H Purcell: ‘Music for a While’

What are the main performing forces used in Music for a While?

• The piece is written for voice (typically a tenor), harpsichord, and bass viol.

• This edition is transposed from C minor to A minor and scored for soprano.

How is the harpsichord part handled in Music for a While?

• The right hand is an elaborate realisation with dotted rhythms, ornamentation (mordents, grace notes, and appoggiaturas), and arpeggiated chords (e.g. bar 13).

• The left hand plays the ground bass.

What is the role of the bass viol in the performance of Music for a While?

• The bass viol plays the ground bass, alongside the left hand of the harpsichord.

• It is a bowed, fretted string instrument from the Baroque period, tuned in fourths with a third in the middle.

How is the vocal line set in Music for a While?

• The vocal line is mostly syllabic with speech rhythms.

• There are moments of melisma (e.g., bar 10 "wond’ring"), and paired slurrings (e.g., bar 5 "for" and "a").

• Repetition of text (e.g., "Music" and "drop") is used.

What are some examples of word-painting in Music for a While?

• "Pains" (bar 12) features dissonance between E and D.

• "Eas'd" (bars 13–14) involves dissonance resolving on the descending melody.

• "Drop" (bars 23-25) is presented with descending repetition.

• "Wond’ring" (bar 10) uses a descending melismatic line.

• "Eternal" (bar 20) has a lengthy melisma to represent the lasting quality.

What is the melody like in Music for a While?

• The soprano range is a ninth from E above middle C to F an octave higher.

• Much of the melody is stepwise (conjunct), with frequent passing notes (e.g., E and C in bar 5).

• Leaps are small (no greater than a perfect fourth, e.g., bar 7).

• There is a use of ornaments (trills, appoggiaturas, grace notes, mordents).

How is the structure of Music for a While organized?

• The piece follows a ground bass structure, with a repeated 3-bar bass pattern.

• The ground bass repeats 4 ½ times in the tonic key (A minor) before modulating.

• There are signs of ternary form (da capo aria), seen in bar 29 where material is reprised.

What is the texture of Music for a While?

• The texture is melody-dominated homophony, with the voice as the melody and the accompaniment provided by the ground bass in the harpsichord and bass viol.

• The right hand of the harpsichord provides counterpoint.

What is the tonality of Music for a While?

• The piece is in A minor, with occasional modulations to closely related keys (E minor, G major, C major).

• The central section modulates, returning to A minor at bar 28.

• Chromaticism and the ground bass create tonality ambiguity at times.

How does the harmony work in Music for a While?

• The harmony is diatonic and functional.

• Perfect cadences are used (e.g., bars 3-4).

• There are occasional suspensions (e.g., bar 3), dissonances (e.g., on the word "pains" in bar 12), and false relations (bar 1, F♯ in the bass and F♮ in the harpsichord).

What is the tempo and rhythm like in Music for a While?

• No specific tempo marking, but a slow tempo is appropriate.

• The metre is 4/4.

• Quavers and semiquavers are predominant, with occasional dotted rhythms and syncopation (e.g., bar 20).

What is the ground bass and how is it used in Music for a While?

• The ground bass is a three-bar repeating melody played by the bass viol and the left hand of the harpsichord.

• It is an arpeggio-based melody with semitone intervals and a rising and falling line.

• It is heard multiple times, modulating to closely related keys in the middle section