Hyperion Records

I will sing unto the Lord is an early anthem, written by February 1679. It is found in a large number of contemporary and early eighteenth-century cathedral manuscripts, suggesting that it was widely performed. The reason is not hard to see, for this is a first-rate full anthem, scored for five-part choir with divided trebles, and containing an appealing central verse section.

The triple-time opening is basically homophonic, strong in its joyful affirmation of God’s goodness. The rapid-fire entries of ‘And so’ compellingly build up to ‘shall my words please him’, and are followed by a return to triple-metre homophony at ‘my joy shall be in the Lord’. The text, from Psalm 104, switches to recount the fate that awaits sinners, and Purcell introduces a six-part verse which alternates trios of upper and lower voices and then the full choir in rich, slow-moving harmony; here is delicious writing. But joy is not far away, and the anthem ends exultantly in the swinging triple metre of the opening and with a final, grand statement: ‘Praise the Lord’.

from notes by Robert King ©