Description

King Arthur was the only one of Purcell’s professionally produced operas to have been designed as a semi-opera – the others were all adaptations of earlier plays. Dryden made a real attempt to integrate the music into the drama,but since he ascribed to the dramatic conventions of the period which virtually confined music to allegorical or supernatural beings and their worshippers, or servants, shepherds and similar characters, the main action mostlyoccurs in the spoken sections, and even the two singing characters, Philidel and Grimbald speak more than they sing.

Contents

1. Brave Souls
2. Come If You Dare
3. Come, Follow Me
4. Come, Shepherds
5. Fairest Isle
6. For Love Ev’ry Creature
7. Great Love
8. Hither, This Way
9. How Blest Are Shepherds
10. How Happy The Lover
11. I Call
12. Let Not A Moonborn Elf
13. No Part Of My Dominion
14. Our Natives Not Alone Appear
15. Recitative, ‘The White Horse Neigh’d’
16. Recitative, ‘Woden First To Thee’
17. Round Thy Coast
18. Saint George
19. See, See, We Assemble
20. Shepherd, Shepherd, Leave Decoying
21. Sound A Parley
22. The Lot Is Cast
23. Thou Doting Fool
24. ’tis I That Have Warm’d Ye
25. To Woden Thanks We Render
26. Two Daughters Of This Aged Stream
27. What Ho! Thou Genius
28. What Power Art Thou
29. Ye Blust’ring Brethren
30. You Say Tis Love
31. Your Hay It Is Mow’d