Henry Purcell’s Vocal Music in John Dryden’s Comedy “Amphitryon; or The Two Sosias” (1690)

Abstract

The article presents an attempt of applying analysis of Purcell’s vocal music to one of the most
popular comedies of the Restoration “Amphitryon; or the Two Sosias.” The brief biography of the
mythological hero Amphitryon brought into the article, the history of the creation of Dryden’s play
and its predecessors – comedies by Plautus and Molière, the makeup of the cast of characters, the
names of the actors and the singers, the short overview of the aesthetical notions and the atmosphere
of the Restoration theater – all of this recreates the historical and cultural context which helps
realize the artistic particularities of Purcell’s vocal compositions. According to Dryden’s words,
the songs for “Amphitryon” were conducive to the comedy’s permanent success and lengthened its
stage life considerably.
Threads from the past envelop the images of the songs, it is possible to find analogies with the
composer’s earlier compositions – the solo secular songs and his sole opera “Dido and Aeneas.”
Especially revealing is Purcell’s attitude toward the song texts, in which he makes changes in
Dryden’s original poetical lines to achieve a more organic interfusion between the music and the
words and makes use of his favorite technique of word-painting. The songs from “Amphitryon”
demonstrate Purcell’s departure from his declamatory stile, from the peculiar English angularity of
melodies so characteristic for the solo secular songs of the preceding period. In them it is possible
to perceive a distinct influence of Italian music with its rounded, refined and harmonically balanced
melodies, and the tendency towards form extension is present. Passing beyond the boundaries of
the theater, the songs to “Amphitryon” were published in compilations and separate print editions.
The proof of the nationwide acknowledgement of the song “Celia, that I once was blest” was its
dissemination in the numerous street ballads, the so-called broadside ballads.

Keywords: Restoration theater, “Amphitryon”, John Dryden, Purcell, theatre music, broadside
ballads, word-painting.