Henry Purcell - Come, ye Sons of Art

Una pieza musical para tu cumpleaños es uno de los mejores regalos que te pueden hacer, incluso cuando es un encargo previo pago, y si el que tiene que componerla es un músico de la talla de Henry Purcell en plena madurez, entonces ni te cuento...

Henry Purcell.
Oda para el cumpleaños de la reina Maria II de Inglaterra
[Ode on the Birthday of Queen Mary II], Z323,
30 de abril de 1694: Come, ye Sons of Art.

Para escuchar de un tirón:

Gillian Fisher (so.)
James Bowman, Michael Chance (contr.)
Michael George (bj.)
Choir of the New College, Oxford
The Kings Consort - Dir.: Robert King

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Para escuchar por partes:

Jennifer Smith (soprano);
Michael Chance, Timonthy Wilson (contratenores),
Stephen Richardson (bajo).
The English Concert. Dir.: Trevor Pinnock

1. Sinfonía


2. Come, ye Sons of Art, come away,
Tune all your voices and instruments play
To celebrate this triumphant day.


3. Sound the trumpet, till around
You make the list'ning shores rebound.
On the sprightly hautboy play;
All the instruments of joy,
That skilful numbers can employ,
To celebrate the glories of this day.


4. Come, ye Sons of Art, come away,
Tune all your voices and instruments play
To celebrate this triumphant day.


5. Strike the viol, touch the lute,
Wake the harp, inspire the flute.
Sing your patroness's praise,
In cheerful and harmonious lays.


6. The day that such a blessing gave
No common festival should be.
What it justly seem'd to crave,
Grant, o grant, and let it have
The honour of a Jubilee.


7. Bid the virtues, bid the graces
To the sacred shrine repair
Round the altar take their places
Blessing with returns of pray'r
Their great defender's care,
While Maria's royal zeal
Best instructs you how to pray
Hourly from her own
Conversing with the Eternal Throne.


8. These are the sacred charms that shield
Her daring hero in the field;
Thus she supports his righteous cause,
Thus to aid his immortal pow'r she draws.


9. See Nature, rejoicing, has shown us the way,
With innocent revels to welcome the day.
The tuneful grove, and talking rill,
The laughing vale, the replying hill,
With charming harmony unite,
The happy season to invite.
What the Graces require,
And the Muses inspire,
Is at once our delight and our duty to pay.
Thus Nature, rejoicing, has shown us the way,
With innocent revels to welcome the day.

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- Mary II de Inglaterra reinó entre 1689 y 1694.
- Purcell compuso seis odas para los diferentes cumpleaños de la reina Mary II.
- La Oda "Come, ye Sons of Art" fue un encargo para su 32 cumpleaños.
- Contiene uno de los dúos más famosos del barroco, del que hay versiones para dar y tomar, con todo tipo de voces e instrumentos: " Sound the trumpet".
- Fue el último cumpleaños de la reina, murió, víctima de la viruela, el 28 de diciembre de 1694.