The illustration of the meaning of text through the music of Man is born of a woman by Henry Purcell

Man is born of a woman written by Purcell is a sacred funeral anthem or cantata written in London, 1695. Upon the death of Queen Mary II, Purcell was asked to prepare music for her funeral ceremony. The majority of the piece was based on music he had already composed, with adjustments where he saw appropriate. This piece was included in the publication of music for the funeral of Queen Mary II, and is in SATB voicing, composed for choir, a quartet of flatt trumpets (which were able to play in a minor key), and organ. For these purposes an organ continuo playing a supportive and somewhat inconspicuous role is used. The text is from the Book of Common Prayer* (1662, slightly altered). Many things within the composition of this piece point towards the fact that the text itself is of absolute importance; the music is subservient to the text, which is often not the case in music of this period. The anthem is written in through-composed form (A,B,C,Ci), which further reflects the continuity of the text, as if a personal monologue, without strong breaks and repeats. The extract is taken from the Book of Common Prayer, which at this time was a relatively new and important publication, even though some of the text was existent. The subject written about is taken from the Book of Job. Job was a good and righteous man, whose praise from God prompted Satan to tempt him into sin by ruining his life. Job stopped short of cursing God, or accusing God of injustice but instead curses the day he was born. The main narrative indicates Jobs own thoughts, in which he laments the cruel fate of mankind, the melancholic theme of the first section being introduced as early as bar 6 (Man... hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery). This dark message is further re-inforced by the composition of the piece, having a relatively slow and steady tempo and metre, and being in an almost exclusively minor tonality. It was then considered to be weak to end upon a minor cadence, hence the prolific use of the picardy third in European classical music of that era (particularly liturgical works). To use a tierce de picardie at the end of this piece may feel particularly inappropriate or cloying when compared with the context of the work. As a result of this the final cadence Purcell uses ends neither on a minor or major chord but in bare, open fifths (b.45). This gives a particularly haunting and stern effect whilst still abiding by the composition etiquette of the day. Coming straight from minor harmony, our ears may well give us an impression of a final minor chord, in any case, as the minor thirds were present throughout the bars leading up to the cadence. The tonality and harmony of the piece does have some interest and complexity. Purcell moves briefly through major realisations, for example after the Eb major cadence (b.22-3), the chordal movement is from Eb major to Bb major before finally resolving back to C minor. At this point, fleeth as if it were a shadow is being sung. Both the musical and written phrase are new ideas. This progression and the sentiment of the text is particularly poignant, as it is the only major relief the listener is permitted throughout the whole piece. Some false relations (e.g: b.31, Bb/natural) are introduced by Purcell; particularly as a result of the harmony moving in the circle of fifths, from bar 26 onwards. This, in turn, furthers the tension created by the insistent repetition of the phrase and neer continueth. This chromaticism induces a feeling of unrest and anguish, as though we naturally gravitate towards dissonances being resolved, the cycle continues and continues, again mirroring the air of the text.

* The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according
to the use of the Church of England together with the Psalter or Psalms of David pointed as they are to be sung or said in churches and the form and manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating of bishops, priests, and deacons.

The rhythmic style of the piece is considerably tame, with occasional dotted rhythms (e.g: b.10). This is consistent with the sedate manner in which the music is intended to be sung. Rhythms are wrapped around the lyrics which fall beneath them. Whilst not complex, these are carefully chosen to fit the words upon which the notes fall (again, e.g: b.10). Following the prosody of the words helps to create not only very naturally flowing lyrics, but makes them much more easily coherent to the listener. Rests are included, (e.g: b.6) mostly in order to punctuate musical and lexical phrases. Written in Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass format*, the four part harmony is most often in homophonic texture, which one could argue is purposefully in order to bring absolute clarity to the lyrics being sung. Whilst this is mostly the case, moments of polyphony occur throughout the piece. This polyphony is often used to begin musical phrase, as is evident, for example, in the first three bars. This is an example of staggered entry. One could suggest that the gradual introduction is much like the birth of the music, possibly representative of the ideas of the text (and title). Eventually an agreement of all voices is reached. At this point the texture settles into homophony. The sympathetic accompaniment provided does not obscure the choir but only supports it, on occasion filling out harmony. There are few, if any, unique musical ideas in the accompaniment which are not shared with the choir. An important textural development occurs in bar 26, where, after the new idea in bar 24 is introduced, the voices disband each other and become more independent. The way in which these voices occasionally mirror each other both in musical shape and rhythm is known as imitative polyphony. Phrases from one voice to another may share the same rhythm (e.g: b. 26-7 Tenor, b.27-8 Bass) but are introduced at differing points in a bar, leading to moments of complex counterpoint. In terms of pitch, again, motifs are sometimes shared between voices, being transposed in accordance with the individual melodic lines and harmonic movement in the direction of fifths, e.g: b. 28-9 Soprano, b. 29-30 Tenor. This technique strongly reinforces the repeated idea of the text (life ceases to continue). Here, Purcell does not need to be concerned about the clarity of the text, as and neer continueth is sung continually by all voices. Melodically, the piece is fairly conjunct and contoured with small intervals. Whilst the main melody is shared between all of the voices during the polyphonic sections of music, for the most part it is taken by the Soprano. Consistent and fairly predictable, the minor melody is to be expected and not surprising in its pitch content, until some false relations are introduced as mentioned earlier. There is however evidence of forethought in word painting throughout the melodic line. For example, in bar 14-5 we can see an ascension of pitch together with the lyrics He cometh up, and then a dissension of pitch with and is cut down. At bar 36 (shadow), the Bb is indeed the only remaining shadow of the brief major third before it. I believe its quite evident that Purcell put a great deal of thought and intent into using his musical ideas to portray the text, whilst being gracious enough to let his composition take a back seat in order to allow transparency of the written work. By using a combination of careful voicing, harmonic and tonal ideas, rhythmic sensibility and word painting, he has illustrated and made clear the meaning of the text behind the composition.

* The flatt trumpet quartet would have originally mirrored the SATB score in accompaniment, alongside the organ.