PURCELL'S SONATA FOR TRUMPET AND STRINGS Z850

PURCELL'S CAREER
1. HENRY PURCELL WAS BORN IN 1659 AND WAS THE GREATEST ENGLISH COMPOSER OF HIS GENERATION
2. FROM AN EARLY AGE HE WAS ABSORBED BY MUSIC: FIRST, AS CHOIRBOY IN THE CHAPEL ROYAL AND THEN, AFTER A NUMBER OF OTHER APPOINTMENTS, AS ORGANIST IN WESTMINTER ABBEY
  1. CHAPEL ROYAL - THE KING' PERSONAL CHAPEL WHERE PURCELL'S FATHER AND UNCLE ALSO WORKED
  2. AROUND THIS TIME, PURCELL BEGAN TO COMPOSE MUSIC FOR THE KING AND HIS FAMILY - HOLDING THE PRESTIGIOUS TITLE OF 'COMPOSER-IN-ORDINARY FOR THE KING'S VIOLINS' FROM 1677
    1. ALSO WROTE MUSIC FOR THEATRE
3. 1682
  1. BECAME AN ORGANIST AT THE CHAPEL ROYAL
    1. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY FURTHER COURT APPOINTMENTS
4. DEATH
  1. 1695
  2. BURIED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
5. PURCELL WAS PARTICULARLY INFLUENCED BY THE NEW ITALIAN BAROQUE STYLE, BUT HIS MUSIC ALSO LOOKS BACK TO A MORE CONSERVATIVE ENGLISH TRADITION
THE SONATA Z850
1. PERHAPS DATING FROM 1694
  1. VERY LITTLE KNOWN ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THIS PIECE
    1. FOUND IN A MANUSCRIPT IN YORK MINSTER LIBRARY
2. PROBABLY WRITTEN FOR THE LONDON THEATRE, WHERE A FINE TRADITION OF TRUMPET PLAYING HAD DEVELOPED
3. THE TITLE 'SONATA' HERE PROBABLY MEANS NO MORE THAN 'A PIECE OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC'
OVERALL STRUCTURE AND SCORING
1. PURCELL'S PIECE, WHICH LIKE MANY CONCERTO-LIKE PIECES WRITTEN BEFORE 1700 WAS GIVEN THE TITLE 'SONATA', LOOKS FORWARD TO THE STYLE THAT WOULD BECOME ASSOCIATED WITH THE SOLO CONCERTO WHERE SOLOIST AND STRINGS ARE PITTED AGAINST ON OTHER
  1. ALSO LOOKS BACK TO AN OLDER TYPE OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC, WHICH EMPHASISED EQUALITY BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE ENSENBLE, I.E. WHERE THE SOLOIST IS MUCH MORE OF AN EQUAL PARTNER IN THE MUSIC WITH THE OTHER PLAYERS
2. THE MUSIC IS IN THREE MOVEMENTS
  1. THE MIDDLE MOVEMENT HAS A TEMPO MARKING OF 'ADAGIO' BUT, NO DOUBT, THE OUTER MOVEMENTS WERE PLAYED AT A FASTER TEMPO WITH THE RESULT THAT THE WHOLE PIECE LOOKS FORWARD TO THE FAST-SLOW-FAST PLAN POPULARISED BY VIVALDI'S CONCERTOS
3. THE SONATA WAS WRITTEN WITH THE TRUMPET TAKING ON THE ROLE OF A SOLO INSTRUMENT.
  1. INSTRUMENTS OF THE TIME WERE NORMALLY TUNED IN D; THERE WERE NO VALVES ON THE BAROQUE TRUMPET
    1. THEREFORE THE PLAYER HAD TO PRODUCE DIFFERENT PITCHES BY OVER-BLOWING.
      1. PURCELL USES ONLY THE FOLLOWING EIGHT NOTES IN HIS PIECE BECAUSE THESE WER THE ONES THAT HIS TRUMPETER COULD PLAY
        MIDDLE D
        A
        D
        E
        F
        G
        A
        B
        THE LIMITATIONS OF USING ONLY THESE EIGHT NOTES HAS IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCES FOR BOTH THE HARMONIC AND MELODIC STYLE OF THE MUSIC
        HARMONICALLY
        PURCELL IS STUCK WITH THE NOTES OF D MAJOR. IN THE SECONDE MOVEMENT, FOR INSTANCE, WHICH STARTS IN B MINOR AND MOVES CHROMATICALLY TO D MAJOR, PURCELL ONLY EMPLOYS THE STRINGS BECAUSE THE TRUMPET CAN NOT PLAY, FOR EXAMPLE, A# THAT IS REQUIRED IN THE KEY OF B MINOR
        MELODICALLY
        THE TRUMPET PART MAINLY MOVES CONJUNCTLY AROUND ITS TOP SIX NOTES WHICH ARE THE FIRST SIX OF THE D MAJOR SCALE. AT OTHER TIMES PURCELL USES A 'FANFARE' TYPE MUSICAL FIGURE WHERE THE TRUMPET DARTS AROUND BETWEEN NOTES OF THE DA MAJOR ARPEGGIO. THE STRING PARTS SHARE THE MELODIC STYLE OF THE TRUMPET, SO ALL THE INSTRUMENTS CAN WORK TOGETHER WITH THE SAME MATERIAL.
4. THE CONTINUO PART WAS PROBABLY PLAYED BY A BASS VIOL OR BASS VIOLIN, WITH THE ADDITION OF A THEORBO, HARPSICHORD OR ORGAN, OR COMBINATION OF THESE INSTRUMENTS.
  1. THE ORGAN MIGHT SEEM A SURPRISING CHOICE FOR MUSIC THAT WASN'T PERFORMED IN CHURCH, BUT IN FACT SMALL CHAMBER ORGANS WERE USED IN BOTH TAVERNS AND STATELY HOMES OF THE TIME
  2. THE BASS VIOLIN WAS A PREDECESSOR OF THE CELLO; IT WAS LARGER AND SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN THE BAROQUE CELLO, WHICH DID NOT BECOME POPULAR IN ENGLAND UNTIL ABOUT 1700.
  3. AN ALTERNATIVE INSTRUMENT WAS THE BASS VIOL, WHICH WAS HELD LIKE THE CELLO BUT HAD SIX STRINGS AND FRETS. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THE DOUBLE BASS WAS USED FOR PURCELL'S MUSIC
ANALYSIS
1. FIRST MOVEMENT
  1. APART FROM PERHAPS THE FIRST IDEA WITH ITS FANFARE-LIKE CALL, NONE OF THE MELODIES ARE PARTICULARLY STRIKING; PURCELL WAS WRITING IN A FAIRLY NEUTRAL, 'GENERIC' WAY FOR INSTRUMENTS - THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS VIOLIN AND TRUMPET PARTS, FOR INSTANCE
  2. FIRST IDEA
    1. 1. STARTS WITH JUST TRUMPET AND CONTINUO AND ENDS WITH A PERFECT CADENCE IN BB.3.4-4.1. AT THIS POINT THE STRINGS TAKE OVER THE THEME - THE 1ST VIOLINS USE EXACTLY THE SAME RHYTHM AS THE TRUMPET HAD EMPLOYED WITH ITS CATCHY ANACRUSIS BUT THE PITCHES ARE ALTERED SO THAT THE THEME CAN MOVE INTO THE DOMINANT, A MAJOR, LEADING TO A PERFECT CADENCE IN THAT KEY IN BB.6.4-7.1. THE LOWER STRINGS INITIALLY PLAY THE SAME RHYTHM AS THE TOP VIOLIN PART, BUT LATER (FROM B.5) JUST SUPPORT THE CHORD CHANGES. NOTE THE THREE BAR LENGTH OF THE PHRASING IN THIS SECTION
    2. 2. THE TRUMPET THEN RE-ENTERS IN B.7 WITH A FRAGMENTATION OF THE THEME - JUST THE FIRST FIVE NOTES OF THE OPENING BENT INTO A SHAPE THAT NOW OUTLINES DOMINANT HARMONY
    3. 3. THIS IS IMMEDIATELY ECHOED BY THE STRINGS, AND THE MOTIF IS TOSSED TO AND FROM UNTIL THE STRINGS AND TRUMPET COME TOGEHTER IN A PERFECT CADENCE BACK IN D (BB.10.4-11.1). THIS TYPE OF TEXTURE IS C ALLED ANTIPHONY AND WAS VERY POPULAR IN MUSIC AT THE END OF THE SIXTEENTH AND START OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
    4. SECOND IDEA
2. SECOND IDEA
  1. AFTER A BRIEF REST IN ALL THE PARTS, THE TRUMPET INTRODUCES THE SECOND IDEA: A DESCENDING SET OF EVEN QUAVERS. IT IS A SHORT IDEA AND IS PASSED ANTIPHONALLY FROM TRUMPET TO STRINGS, BUT THIS TIME USING IMITATION. THE TRUMPET AND STRINGS EACH TAKE THE IDEA TWICE; IT S HARMONISED IN B MINOR, WITH A PERFECT CADENCE IN THAT KEY IN BB.13.4-14.1
  2. THE TRUMPET NOW INTRODUCES A LITTLE FIGURE OF THREE NOTES; THIS COULD BE A FRAGMENTATION OF THE B.11 PHRASE - ITS LAST THREE NOTES - WITH SEMIQUAVERS RATHER THAN QUAVERS. THIS IS USED ANTIPHONALLY AGIN IN BB.14-15, FOLLOWED BY A CADENCE INTO A MAJOR, EMPHASISED BOTH BY THE TRUMPET LIPPIN AT G# IN B.17, BEFORE RETURNING TO A MAJOR IN B.19
3. THIRD IDEA
  1. THE LAST SECTION STARTS BACK WITH THE A MAJOR CHORD IN B.19 ACTING AS A PIVOT TO TAKE US BACK TO THE TONIC, D MAJOR. IT HAS A SCURRYING SEMIQUAVER THEME IN THE 1ST VIOLINS, SEQUENCED ANTIPHONALLY BY THE TRUMPET IN B.20, FOLLOWED BY A FRAGMENT OF THE THEME IN THE 1ST VIOLINS AND CONTINUO TOGETHER IN B.21 AND TOSSED BETWEEN STRINGS AND TRUMPET IN A SET OF RISING SEQUENCES UNTIL THE TRUMPET DISSOLVES THE MOTIF INTO THREE RISING SEMIQUAVERS AND A CROTCHET, ALSO BOUNCED AROUND ANTIPHONALLY. FINALLY, THE TRUMPET, NOW JOINED BY 1ST VIOLINS IN UNISON, SEDATELY LEADS THE MUSIC BACK TO ITS FINAL CADENCE IN THE TONIC.
4. HARMONY AND TONALITY
  1. MOST OF THE HARMONIC WRITING IS CONSONANT, MANILY USING TONIC AND DOMINANT HARMONIES, GIVING THE PIECE A BRIGHT, CEREMONIAL QUALITY. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SUSPENSIONS, ALL APPEARING AT CADENCES

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	Creado por Annabell Louise Hutchings hace alrededor de 8 años