Purcell- Music For A While

• Henry Purcell composed the piece "Music for a While" in the Baroque era, specifically in 1692.
• Purcell was an English composer.
• The piece "Music for a While" is an aria (solo song) from a play called Oedipus.
• The piece "Music for a While" is a lament (a sad song which expresses grief or sorrow).
• The melody (tune) of the piece "Music for a While" uses some ornaments such as grace notes.
• The piece "Music for a While" uses falling (descending) phrases to reflect the mood.
• The piece "Music for a While" uses word painting (the music sometimes reflects the literal meaning of the words) such as 'drop' and 'eternal'.
• The vocal melody of the piece "Music for a While" is a mixture of syllabic (each syllable is sung to one note/pitch) and melismatic (when a syllable is sung to more than one note).
• Words are often repeated in the piece "Music for a While", for example 'all' and important words are placed on important beats.
• The harmony (chords) of the piece "Music for a While" is functional harmony (the harmony follows the traditional rules of major/minor scales and is largely based on the use of I, IV and V).
• The piece "Music for a While" features perfect cadences (V - I).
• The tonality (key) of the piece "Music for a While" begins in A minor and modulates to closely related keys such as C major.
• The structure (sections) of the piece "Music for a While" is in ternary form (A B A 1).
• The piece "Music for a While" is written for solo voice (soprano – high female voice) and is accompanied by a basso continuo consisting of a harpsichord and bass viol.
• The ground bass of the piece "Music for a While" is played by the left hand of the harpsichord and the bass viol.
• The texture (layers) of the piece "Music for a While" is homophonic (melody and accompaniment).
• The rhythm (length/type of note) of the piece "Music for a While" is continuous quavers in the ground bass and use of semiquavers in the voice.
• The tempo (speed) of the piece "Music for a While" is fairly slow.
• The metre (beats in a bar) of the piece "Music for a While" is 4/4 – 4 crotchet beats in a bar.
• The dynamics (volume) of the piece "Music for a While" is not written in the score, it is common in Baroque music to start softly.
• Stylistic features of the Baroque era include the use of a harpsichord, bass viol, ground bass, ornamentation, functional harmony, use of perfect cadences, and use of a basso continuo.