IB MUSIC 2014-16

Henry Purcell Born in London 1659 Died November 21st 1695 Music was the Purcell family business - and Henry followed in the footsteps of his father, uncle and brother as a court musician centred around Westminster in London.

Purcell & Opera Purcell worked as Organist at Westminster Abbey, and in the Chapel Royal and Whitehall Palace, as organist and court composer for the violins. As an opera composer, Purcell is considered one of the great “might-have-beens”.

Purcell & Opera Henry Purcell had a reputation as “having a particular genius to express the energy of English words”. However, his career coincided with a period in which opera repeatedly failed to establish itself as an art form in England in the late 1600s. Fifteen years after Purcell’s death, an opera-mania (since unrivalled) swept through London, and the young baroque composer HANDEL enjoyed huge success with his succession of Operas in England.

Handel’s Opera Handel was far better traveled than Purcell (at age 18 he moved to Berlin and played in the State opera orchestra). After spending time in Berlin, Hamburg and Florence, Handel grew into a very Italianate composer - and brought the Italian operatic style to England in 1710.

Handel’s Opera Handel’s Opera Seria was all the rage in London - as the predominant fashion for opera in Europe at the time, it had caught on in a big way. This picture is of Handel’s Organ on the stage of the Royal Opera House, London at a performance in 1735.

Opera Seria Opera Seria literally translated means ‘noble’ or ‘serious’ opera. The style dominated in Europe from 1710 to 1770, and was always set to an Italian libretto. Opera Seria was hugely popular in Italy, Germanic States, Austria, England and Spain. Only the French preferred their own ‘french-style’ over the Opera Seria. Opera Seria’s most common characteristic was the DA CAPO ARIA. This is an aria in ABA form, with the repeat of the A section made more interesting with a series of ornaments and elaborations in the voice part.

Opera Seria Opera Seria gave rise to several new advances. One of the most prominent of these was the popularization of two types of opera-star. CASTRATI were highly gifted male singers who had undergone castration before puberty, in order to maintain a high and powerful soprano or alto voice. Bizarrely, they were cast as the powerful heros of the opera! PRIMA DONNA were the leading ladies of the day (it means “first lady”) and were as grand with their off-stage personalities as they were with the on-stage characters!

Opera Buffa Opera Buffa was the antithesis of Opera Seria. Whist Opera Seria often dealt with mythical plots and greek gods, Opera buffa used a variety of comedic plot lines and funny characters to entertain the audience. Opera buffa was generally shorter (two acts, compared to opera seria’s three acts) and tended towards lower voices (using bass and baritone singers for the hero of the piece, rather than castrati).

BACK TO DIDO & AENEAS DIDO & AENEAS therefore cannot be called Opera Seria, as it was written before that movement in Opera. It also didn’t use castrati and wasn’t written in Italian. However, in terms of libretto (plot) - it has the same convention, for taking a story of greek mythology and using it for the basis of the serious operatic story.

Purcell’s DIDO & AENEAS Dido and Aeneas, by Henry Purcell, is England's oldest opera. As far as we know it was first performed in 1689, at a girl's school in Chelsea, London, run by a Mr Josias Priest, who was a dancing master. Unfortunately, neither the original, nor any 17th Century copy of the score, survives.

Purcell’s DIDO & AENEAS Orchestration is as follows: Violin I Violin II Viola Cello Basso Continuo/ Harpsichord Nahum Tate wrote the libretto for this opera, and is also famous for writing the words to the Christmas carol While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night. Whilst the poetry he writes in the libretto for Dido & Aeneas isn’t thought to demonstrate Tate at his best, Purcell demonstrates his skill in bringing the words to life.

THE SYNOPSIS The story for Dido and Aeneas was adapted from part of the Aeneid by Virgil. Dido, Queen of Carthage, falls in love with Aeneas, who has landed in Carthage after fleeing from Troy after defeat in the Trojan War. However, some witches living near Carthage, who hate Dido, remind him that he is fated to go and be the founder of the Roman Empire. Aeneas leaves Dido, who is heartbroken and kills herself.

THE SYNOPSIS This is slightly changed from the version in the Aeneid, where there were no witches. In the Aeneid, the gods intervene to remind Aeneas of his duty. The story is exceptional for opera of this period, because one of the major characters (Dido, in case you’ve been sleeping through the last couple of lessons) dies. In most pre-19th Century opera, the hero or heroine's life may be threatened, but something usually happens to save the day by the end of the opera.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE OPERA DIDO & AENEAS is broken down into 3 Acts, each of which has two scenes or sections. You need to know about Act 1 & Act 3, but a knowledge of the content of Act 2 is helpful, particularly in terms of Purcell’s nuances of writing. Each scene or section has its own key, and the choice of key Purcell makes for each section is significant to the plot of that particular scene.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE OPERA ACT ONE SCENE 1 DIDO’S PALACE Introduction of Dido C MINOR (Dido reluctant to show her feelings) SCENE 2 DIDO’S PALACE Arrival of Aeneas C MAJOR (Belinda is optimistic and encouraging. Emotion triumphs over reason and destiny.)

THE STRUCTURE OF THE OPERA ACT TWO (The one you kind of don’t need to know but kind of do…..) SCENE 3 A CAVE Witches Evil Plot F MAJOR (The witches plan to destroy the happiness of Dido & Aeneas) SCENE 4 DIDO’S PALACE The Hunt D MINOR/MAJOR (Thunder ends the hunt early. As other characters leave for shelter, the Witches’ “Mercury” appears and tells Aeneas to leave.)

THE STRUCTURE OF THE OPERA ACT THREE SCENE 5 Harbour Sailors Depart Carthage Bb MAJOR (The witches also revel in the success of their plan.) SCENE 6 DIDO’S PALACE Dido’s Death G Minor Dido dies.