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The Symphony is a fine example of a French overture: the opening is full of sparkling dotted rhythms and ingenious harmonic turns, and the second section dances in its triple metre, whilst still containing under that surface jollity the wistful character that makes Purcell’s music so unique – the falling bass line after the first, repeated eight bars of triple time is especially striking in its harmonic daring. The six solo voices first answer each other antiphonally, the upper voices calling to the lower trio, and then joining in sumptuous harmony. The imitative point at ‘and all that is within me’ grows amongst the solo voices until all six join for ‘praise his holy name’ and lead into a fine string ritornello. Vocal antiphony returns, but Purcell quickly strikes out on new ground, four soloists in turn naming one of the Lord’s qualities whilst the two trios respond ‘praise the Lord’. Again the vocal texture builds back to the full six parts, and the section closes with another fulsome string ritornello.
For the middle section Purcell is in more introspective mood, and the vocal texture is reduced to a male trio. The Lord’s ‘compassion and mercy’ builds over a pedal, and Purcell colours his ‘long suffering’ magnificently. A tenor solo ‘He hath not dealt with us after our sins’ comes next and leads back to a repeat by the strings of the triple time of the Symphony. Following this is yet another of Purcell’s splendid bass solos: the exalted position of the heavens is contrasted with the lowly state of the earth, the east is separated from the west by a suitably spacious interval, and the father graphically ‘pitieth his own children’. The mercy of the Lord is nobly portrayed, as the continuo line drops, for he ‘remembereth that we are but dust’. The antiphonal trios return, but this time the strings are added, creating a ten-part texture of three choirs. With the six voice parts now united, the music builds as we are exhorted to ‘speak good of the Lord’ everywhere, ‘in all places of his dominion’. The voices’ ecstatic lines are capped by a glorious string ritornello which leads into the final, brief exhortation from the choir, ‘Praise thou the Lord, O my soul’.
from notes by Robert King ©
Pour la section centrale, l'humeur de Purcell est plus introspective et la texture vocale se réduit en un trio de voix d'hommes. La 'compassion et pitié' (compassion and mercy) du Seigneur s'amplifient au-dessus d'une pédale, et Purcell colore 'sa longue agonie' (his long suffering) de façon superbe. Un solo ténor: 'He hath not dealt with us after our sins' (II ne nous traite pas selon nos péchés) vient ensuite et ramène à une répétition par les cordes du trois temps de la symphonie. Un autre exemple encore des splendides solos de basse de Purcell lui succède: la glorieuse position des cieux est contrastée à l'humble condition de la terre, l'est est séparé de l'ouest par un intervalle aussi grand qu'il se doit et le père 'a pitié de ses enfants' (pitieth his own children) graphiquement. La compassion du Seigneur est noblement dépeinte, comme la ligne continue descend, car 'il se souvient que nous ne sommes que poussière' (he rememb'reth that we are but dust). Les trios antiphoniques reviennent, mais cette fois-ci les cordes s'y ajoutent, créant une texture à dix parties pour trois choeurs. Avec les parties des six voix maintenant unies, la musique s'amplifie comme nous sommes exhortés à 'speak good of the Lord in all places of his dominion' (bénir le Seigneur dans tous les lieux de sa domination). Les lignes triomphantes des voix ne sont surpassées que par un glorieux ritornello pour cordes qui mène à la brève exhortation finale du choeur: 'Praise thou the Lord, O my soul' (Mon âme, bénis l'Eternel).
extrait des notes rédigées par Robert King © 1993
aus dem Begleittext von Robert King © 1993
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller
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