The Undiscovered Henry Purcell

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The New York Sun

Henry Purcell is known for his songs, hymns, anthems, odes, operas — in short, for his vocal music. Which is all the more reason to welcome an excellent forthcoming CD of his keyboard music.

Just to refresh your memory, Purcell was a composer of the English Baroque, living from 1659 to 1695. And he was a towering genius. We think of Mozart, Schubert, and Mendelssohn as composers who died young (35, 31, and 38). Purcell’s short span — 36 years — was another blow in musical history.

We appreciate him for such operas (or semi-operas) as “Dido and Aeneas.” And his songs are some of the most beloved in the world. “Music for a While” begins many a vocal recital. There is also “Now that the sun hath veiled his light,” also known as “Evening Hymn.” If this were your favorite song — by anyone — it would not be a dumb choice.

Skilled as he was in vocal music, Purcell was no stranger to a keyboard. He was, after all, organist of Westminster Abbey — and is buried next to that organ.

He wrote eight keyboard suites, published after his death. Their original title: “A Choice Collection of Lessons for the Harpsichord or Spinnet.” And they appear on the above-mentioned forthcoming CD, from harpsichordist Richard Egarr. The label is harmonia mundi usa.

(As I’ve noted before in these pages, small letters are all the rage in music now. Alternatively, the company could call itself “HarmoniaMundi.”)

Mr. Egarr is an Englishman, who trained as a choirboy and organ scholar — that is a very English path. Among his teachers was the famed Dutch harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt. Like that old master, Mr. Egarr is a conductor as well. He leads the celebrated Academy of Ancient Music.

And he is eclectic in his activities and tastes. For example, he has conducted Stokowski arrangements — proof that he is no square or ideologue (early-music branch).

Furthermore, he has many, many recordings on harmonia mundi usa. This is supposed to be an age when no one can get recorded (given gluts in the market, etc.). They certainly can. But they might have to accept less dough than they think they’re worth.

In the liner notes of his new CD, Mr. Egarr has many choice things to say about Purcell and his keyboard music. “The style is extremely English,” he says. This music is full of “twists, oddities, and eccentricities that are deeply and uniquely rooted in a land that seems to specialise in the zany.” And here he cites Monty Python.

The movements of Purcell’s eight suites have names that are familiar from Bach’s suites. But those names are rendered in English: Almand, Corant, Saraband, Jig. You can dance to this music, if you know the steps. But Purcell’s compositions are so good — so enjoyable and ingenious — you will probably prefer merely to listen.

Mr. Egarr includes some fillers — he intersperses the suites with sundry pieces, in particular the kind of piece known as a “ground.” There is also a round — and it’s terribly familiar: It’s what Benjamin Britten uses in his “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.”

In all of this music, Purcell has a very, very strong advocate in Mr. Egarr. The harpsichordist plays with both freedom and discipline — knowledge and inspiration. From his fingers, the music is natural, fluid, characterful, and beautiful. In fact, it is often sensuous — and that is not a quality we’re prone to associate with the harpsichord.

It helps to have a first-rate instrument, as Mr. Egarr surely does. But it also helps to be a good player.

And here is an aside about that instrument — or rather, about tuning. The music comes out a full step lower than indicated. For example, a suite in G major hits the ears as F major — modern F major.

Moreover, Purcell’s music is heavily ornamented, at least as Mr. Egarr plays it. But it does not seem frilly (after a while). Mr. Egarr is always crisp — crisp without being mechanical or dry. That is an achievement.

His playing is much like this music itself: gracious, smart, flexible, and inspired.

The question remains why Purcell’s keyboard music is not better known — why pianists don’t appropriate it for themselves, for their recitals. For example, the Chacone in G minor would make a wonderful program-opener (in lieu of Bach, Scarlatti, or Handel — that formidable trio born in 1685, 10 years before Purcell’s death). For that matter, any of the suites would make a fine program-opener.

In those liner notes, Mr. Egarr writes, “I find it curious that Purcell’s suites are almost entirely ignored. When I presented one of these suites at a lesson once, my esteemed professor seemed mildly amused and dismissed them as lightweight trinkets.” That was a significant error.

Perhaps Mr. Egarr’s forthcoming CD will spark an enhanced appreciation of Purcell. The CD is as revelatory as it is good.

Here is a closing question about the composer: How do you pronounce his name? We Americans almost always say “PUR-cell.” British people say either “PUR-cell” or “Pur-CELL.” Whatever the case, he is a composer, born almost 350 years ago, to remember.


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