Henry Purcell, Essential Purcell - 1h 19m 24s

Tracks & Durations

1. Welcome, welcome glorious morn	4:05
2. Be welcome then, great Sir	3:38
3. Oh, fair Cedaria	5:11
4. Hear my prayer, o Lord	2:21
5. When I am laid in earth (Dido's Lament)	4:10
6. Let mine eyes run down with tears	5:42
7. The sparrow and the gentle dove	4:47
8. If music be the food of love	1:58
9. Rejoice in the Lord alway (The Bell Anthem)	8:18
10. Hosanna to the highest	5:27
11. Thou knowest, Lord the secrets of our hearts	2:19
12. Fairest Isle, all isles excelling	4:02
13. Mark, how readily each pliant string	3:36
14. Sound the trumpet	2:34
15. She loves and she confesses too	2:24
16. O how blest is the Isle	5:10
17. Remember not, Lord, our offences	3:29
18. Now that the sun hath veiled his light (An Evening Hymn)	4:20
19. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day	3:33
20. With rapture of delight ... Hail bright Cecilia	2:10

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Review

The "Essential" Purcell? Well, you could get a bunch of critics to argue about that for a few days, but in the meantime, here is a sampler of highlights from the King's Consort's three admirable Purcell series: the Complete Odes and Welcome Songs, Complete Anthems and Services, and Complete Secular Solo Songs. There are, of course, some of Purcell's most-performed pieces (which probably are "essential"): Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas, "Sound the trumpet" from Come, ye sons of Art, Rejoice in the Lord alway (the "Bell Anthem," named for the string figure at the opening that sounds like pealing bells), the gently patriotic "Fairest isle, all isles excelling" (sung by a miscast James Bowman), and a selection from the funeral music for Queen Mary. There are also some delightful surprises--particularly among the little-known secular songs and church music. The plaintive "O fair Cedaria" gets a lovely performance by Barbara Bonney (a singer not usually associated with Purcell); tenor Rogers Covey-Crump (possibly the ideal high tenor for Purcell) sings the enchanting "If music be the food of love"; the church anthems "Let mine eyes run down with tears" and "Remember not, O Lord, our offences" have some startling harmonies as daring as any Monteverdi ever wrote. If you're unfamiliar with Purcell, this reasonably priced disc is a good place to start exploring without a big initial investment. --Matthew Westphal

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