Henry Purcell

Orpheus Britannicus

Editors' annotations:This edition is not the work of musicologists and therefore the solution of problems such as ornamentation has not been attempted. Most singers today are either unwilling or unable to perform the Graces - which Purcell may have expected, and we have therefore only printed the notes which Purcell himself printed. Those singers who wish to grace the songs will do so at their own pleasure.It is clear that the figured basses in Purcell's day were realised in a manner personal to the player. In this edition the basses have also, inevitably, been realised in a personal way. But it has been the constant endeavour of the arranger to apply to these realisations something of that mixture of clarity, brilliance, tenderness and strangeness which shines out in all Purcell's music.Peter PearsBenjamin Britten