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Ornamentation and French style in Henry Purcell's vocal music (2015)

Kristen Witmer
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Name: Kristen Witmer Main Subject: Early Music Singing Research Coaches: Gerda van Zelm & Patrick Ayrton Title of Research: Ornamentation and the French style in the vocal music by Henry Purcell Research Question: What kind of ornamentation did Henry Purcell use in his vocal music and to what extent can his music written in French style be treated in a French way? Summery of Results: Henry Purcell received his musical training as a small boy during a unique era in England. By the command of King Charles II who wished to have the same kind of music he experienced at the French court, Purcell learned the newest style of composition in England at that time. Purcell is often acknowledged as a composer who developed his own unique style combining French and Italian style. However, it was only later in his life that Purcell intentionally started to learn and adapt the Italian style to his music. When Purcell writes in the French style, can I sing it like I would sing French music, with notes inégales and French ornamentations? Diverse interpretation on rhythmical alteration of Purcell’s music have been offered by many performers till the present day, and as if there’s been no conclusion reached, the interpretation is still left widely open for all performers. What was the likely custom of singers in Purcell’s time? What did Purcell expect in the performance of his vocal music? Fortunately, sources from Purcell himself and his contemporaries provide immense information on what kind of ornamentation was common at the time. Together with plenty of record about what kind of trained singers sang for Purcell, we can see how far Purcell took the advantages of these star singers to write even more elaborate music. The presentation will include further look at the reliable sources I’ve found on Purcell’s ornamentation, introduction to the important soprano singers of Purcell to be shown through a PowerPoint presentation, as well as a live performance of an ornamented version of Purcell’s song which I will demonstrate as the result of my research. Biography: American/Korean soprano Kristen Witmer studied classical and baroque singing at Tokyo University of the Arts. After graduation she received a scholarship from The Meiji Yasuda Cultural Foundation and studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague where she obtained Bachelor degree in Early Music Singing. She currently proceeds her Master degree with Lenie van den Heuvel, Peter Kooij, Michael Chance and Jill Feldman pursuing her research on Henry Purcell’s vocal music. Recent musical activities as a soloist include Handel’s Messiah with M. Suzuki, Bach’s Motet with P. Herreweghe, CD recording with Vox Luminis and Purcell’s King Arthur with Jean Tubéry.
typeresearch exposition
date01/01/2015
published28/05/2015
last modified28/05/2015
statuslimited publication
share statusprivate
licenseAll rights reserved
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/105962/105963
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue3. Internal publication


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137167 Ornamentation and the French style in the vocal music by Henry Purcell Kristen Witmer All rights reserved
108307 Ornamentation and the French style in the vocal music by Henry Purcell Kristen Witmer All rights reserved

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