Henry Purcell: Music For A While
Incidental Music for John Dryden's Oedipus, "Music For A While" during Act I scene 3. At this point in the drama, Tiresias, a blind seer (someone who can foretell the future), and two priests summon the ghost of King Laius to discover the identity of his murderer. The first three bars of the song are played as the first priest enters. The rising pitch of the ground bass in the first three bars signifies the first priest attempting to raise King Laius from the dead by singing ‘Music for a While’. The soloist sings to one of the Furies, Alecto, who is able to ‘free the dead from their eternal bands’. Alecto has snakes for hair and blood dripping from her eyes. Her role in the story is to taunt and persecute Oedipus for killing his father. The effect of the music in the middle section of the song is to calm or ‘beguile’ Alecto – that is, to bewitch her – so that the snakes ‘drop from her head’ and the whip falls from her hands. So the song itself plays a dramatic role in the play rather than simply commenting on it.
Tenor Solo with Harpsichord, Bass Viol and Lute accompanimant |
Countertenor solo with Harpsichord accompaniment |