Three Songs for Bass Voice by Henry Purcell

This is a piece based on many layers of inspiration. I know, love, teach and perform the realizations of Purcell’s music by Benjamin Britten and this set is inspired by that practice. Purcell’s music has long been hailed as some of the best settings of the English language ever written and I hope by creating these realizations I was able to gleam a little of what makes Purcell so iconic in his treatment of the English language.
Britten is a constant inspiration as a composer, and his Purcell settings (while no where near what we currently consider historically informed) are how many singers in my generation were introduced to some of the relatively obscure pieces. When I realized that he had not realized the songs for bass voice, I knew I wanted to try my hand at the process.
These three pieces together allow the performer lots of opportunities to stretch and show off the limits of their performing abilities. Ideally the second song will make people laugh, while the first and second can show more serious shades of character.