melismatic treatment. Word painting in the use ...
Thy Hand, Belinda...When I am laid in earth...With drooping wings (Dido and Aeneas) by Purcell
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Thy Hand, Belinda...When I am laid in earth...With drooping wings (Dido and Aeneas) by Purcell Video Clips. Duration : 7.07 Mins.
DIDO AND AENEAS by Henry Purcell Major Characters: Dido, Queen of Carthage (soprano) Aeneas, Prince of Trojan (baritone) Belinda, Dido's serving maid (soprano) Sorceress (mezzo-soprano) This is Purcell's operatic masterpiece: Dido and Aeneas. First performed in 1689 as a school production, at Mr. Josias Priest's boarding school at Chelsy by girls, this relatively short length one-hour English opera (in three acts) has a lot of choral singing and dancing. In this opera Purcell, known as "the British Orpheus" because of the lyricism of his works, assimilated the achievements of the Continent- the dynamic instrumental style, the movement toward major-minor tonality. the recitative, aria and ground bass of Italian opera, and the French overture and the dance rhythms of the French- and adapted them to England. The story is taken from Book Four of Virgil's 'Aeneid', in which the hero Aeneas, returning from Troy, is shipwrecked at Carthage where he falls in love with its queen, Dido. But the gods urge him to leave and the broken-hearted Dido kills herself. Here is a detailed outline of the music: In the third act, Dido prepares to meet her fate - death - in the moving recitative "Thy hand, Belinda", with much chromaticism and half-step movement (sigh motive), that introduces her lament aria. In the recitative secco, Dido sings, accompanied by continuo only, to her maid: darkness shades me. The word darkness is highlighted by falling melismatic treatment. Word painting in the use ...
DIDO AND AENEAS by Henry Purcell Major Characters: Dido, Queen of Carthage (soprano) Aeneas, Prince of Trojan (baritone) Belinda, Dido's serving maid (soprano) Sorceress (mezzo-soprano) This is Purcell's operatic masterpiece: Dido and Aeneas. First performed in 1689 as a school production, at Mr. Josias Priest's boarding school at Chelsy by girls, this relatively short length one-hour English opera (in three acts) has a lot of choral singing and dancing. In this opera Purcell, known as "the British Orpheus" because of the lyricism of his works, assimilated the achievements of the Continent- the dynamic instrumental style, the movement toward major-minor tonality. the recitative, aria and ground bass of Italian opera, and the French overture and the dance rhythms of the French- and adapted them to England. The story is taken from Book Four of Virgil's 'Aeneid', in which the hero Aeneas, returning from Troy, is shipwrecked at Carthage where he falls in love with its queen, Dido. But the gods urge him to leave and the broken-hearted Dido kills herself. Here is a detailed outline of the music: In the third act, Dido prepares to meet her fate - death - in the moving recitative "Thy hand, Belinda", with much chromaticism and half-step movement (sigh motive), that introduces her lament aria. In the recitative secco, Dido sings, accompanied by continuo only, to her maid: darkness shades me. The word darkness is highlighted by falling melismatic treatment. Word painting in the use ...
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