Music for a While
Music: Edexcel GCSE, topic 3.1.1
Music for a While
Your first set work for Vocal Music is Music for a While by H. Purcell.
Music for a While
- Composed in 1692 and taken from the incidental music from the play Oedipus.
- Purcell uses typical features of the Baroque period.
Dynamics
- As this piece is written during the Baroque period there are no dynamic markings in the score.
Rhythm
- Overall the tempo is slow.
- In the Baroque period Laments were composed with ground bass and voice.
- They reflected feelings of sorrow and sadness.
- Characteristics of a Lament included falling phrases, a slow tempo and minor keys.
- Music for a While incorporates all of these features.
Ground bass
- Typically the ground bass would be 1, 2 4 or 8 bars in length.
- Here the ground bass is 3 bars long.