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Lenten Evensong: Henry Purcell |
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Our Lenten Choral Evensong (March 8 at 5:00 pm) will commemorate the 350th anniversary of the birth of Henry Purcell (1659-1695), one of the greatest of all English composers and an important contributor to the Anglican repertoire. The music to be presented on that occasion will include Purcell’s Evening Service (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) in G minor and his penitential anthem “Lord, how long wilt thou be angry?” (text from Psalm 79).
The exact date of Purcell’s birth is not known, but some evidence suggests September 10. He entered the Chapel Royal as a boy chorister and continued his association with that foundation after his voice broke in 1673. The same year he became an assistant to John Hingeston (c1606-1683), the keeper of the king’s wind and keyboard instruments. His music teachers included John Blow (1649-1708) and Christopher Gibbons (1615-1676), son of Orlando Gibbons. His first salaried appointment at court was in 1677, when he succeeded Matthew Locke (1622-1677) as composer for the violins. At this time he was composing sacred works for the Chapel Royal including “symphony anthems” with string accompaniment as well as scoring and editing anthems by other composers. He was also involved in music at Westminster Abbey, where he succeeded John Blow as organist in 1679. In 1682 he became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, filling the vacancy left by the death of Edward Lowe (c1610-1682).
Purcell’s most productive period for the composition of church music was during the reign of Charles II, who took a keen interest in the music of the Chapel Royal. One might say that the high water mark in Restoration church music was, ironically, the coronation of James II in 1685, with important new anthems written for the occasion by Purcell and Blow. As a Roman Catholic, James was not particularly interested in the Anglican Chapel Royal, and in his reorganization of music at court, the chapel did not have the standing it enjoyed under Charles. Purcell’s output of church music does not cease at this time, but it falls off considerably. He continued to provide secular music for the court, most notably a series of odes and welcome songs that continued to the end of his life. In his last years, he turned increasingly to the composition of music for the theater.
Both the Evening Service in G minor and the anthem “Lord, how long wilt thou be angry?” are examples of the “full-with-verse” format. This means that they combine passages for full choir with passages for solo voices. The anthem, which dates from around 1683, has a central section for a trio of alto, tenor, and bass voices. The evocation of penitential anguish, while certainly not the only side of Restoration music, was a mode of expression composers of this period used to great effect, and Purcell’s anthem is a classic example. It is an idiom of jagged melodies, pungent dissonances, and intense rising chromaticism.
The Evening Service has two trio ensembles that alternate throughout the setting: one for two sopranos and alto, and one for alto, tenor, and bass. There is no reliable date for the service, and some scholars think it may be the work of Henry Purcell’s brother Daniel (c1664-1717), whose Evening Service in E minor has long been part of the Good Shepherd repertoire.
--WJG |
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