Purcell Dido and Aeneas: When I am laid in earth (Dido's Lament)
This poignant and emotional lament from Purcell's only complete opera Dido and Aeneas (1689) is sung by Dido as she prepares to take her own life, desolate following the sudden and unexpected departure of her new love, Aeneas. Purcell communicates her anguish by using a ground bass which descends chromatically from G to D (the key is G minor) and then uses five pitches which suggest a standard perfect cadence chord pattern (Ib, IV, V, V, I). Chromaticism was a favourite device used by composers of all eras to portray sadness or anguish, and it is interesting to see that Bach uses a similarly chromatic ground bass in the 'Crucifixus' of his Mass in B minor.
The ground is stated eleven times, but Purcell weaves his melody around it so that it does not always start at the same time as the ground, but rather its phrases overlap the natural phrases of this bass line. Dido's very first entry, on the last note of the ground, is an excellent example of this. Try to find some other examples of melodic phrases beginning on different notes of the ground. How else does Purcell vary the phrases in this piece? (Think about phrase length.)
The harmonic progressions that the strings provide over this ground vary as well. While at first they are reasonably repetitive, there are some notable examples of more adventurous harmonies which coincide with particularly dramatic pieces of text. Can you find any examples of this? Think about how Purcell might want to convey Dido's mood.
Dido and Aeneas: When I am laid in earth (Dido's Lament)
This poignant and emotional lament from Purcell's only complete opera Dido and Aeneas (1689) is sung by Dido as she prepares to take her own life, desolate following the sudden and unexpected departure of her new love, Aeneas. Purcell communicates her anguish by using a ground bass which descends chromatically from G to D (the key is G minor) and then uses five pitches which suggest a standard perfect cadence chord pattern (Ib, IV, V, V, I). Chromaticism was a favourite device used by composers of all eras to portray sadness or anguish, and it is interesting to see that Bach uses a similarly chromatic ground bass in the 'Crucifixus' of his Mass in B minor.
The ground is stated eleven times, but Purcell weaves his melody around it so that it does not always start at the same time as the ground, but rather its phrases overlap the natural phrases of this bass line. Dido's very first entry, on the last note of the ground, is an excellent example of this. Try to find some other examples of melodic phrases beginning on different notes of the ground. How else does Purcell vary the phrases in this piece? (Think about phrase length.)
The harmonic progressions that the strings provide over this ground vary as well. While at first they are reasonably repetitive, there are some notable examples of more adventurous harmonies which coincide with particularly dramatic pieces of text. Can you find any examples of this? Think about how Purcell might want to convey Dido's mood.