By Church music I mean music written for the Church, not
necessarily religious music. The passage at "Ego cubui et dormivi" is
sublime, Purcell's discords creating an atmosphere of strange beauty,
almost unearthly, and that yields to the unspeakable tenderness of the
naive phrase at the words, "Quia Jehovah sustentat me." The _Te Deum_
was until recently known only by Dr. Boyce's perversion. Dr. Boyce is
reputed to have been an estimable moral character, and it is to be hoped
he was, for that is the best we can say of him. He was a dunderheaded
worshipper and imitator of Handel. Thinking that Purcell had tried to
write in the Handelian bow-wow, and for want of learning had not
succeeded; thinking also that he, Dr. Boyce, being a musical doctor, had
that learning, he took Purcell's music in hand, and soon put it all
right--turned it, that is, into a clumsy, forcible-feeble copy of
Handel. One could scarcely recognise Purcell so blunderingly disguised.
However, we now know better, and the _Te Deum_ stands before us, pure
Purcell, in all its beauty, freshness, sheer strength, and, above all,
naive direct mode of utterance. It looks broken, but does not sound
broken.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82