On Mon, 6 Jan 2003 12:26:18 -0500 (EST) Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
wrote:
> Is it me, or are these songs a little "weird"
> musically?
But I'm
> finding that these Purcell
> songs - specifically "Blessed Virgin's
> Expostulation", "What is Man?", "We
> Sing to Him", and "Evening Hymn" - are just
> kind of eluding me.
> I love Purcell, but I just can't figure out
> what I'm missing in these
> pieces - what is the "key" that will make them
> make sense to me musically.
> Has anyone else sung these pieces. Was there
> some "lightbulb on" moment
> that happened that made you finally be able to
> internalise the music - or
> was it pretty clear to you from the start.
Of these pieces, I haven't sung, but I've been in a number of classes where
Blessed Virgin was coached by a teacher of mine whose area of expertise is
this repertoire.
He believes Blessed Virgin is one of the most difficult pieces to sing in
front of an audience - not because of its technical demands (though those must
be mastered), but because of its interpretive demands.
The key is in the text. And understanding everything about the text. And
then relating the text back to the music, and discovering the incredible
things Purcell has done with the music to comminicate his view of the text.
I suspect with the other works you mention, a similar approach is required.
Since Blessed Virgin is the best known, that might be the one to explore in
that manner. Some things to look for in relating text to music:
Chosen Word - look for something unique about the way the composer set
particular words and figure out why the composer chose to highlight that word
musicially in terms of interpreting the text. It might be a melisma, an
appogiatura, a funky chord.
I know that Blessed Virgin is divided into several unique sections, and they
don't relate to each other musically that way Bach or Handel might have, e.g.
de capo aria or a dance form. So in working with the sections, identify the
different moods the music evokes in each section, and relate that to the
composer's view of what Mary must have been feeling when she spoke those
words.
Another thing to look for in Purcell (I don't remember if there are examples
in this particular work) is word-painting. For example, Purcell's "Music for
a While" has a great examples when the snakes "drop", when the word "eternal"
is set with a seemingly never-ending melismas, and the appogiaturas on
"eased".
Purcell also loves to use ground basses. The well-known base line is found in
Dido's Lament. Music for a While has a great ground bass, also. I don't
remember if he uses any in Blessed Virgin, but I'd be surprised if he didn't
use that technique in the other works you mention.
Having figured out all the above, then work on performance of each
musical/textual section with appropriate dramatic intention, to communicate
the feelings of the character in each of the sections.
I've seen Blessed Virgin sung beautifully and boringly, and performed
effectively. And what makes that piece work is the dramatic intention of the
singer. As an audience member, when the singer has done this effectively, I
understand everything there is to understand about the text the first time I
hear it.
Peggy
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
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