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Henry Purcell
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Henry Purcell was organist of Westminster Abbey and wrote music for the English court, the church and the London theatre. He combined French and Italian influences with an unerring feel for the sound of the English language. In his opera Dido and Aeneas, Dido sings her farewell over a chromatically descending bass line that keeps returning. He died at thirty-six and was buried in the Abbey, close to the organ.
Listening
Listening tip. Listen to the beginning of Dido's Lament and follow the bass line that sinks downward in small semitone steps and starts again and again.
Dido and Aeneas: When I am laid in earth (Susan Graham, Le Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm) · Henry Purcell, 1689
Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary: March (The King's Consort, Robert King) · Henry Purcell, 1695
King Arthur: What power art thou (Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier) · Henry Purcell, 1691- Dido and Aeneas: When I am laid in earth (Susan Graham, Le Concert d'Astrée) · Henry Purcell, 1689
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- The Dream Factory: Film Reel 5NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Purcell, Handel and the oratorio Genre
Around 1689, Henry Purcell wrote Dido and Aeneas, a short opera that ends with Dido's lament over a constantly repeated bass line.
- Minimal music in film Genre
In the same year the Briton Michael Nyman wrote energetic music on bass lines by Henry Purcell for Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract.