Purcell: Three Songs For String Quartet

Category: String Quartet; Two Violins, Viola, and Cello ** Composer: Purcell, Henry ** Title: Three Songs for String Quartet ** Book/Parts: Score and Parts ** Arranger: Graham Bastable ** Publisher: International Music Co. ** Difficulty: A4.

The English Baroque composer Henry Purcell wrote a wide variety of music, from sacred choral works to operas. In Three Songs for String Quartet, editor Graham Bastable has selected and arranged songs from three of Purcells semi-operas or incidental music. The first song, "What Shall I Do," is a lovers lament from The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian, the tale of a Roman soldier who becomes emperor, but who ultimately learns a hard moral lesson about keeping his promises. The second piece, "Next, Winter Comes Slowly," is drawn from The Fairy Queen - an opera based on Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream. The final number, "From Rosy Bowers," comes from the incidental music to The Comical History of Don Quixote, which is, of course, based on the famous novel by Miguel de Cervantes.

Each song is relatively short, and one or all would make a great addition to a quartets gig repertoire.

This edition contains a score and parts, an informative preface by Mr. Bastable, and a copy of the lyrics from each song in the beginning of the score.