Composer

:

Benjamin Britten

Genre

:

Vocal

Style

:

Vocal Music

Average_duration

:

24:42

Movement_count

:

3

Movement ....

Benjamin Britten's "Purcell Realizations from Harmonia Sacra (3)" is a collection of three pieces that were composed in 1945. The premiere of the work took place on June 6, 1946, at the Wigmore Hall in London. The three movements of the work are "Lord, what is man?", "In the black dismal dungeon of despair", and "Let the night perish". The first movement, "Lord, what is man?", is a setting of a text by Thomas Gibbons. Britten's realization of the piece is characterized by its use of a simple, yet effective, harmonic language. The piece begins with a solo voice singing the opening lines of the text, which are then echoed by the choir. The choir then takes over, singing the remainder of the piece in a homophonic texture. The second movement, "In the black dismal dungeon of despair", is a setting of a text by William Hammond. Britten's realization of the piece is characterized by its use of chromaticism and dissonance. The piece begins with a solo voice singing the opening lines of the text, which are then echoed by the choir. The choir then takes over, singing the remainder of the piece in a polyphonic texture. The third movement, "Let the night perish", is a setting of a text by Nahum Tate. Britten's realization of the piece is characterized by its use of a simple, yet effective, harmonic language. The piece begins with a solo voice singing the opening lines of the text, which are then echoed by the choir. The choir then takes over, singing the remainder of the piece in a homophonic texture. Overall, Britten's "Purcell Realizations from Harmonia Sacra (3)" is a beautiful and effective setting of three texts from the Harmonia Sacra collection. The pieces are characterized by their use of simple, yet effective, harmonic language, as well as their use of different textures and techniques to bring out the meaning of the texts.

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