Michael Chance - Purcell: Songs (2009)

  • 29 Sep, 09:50
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Artist:
Title: Purcell: Songs
Year Of Release: 2009
Label: Brilliant Classics
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Total Time: 01:12:36
Total Size: 351 Mb
WebSite:

Tracklist:

Come, ye sons of art away, Z. 323 (Henry Purcell)
1. V. Strike the Viol 02:27
2. The Queen's Epicedium, Z. 383 08:22
3. Here the Deities Approve 03:00
4. Oh Solitude, Z. 406 05:33
Pausanius, Z. 585 (Henry Purcell)
5. No. 1, Sweeter Than Roses 03:21
6. Music for a While, Z. 583 04:05
7. If Music Be the Food of Love, Z. 379 02:07
8. In the Black Dismal Dungeon of Despair, Z. 190 04:09
9. An Evening Hymn, Z. 193 04:36
10. Chaconne in G Minor, Z. 730Florilegium 04:40
Dioclesian, Z. 627 (Henry Purcell)
11. First Music 02:17
12. Overture 04:27
13. First Act Tune 01:14
14. Dance of the Furies 03:34
15. Second Act Tune 01:29
16. Two in Once Upon a Ground 02:41
17. The Chair Dance 01:16
18. Third Act Tune 00:45
19. Butterfly Dance 02:20
20. Country Dance 01:33
21. Dance of the Bacchanals 01:27
22. Still I'm Wishing 01:54
23. Canaries 00:47
24. Dance 01:27
25. Dance 00:52
Timon of Athens, Z. 632 (Henry Purcell)
26. Curtain Tune 02:13

Performers:
Michael Chance, countertenor
Richard Boothby, viola da gamba
Maggie Cole, harpsichord
Nigel North, archlute and theorbo
Florilegium

Spanning his short creative life, Purcell’s Songs are a constant feature in his output. In between official Odes, the semi-operas and instrumental music is a profusion of wonderfully intimate, sometimes bawdy and explicit songs. Written for his circle of friends the texts are from a variety of sources – Shakespeare and Dryden understandably loom large among the poets whose words were set by Purcell. In 1698 his songs were published complete in Orpheus Britannicus.

Purcell composed only one true opera, and the form known as ‘semi opera’ was the most popular in England at the time. In these works the actors did not sing. Musical interludes either of vocal numbers or instrumental music punctuated the action. The second half of this release contains examples of the instrumental music Purcell provided for Dioclesan and Timon of Athens.