Henry Purcell: Fairest Isle (King Arthur), Anna Dennis with Voices of Music 4K UHD
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- The song "Fairest Isle," from Purcell's semi-opera King Arthur (z628). Text by poet laureate John Dryden; music arranged and performed by the Early Music ensemble Voices of Music, with Anna Dennis, soprano. 4K ultra high definition video from the Great Poets concert, January, 2015
Purcell's spare musical setting allows the text to be perfectly rendered as a dance with very simple melismas to highlight words and phrases. The text alternates lines of eight and seven syllables, with the first line of each pair ending on an unstressed syllable and the next line with a stressed syllable; in addition, the even numbered lines all rhyme together, and these all end with a quantitatively longer syllable ("prove" or "grove" as opposed to, for example, "let" or "pit"); the use of longer syllables at the ends of these lines heightens the contrast to the unstressed syllables: this alternation of the structure of the poetic lines creates a kind of sway which goes perfectly with the dance-like character of the music. The text of the poem is based on an artful conceit of the poem, in which Britannia is so beautiful, and its inhabitants so fair and desirable, that Venus herself, the symbol of beauty and love, would prefer it to her own divine residence. King Arthur premiered in London in 1691.
Fairest Isle, all isles excelling,
Seat of pleasure and of love,
Venus here will choose her dwelling,
And forsake her Cyprian grove.
Cupid from his fav’rite nation
Care and envy will remove;
Jealousy that poisons passion,
And despair that dies for love.
Gentle murmurs, sweet complaining,
Sighs that blow the fire of love,
Soft repulses, kind disdaining,
Shall be all the pains you prove.
Ev’ry swain shall pay his duty,
Grateful ev’ry nymph shall prove;
And as these excel in beauty,
Those shall be renown’d for love.
-John Dryden
Voices of Music
David Tayler & Hanneke van Proosdij, directors
The Musicians and their Instruments
Anna Dennis, soprano
Lisa Grodin, baroque viola by Mathias Eberl, Salzburg, Austria, 1680
Carla Moore, baroque violin by Johann Georg Thir, Vienna, Austria, 1754
Elisabeth Reed,baroque cello, 17th century, after Nicolò Amati
Gabrielle Wunsch, baroque violin by Lorenzo Carcassi, 1764
David Tayler, archlute by Andreas von Holst, Munich, 2012, after Tieffenbrucker, c1610
Hanneke van Proosdij,Italian single manual harpsichord by Johannes Klinkhamer,
Amsterdam, 2000, after Cristofori, Florence, c1725;voice flute by Peter van der Poel, Utrecht 1990 after Stanesby Jr. c1725; soprano recorder by Alec Loretto, New Zealand 2000 after Stanesby Jr. c1725
Very beautiful soprano voice, a pure deilght for my ears.
I play this beautiful rendition regularly and continue to derive the same pleasure as if I was hearing it for the first time.
yes so do i . totally agree
Purcell's music has a superb musical construction and he has always been a firmly favourite composer of mine at least within these shores.
Agree!
I have completely fallen in love with classic music, especially baroque music, due to the superb and excellent performances of "Voices of Music". It has been such a pleasure to watch and listen to these videos.
Thanks so much!
Angelic. I am not expecting to hear a better performance of this piece.
I wouldn't consider it better, but definitely equal. You should listen to Andrea Haines' Voces8 version. That version and this are my two favorite of this beautiful piece!
@@nevinkorbett9985
Absolutely agree with you.
There is no video of the players in that CZcams but you do get to see the moving score and it’s interesting to see where the the singer and instrumentalist deviate from the score with their individual embellishments, entirely appropriately and exactly as they would have been expected to in the baroque period. We still get to experience such improvisation at live jazz and pop/rock concerts where the acts are not expected to replicate the “original” recorded versions but, sadly, this skill has long been discouraged in the “traditional” classical performance world where religious adherence to the “sacred score” as written by the composer has been seen as sacrosanct even where improvisation has been indicated such as with cadenzas. Fortunately early music groups such as here have embraced the authentic baroque performance style of embellishments and it is wonderful.
Anna Dennis has the most beautiful resonant soprano voice!
She's amazing.....
But all wrong for this song.
@@Digeroo123 I can imagine your state of mind considering that almost all the comments were in favor of the soprano in addition to the applause of the audience. Yes she must have got everything wrong when performing in front of a crowd and conducted by an august organization like voices of music! You must have forgotten to have something. You definitely have some fish to fry in this case.
@@jayakumarkaarikuzhy4713 Ms Dennis has a beautiful voice, but I agree with Digeroo, not suited to this composition. Compare this with Gardiner and Gill Ross.
What a wonderful voice and performance! Purcell is amazing. Thank you!
so lovely, and ... what a voice!
I can't help listening to this song all along! It's a real masterpiece that touch deep inside any heart! Thanks a great deal Voices Of Music!!!
Purcell had the touch. His songs were more modern than modern, if u know what I mean. Just the bare essentials. Who said baroque was about curleycues???
Es tan bello que hace brotar lágrimas de mis ojos. Henry Purcell y John Dryden sin duda , de lo mejor de los ingleses . Gracias a la soprano Anna Dennis y a Voices of Music . Divinos !!
I've been hoping you people who comprise the Voices of Music would perform this one. You're the perfect match for this sublimely beautiful piece of music. Nothing more need be said.
Brian Hay Thanks, Brian!
I also think. I've seen other versions, but this is the best.
What a gem this is.
Just love it! Such a beautiful song from one of my favorite composers.
Lovely rendition of Pursell's sublime song.
Quelle belle Venus , voix posée et profonde , de la couleur et du style ! Et un bel accompagnement ! Une magnifique version de cette " fairest Isle " qui reste l'une des plus belles mélodies que Purcell ait écrite !
Merci!
Bravo! It has been my contention for a great while that even Bach, up to age 37 when Purcell died, scarcely exceeded Purcell in quality of music.
Absolutely agree. A most remarkable composer!
He is horribly underrated…
This is amazing. I'd really love to see one of these performances live. Beautiful.
Gorgeous, and that harpsichord is beautiful.
Purcell, brilliant English composer almost totally unknown in the UK most people would think he was a washing powder but widely known in Europe. This was a lovely rendering with brilliant notes about the ancient woodwork that made it possible. 5 stars. We used to sing it at school in the 1960's, strange school and it didn't sound like this. Now on 3rd listen.
Best version I've ever heard... Magnificent voice and orchestra.
Thanks again, Voices of Music!
Incredible sound! Clear voice and great accoustics. A pure delight to both ears & soul!
A perfect delight. Thanks so much for sharing such beauty.
Bert Carter You are very welcome.
Bert Carter て
My favorite version of this lovely aria. Anna Dennis and the instrumentalists are absolutely perfect.
Thank you for the subtitles--an addition to the splendid performance of this splendid work.
Our pleasure!
Heart-wrenchingly beautiful.
Lovely music and exceptionally clear video, excellent.
Merci pour ce grand moment !
Wow...what a voice! Beauty beyond words.
bravo indeed...wow....great..
and I thought Dame Emma
was good!!!!....this is right
up there...wonderful stuff..
keep it coming....
Lovely, thank you! I'm just learning this -- the musicality part of it. :-) This is really wonderful in showing where the emphasis should be, and where the lightness....
you are GREAT § bravo bravo bravo , from Normandy,France.
Magnificent performance with Anna Dennis' singing demonstrating her quite unique, multi-layered and rich soprano voice. She performed Handel's Solomon in Glasgow with the SCO recently with an absolutely compelling and commanding performance. Let's hope she returns soon,
An extraordinary instrument. My favourite soprano of all time. I've been going to concerts from the 1960s,and Anna Dennis has something I've never heard before.
J'adore!!!
With great pleasure I voted! A lot thanks for your art and a sharing it with the world.
Deliciosa interpretación y orquestación, con un gusto musical exquisito. Bravo.
Oh! What a beautiful voice and style of singing, comparable to which I had heard only from some birds. Wow. People who could enjoy it directly must be the "chosen ones", as given in the Bible!
Such a lovable version&performance.
Na visokoj razini, očekivano za Voices,sopranisticu prvi put slušam, sviđa mi se...
Truly wonderful.
Wow...Stunning...
Very nice, I enjoyed this. I only wish that were another camera showing the individual musicians and Anna close up, in addition to the distance view of the entire ensemble!
Exquisite. Purcell's greatest song and perhaps the greatest English song at the level of Arne's "Rule Brittania". Enjoyed this a long time ago when William Christie visited Brooklyn (BAM) and "conducted" the audience in "Your Hay It Is Mow'd". One of my most memorable musical moments.
Oh yes this should be the British anthem
A truly beautiful performance in every way.
:)
Beautiful! Best version i"ve ever heard so far
:)
gorgeous
Très jolie version... From France
Era como estar en el cielo. ¡Wow! Muchas gracias por tanta belleza. 🌈🌟🙏😍🎶
delightful
Stupenda
Y'all need to not work Hanneke so hard! She played about ten instrument in this piece? All y'all need to help her out more. Ha! Love the performance!
Hahahha :D
Another beautiful performance from VM. X
Thanks for listening!
glorious!!!
just lovely😁
Vraiment beau ! Je la connais parcœur en chantant. ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
Complimenti a tutti i Musicisti !
If it’s not baroque, don’t bother. Purcell is amazing ❤
And I get to live in that very Isle.
:)
Vi ho scoperti da poco...dove eravate? O meglio: dove ero io per non accorgermi di voi. Grazie per le vostre esecuzioni al limite della perfezione stilistica, per la qualità del suono e dei video e per la vostra incredibile bravura. Da amante della musica barocca non posso che ringraziarvi per aver arricchito la mia esperienza di questo repertorio musicale bellissimo. Grazie!!
beautiful,what more can i say
Many thanks!
Jn Wesley wrote the hymn "Love divine, all loves excelling" as a sort of riposte to this poem, and it was originally sung to this tune.
Nice!
Bravo!! , indeed😊🙃
очень красивая музыка
God bless you
Very lovely!
Thank you! 😊
Fabulous! (Dr. David Crystal would make a case for Elizabethan pronunciation in which "love, grove, prove & remove" all rhyme. )
Dr. David Tayler says they are eye rhymes.
Ravishing.
Tx.
Ypperlig ❤🌷🍀🌞❤️
This is perfekt
What church, castle or palace is this?
St. Mark's Lutheran, San Francisco, California.
Thanks :-)
Looks and sounds wonderful.
👏👏👏🌺💐❤️💕💕
Trying to learn this on recorder at the moment.
Is that Corpus Christi in NYC?
No, St. Mark's, SF. But many nice memories of Corpus Christi.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Elisabeth Reed on cello. Nice one!
ER!
What key is this?
G
Shouldn´t this be the British anthem?
:)
😊
I notice the Early Music ensemble, but the voice is all wrong. Vibrato came later. It would have been a castrati so a much purer singing style.
Since we are musicologists, we are happy to write that vibrato appears in the medieval period, centuries before this performance. In the 16th century, still well before the time of Purcell, it is described in detail, and by the 17th century references to vibrato of different types is common. Your statement about castrati is not correct. You may read about Henry Purcell's soprano singers, for example Arabella Hunt and Charlotte Butler here, there is extensive documentation. www.jstor.org/stable/963282?seq=1
We will shortly be doing a webinar on historical vocal techniques, it's available on our web site and will detail the current state of research.
@@VoicesofMusic I still thinks she sounds awful. Ruins a fabulous song.
@@Digeroo123 Well I've heard this superb singer now numerous times in Glasgow and she is always exceptional in whatever repertoire. I can't begin to understand how you could describe this supreme musicianship and beautiful voice as 'awful' ...