An Analysis On Adam Purcell’s Sleep Adam Sleep Essay, Research Paper

An Analysis of Purcell’s’ Sleep, Adam, Sleep

Out of all of the composers of the Baroque era, Henry Purcell seems to have extraordinary consideration for Italian operas, court odes, and religious anthems. He is best known for the epic Dido and Aenas, which was one of his famous operas. Sleep, Adam, Sleep was one of many of his sacred compositions. Various aspects of this piece such as melody, texture, harmony, dynamics, tempo, song form, and rhythm will be explained in the paragraphs to follow.

At first hearing of the piece, the listener might be confused on where the melody begins and where it might shift to the countermelody. The piece starts off in C minor, and it changes from time to time to E flat major. The song portrays Adam and Eve. The minor sections could portray of him being without a companion, and the major sections portray him happy with his companion. Although the melody begins and ends and ends in a minor key, the middle section varies between major and minor keys, possibly portraying Adam’s different moods and emotions. This composition would be considered conjunct because there are very few leaps and large intervals. The range of the piece changes slowly, subtly, and almost imperceptibly.

The texture would possibly be described as homophony where a single voice is taking over the melody, while the accompanying harpsichord part takes a subordinate or smaller role. Harmony also is found solely in this piece and it engulfs the melody and the two represent Adam’s sorrow as well as his joy of Eve. The harpsichord centralizes and makes complete the harmony.

Bibliography

Unverisity of Minnesota