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Five English Baroque Compositions for Organ
from  Two Composers

Jeremiah Clarke ♦  Trumpet Voluntary,  & Ground
Henry Purcell  ♦  Trumpet Tune, Rondeau (Abdelazar), & Chaconne (Arthur)

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Complimentary PDF Booklet available in August 2023
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FiveEnglishBaroqueCompsOrgBklt2023

Notes

Jeremiah Clarke was born in London (ca. 1673) and died there in 1707.  He studied with Henry Purcell and served in positions at Winchester College, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and at the Chapel Royal. His compositions include service music and anthems, as well as a number of keyboard works. The two selections from his music include a trumpet voluntary, the traditional Prince of  Denmark’s March. Titled as a round [as in 'rondo', i.e., A-B-A-C-A-B-A], it is presented here as an accompanied solo trumpet tune, freely edited (or realized) to include the use of contrasting registrations for the repeated sections. The original meter is notated in 2/2, i.e. in alla breve or cut time, altered in this edition to encourage a more stately tempo. A Ground with Twelve Variations is a charming movement in the tradition of a basso ostinato or chaconne. A Segno [:   :] appearing in the source manuscript with repeat dots before and after the four measures of Variation 1 might be interpreted as an indication to repeat that four measure unit as a refrain after each subsequent variation, in the manner of a French Chaconne or Rondeau, though it might instead suggest that each following variation is to be repeated in sequence (i.e., aa/bb/cc/dd … etc.).

Henry Purcell was born in London circa 1659, deceased in 1695. He began his musical career as a chorister in the Chapel Royal, then as an organ tuner at Westminster Abbey.  In 1677 he was appointed as composer-in-ordinary for the violins, and subsequently as organist of Westminster Abbey in 1679. In 1682 Purcell became an organist for the Chapel Royal, and subsequently  keeper of the king’s instruments. His Trumpet Tune in D Major, from Musick's  Handmaid, Part II (Twelve Lessons), is a regal and familiar composition presented in the manner of a processional; its repetitions are realized here in varying textures and voicings that allow for greater contrast and registrational variety on the organ. The Rondeau, from the incidental music composed for the drama, Abdelazar, also appears (in a diminished meter) in his Lessons for keyboard. In later years it would emerge as the theme of Benjamin Britten’s A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Purcell’s elegant Chaconne from King Arthur is a literal transcription from the original scoring for strings, with editorial suggestions for varied and contrasting dynamic levels and timbres. The structure seen in King Arthur’s ‘First Music’ (i.e., an overture or sinfonia), is similar to that of a passacaglia, in which a ground bass (eight measures of music in length) is repeated with varied harmonies, textures and rhythms in its acompanimental voices. Purcell introduces additional contrast by means of an intervening modulation to the parallel minor key, with an eventual return to the original major tonic.

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