The Comical History of Don Quixote
Music for the three Don Quixote plays of Thomas Durfey
Part I
Sing all ye muses
When the world first knew creation
Let the dreadful engines of eternal will
With this sacred charming wand
Part II
Since times are so bad
Lads and lasses blithe and gay
Genius of England
Part III
From rosy bowers
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
Henry Purcell's music for Thomas Durfey's three Don Quixote plays is rarely heard, aside from an occasional performance of a single song on a recital. The great mad scene "From rosy bowers" is justly famous, but the baritone song "Let the engines of eternal will" is also a great work, and other lesser songs deserve to be heard, as well. However, it is difficult to create a unified group out of the Don Quixote songs, since the music alone does not tell a continuous story. These are songs sung mainly by minor characters at occasional odd moments in the plays, and Purcell's music is interspersed among songs by other composers. Nonetheless, his songs for The Comical History of Don Quixote are accessible, enjoyable music and well worth rescuing from the library.
Parts I and II of Durfey's Don Quixote plays were performed in May of 1694 at the Theatre Royal in London. They were popular successes, although time -- with good reason, as many writers have said -- has not been kind to them. Both plays included a number of songs, some by Purcell and some by John Eccles, a lesser but nonetheless fine composer, but the instrumental music for these plays is now lost.
Durfey was then encouraged to write a third play as a sequel for the following season, but The Comical History of Don Quixote, Part III was such a failure that the playwright himself felt compelled to defend himself in his preface, saying that the play's shortcomings were "not so obnoxious as are supposed." Not only was the play itself the weakest of the three, but the theater company had by then split into two factions and now had less experienced actors who gave an uninspired performance. The music too was on a lower level. Instead of Eccles, three mediocre composers were hired to supply the songs.
By that time, Purcell, then only 36 years old, was on his deathbed. He nonetheless supplied one song for Part III, the brilliant mad scene "From rosy bowers." An early printing of the song bears the following heading: "This was the last Song that Mr. Purcell Sett, it being in his Sickness." The words of the song are meant to be comical, as a chambermaid feigns madness as part of a plot against Don Quixote. But Purcell's setting goes far beyond the import of the play. It is a true mad scene with great emotional depth, and one that is particularly poignant coming from a dying man.
Boston Baroque's performance of Purcell's Don Quixote music attempted to give a measure of dramatic coherence and context to the songs by adding a brief narration based partly on lines from Durfey's plays. Since the instrumental music from the productions has been lost, other instrumental music by Purcell was substituted. It would be interesting, although it was not done on that occasion, also to include the songs that Eccles wrote for the first two plays.
Boston Baroque Performances
The Comical History of Don Quixote
Performing version by Martin Pearlman
March 25, 1994
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Robert Brustein, narrator
Sharon Baker, soprano
Jayne West, soprano
Frank Kelley, tenor
James Maddalena, baritone