1 LP - BG 682 - (c) 1965
1 LP - AVRS 5053 - (c) 19??
1 CD - 08 2020 71 - (c) 1993

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - The Masque in Dioclesian and Instrumental Music for the Play






The Masque in Dioclesian



- I. Solo (soprano) & Chorus 1' 40"
A1
- II. Air (soprano) 0' 54"
A2
- III. Duet (basses) 1' 05"
A3
- IV. Chorus 4' 17"
A4
- V. Paspe (passepied) - Instrumental 0' 50"
A5
- VI. Duet (sopranos) 1' 39"
A6
- VII. Air (soprano) & Chorus 1' 50"
A7
- VIII. Duet (tenor and baritone)
0' 53"
A8
- IX. Solo (Bacchus) Trio & Chorus 2' 25"
A9
- X. Dance of Bacchanals - Instrumental 1' 27"
A10
- XI. Air (soprano) 1' 50"
A11
- XII. Ritornello 3' 08"
A12
- XIII. Canarie - Instrumental 0' 26"
B1
- XIV. Dialogue (soprano and baritone) 6' 42"
B2
- XV. Dance - Instrumental 0' 53"
B3
- XVI. Air (tenor) - & Chorus 2' 01"
B4
- XVII. Damce - Instrumental 0' 50"
B5
- XVIII. Trio & Chorus 5' 09"
B6
Instrumental Music for the Play


- First Music 1' 49"
B7
- First Act Tune (Hornpipe) 0' 40"
B8
- Dance of the Furies 2' 19"
B9
- Second Act Tune 2' 22"
B10
- The Chair Dance 1' 23"
B11
- Third Act Tune 0' 43"
B12
- Butterfly Dance 2' 26"
B13
- Country Dance 1' 18"
B14




 
Honor Sheppard, soprano Choir and Orchestra of the Concentus Musicus of Vienna
Sally Le Sage, soprano
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, director
Alfred Deller, counter-tenor

Philip Todd, tenor

Max Worthley, tenor

Maurice Bevan, bass




Alfred Deller, conductor

 
Luogo e data di registrazione
Palais Schoenburg, Vienna (Austria) - giugno 1965
Registrazione live / studio
studio
Producer / Engineer
Seymour Solomon / Mario Mizzaro
Prima Edizione CD
Vanguard Classics "Historical Anthology" - 08 2020 71 - (1 cd) - 51' 53" - (c) 1993 - AAD
Prima Edizione LP
- Vanguard "The Bach Guild" - BG 682 (mono) / BGS 70682 (stereo) - (1 lp) - 51' 53" - (c) 1965
- Amadeo - AVRS 5053 - (1 lp) - 51' 53" - (c) 19??

Notes on the program
The Prophetess, or the History of Dioclesian, enjoyed a huge and resounding success on ots first season, which took place in 1690 at the Dorset Garden Theatre in Salisbury Court, London. Revived time and time again over the years, it was last heard of at Covent Garden in 1784 until modern performances belatedly helped to re-establish Purcell's reputation as a composer of dramatic music. Founded on one of the old heroic plays of Fletcher and Massinger, Dioclesian (as the musical version is known) represented the kind of artistic collaboration that was common in the Restoration theatre, ever partial to the possibilities of a fantastic marriage of drama, music, and scenic effect helped out by machinery, dances, animals, and sometimes even birds. The "alerations and additions, after the manner of an opera" were the work of Thomas Betterton, an actor and writer whom Charles II had sent to Paris in order to study the techniques of opera production. Betetrton was evidently impressed by what he saw of French display and opulence, for he grew to favor an English adaptation of the French opéra-ballet perfected by Lully; and a contemporary account of his production tells us that it was "set out with costly scenes, machines, and clothes, the vocal and instrumental music done by Mr. Purcell, and dances by Mr. Priest: it gratified the expectation of court and city, and got the author great reputation."
The ballet-master was none other than Josiah Priest for whom Purcell had written Dido and Aeneas the year before. While little is known of his choreography apart from the names of the dances, it offered and audience eager for spectacular effects a shapely sister art to that of the scenic designers. And since the high point of the last act is a masque, whose form and content derived from traditions tightly entwined with the dance, it is only reasonable to expect the passepieds, minuets, galliards, and canaries serving as mobile interludes between set songs and choruses. Both Betterton and Purcell however realized that the substance of the evening's entertainment lay in the text and the music, and to this end Betterton trimmed the original play here and there (but without changing the plot) and added verses for the songs, choruses, and final masque. Taking over at this point not only Betterton's reach-me-down verses, but in addition the entire paraphernalia of preludes, ritornels, dances, and symphonies, Purcell set to work in the hope of making musical sense of an uncommonly variegated collection of artistic ingredients. That he did so with enthusiastic humility is testimony enough to his integrity as a dramatic composer, which shines through every èhrase of the central portion of his letter to Charles, Duke of Somerset:

"Musick and Poetry have ever been acknowledg'd Sisters, which walking hand in hand, support each other; As Poetry is the harmony of Words, so Musick is that of Notes: and as Poetry is a Rise above Prose and Oratory, so is Musick the exaltation of Poetry. Both of them may excel apart, but sure they are most excellent when they are joyn'd because nothing is then wanting to either of their Perfections: for thus they appear like Wot and Beauty in the same Person. Poetry and Painting heve arrived to their perfection in our own Country: Musick is yet but in its Nonage, a forward Child, which gives hope of what it may be hereafter in England, when the Masters of it shall find more Encouragement."

Purcell's encouragement came from the crowds who flocked to see and hear Dioclesian, and from the demands of the musical populace for songs, instrumental music, and even full scores. There were enough subscribers to make it worth while for Purcell to have a full score engraved, and although its bulk succeded even his expectations (two printers contributing towards the work involved), its publication in 1691 counted as a major event. At last the connoisseurs were able to see for themselves how Purcell had contrived to weld together this straggling succession of pieces "after the manner of an opera": by means of a cunning balance of tonalities, and a logical centering of them on the key of C major, he had been able to lend unity and shape to the most unprepossessing farrago ever offered to a serious composer.
The two characters celebrated in title and sub-title are both Roman, as is the scene of the original play. Delphia, the prophetess, is endowed with supernatural powers which she uses to control the destinies of four of the principal actors. Diocles (later called by the royal form of his name, Dioclesian) has shown great prowess in hunting and shooting, but little interest in the sweeter conquests of the alcove. Nevertheless, he is engaged to be married to Drusilla, niece of Delphia. Since the prophetess is understandably concerned about a close relative marrying a common soldier, she prophesies that Diocles will one day be proclaimed emperor, when he has slain a giant boar. This event takes place in a spendidly heroic scene which is followed by the customary jubilation and rejoicing. But Dioclesian, like the apprentice who has to marry his master's daughter, now finds himself entangled with Aurelia, sister of the late emperor, with the important difference that Aurelia's attractions are such as to eclipse almost completely the charms of Drusilla. The prophetess, angered by this unseemly jilting of an innocent niece, now lends a sympathetic ear to a handsome warrior named Maximinian, nephew of Dioclesian. Maximinian's mind is unfortunately racked by love and jealousy: love for Aurelia, and jealousy of Dioclesian's new-found power of office.
This is clearly a cue for the wielding of magical powers, and so effectively do Delphia's spells achieve their aim that the proud emperor is brought to his knees, aurelia returns to Maximinian, and Drusilla to Dioclesian. Love has enjoyed his first triumph! and now it is the turn of Mars. At the head of a huge army, Dioclesian (aided, of course, by the propitiated Delphia) defeats the Persians in a gigantic battle, at the end of which he resigns his crown to Maximinian and vows to spend the rest of his days in peace and quiet with Drusilla. Still Maximinian is not satisfied, and the chip on his shoulder prompts him to an attempt on Dioclesian's life, an attempt which is neatly foiled by the ever-watchful Delphia.
At this point the masque in honor of Dioclesian and Drusilla, a final triumph of Love in a sylvan setting, begins with a vigorous prelude leading into Cupid's calling forth the various characters. A brief solo and duet serve to prepare everybody for the pièce de résistance, an elaborately engineered appearance of four magnificient palaces and a spacious garden, solemn music playing all the time. Songs, dialogues, trios, choruses, and dances succeed each other in brilliant and breathtaking succession, the dithyrambic acclaim of Bacchus adding a more earthy touch to the idealized sentiments expressed by the rustics. And to end all, the finale, as well as being sung and played, is danced by everyone on the stage and in the four palaces, to "the glory of almighty Love."
Notes by (BG-682 or BGS-70682) Denis Stevens, Professor of Music, Columbia University

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929-2016)
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