Henry Purcell (1659–1695) Funeral Music for Queen Mary II Queen Mary died of smallpox at the end of 1694 at the age of 32. Her funeral, held the following year, was one of the most lavish and grandiose ever accorded an English monarch and there was a great public outpouring of grief. As the Westminster Abbey organist, Purcell was responsible for the music and he responded magnificently, composing a special processional march and canzona – both for the recently introduced “flat” trumpets. This is music of amazing poignancy, profoundly melancholic but full of great dignity. It is followed by the choir singing a slow and reverential setting of Thou Knowest Lord the Secrets of Our Hearts, accompanied by the trumpets. The other Purcell music associated with the funeral – Man That is Born of a Woman, In the Midst of Life, and another sett ing of Thou Knowest Lord – may or may not have been sung at the royal funeral (scholars are currently at odds about this). All three of these funeral sentences are characterized by a stark simplicity and a chromatic foundation that is astonishingly advanced for its time. Additional musical obsequies included three elegies for the queen – two by Purcell and one by John Blow. Of these, Purcell’s duet for two altos O dive custos Auriacae domus is one of the most exquisitely beautiful works he ever wrote – highly Italianate in its interweaving of florid lines and clashing dissonances.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 03:03:36 +0000
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