Purcell: Z 629/17. If love’s a sweet passion (The Fairy Queen) - Parker (Scholars)

Playlist (The Fairy Queen): The Fairy Queen, Z 629 Dramatic opera in five acts Text: Anonymous, after William Shakespeare’s ’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ () Music: Henry Purcell (1659-1695) First performance: 2 May 1692, in London (Queen’s Theatre, Dorset Garden) ___ 17a. Prelude for 2 treble violins, tenor violin and basso continuo Published in ’A Collection of Airs’ (London: Frances Purcell, 1697) 17b. If love’s a sweet passion for soprano and basso continuo Published in ’Some Select Songs as they are Sung in The Fairy Queen’ (London: Henry Purcell, 1692) 17c. I press her hand gently for chorus (SATB), 2 treble violins, tenor violin and basso continuo ___ Helen Parker, soprano The Scholars Baroque Ensemble (Artistic coordinator: David van Asch) Recorded in November 1992 Pitch: A = 415 Hz ___ I have reconstructed the score of the prelude from the separate parts (’Violino Primo’, ’Violino Secundo’,