HENRY PURCELL

 

Funeral Music for Queen Mary, Anthems

 

Sacred Music

1. Te Deum

2. Jubilate Deo

3. My Beloved Spake

4. O God, Thou art my God

5. Lord, how long wilt Thou be angry?

6. Remember not, Lord, our offences

7. Hear my prayer, O Lord

 

Funeral Sentences for Queen Mary

8. Funeral March

9. Man that is born of a woman

10. In the midst of life

11. Canzona

12. Thou knowest, Lord

13. Funeral March

 

Andrew Manze, Marshall Marcus - violins

Jan Schlapp - viola

Jenny Ward-Clarke - bass violin

Liz Kenny, William Carter - theorbo

Jonathan Brown, Keri Dexter - organ

 

Baroque Brass of London

Mark Bennett, Crispian Steele-Perkins, Michael Laird - trumpets

Ron Bryans - sackbut

Robert Howes - drum

 

Choir of Clare College, Cambridge / Timothy Brown

 

November 1694 was a busy month for Purcell. First, the triumphant return to London of King William III from the campaign in Flanders saw the composer produce a new anthem depicting the vanquishing of the King’s enemies. Secondly, for the celebration of St Cecilia’s Day, composed not the expected ode, but a Te Deum and a Jubilate. The Te Deum is full of grandeur, with the extra trumpets adding some thrilling drama to sections of the work. The scoring is also intimate, with some of Purcell’s most personal music – especially ‘Vouchsafe, O Lord’, where the piling up of dissonances depicts a cry for mercy remarkable for the period.

 

These two works are masterpieces in Purcell’s output. However, the triumph was to be short-lived. In December 1694 a smallpox epidemic swept London, and Queen Mary died on 28 December. Purcell produced some of his greatest music for the Funeral Sentences, which he composed for her burial Setting words found in The Book of Common Prayer, Purcell’s music is moving and austere, and the sense of grief is almost palpable. The muted drums and Flatt trumpets in the Canzona leave a lasting impression on the listener. Purcell himself was dead eleven months later, aged 36.

 

Brilliant Classics 93981