0:00:02 > 0:00:04MILITARY MUSIC
0:00:24 > 0:00:28This is a journey through two centuries of music and history
0:00:28 > 0:00:32which forged the essential soundscape of our nation.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39Our story starts 350 years ago in London.
0:00:39 > 0:00:45A city recovering from civil war, plague and fire
0:00:45 > 0:00:50and home to the great British composer Henry Purcell. The first of four towering figures
0:00:50 > 0:00:56who shaped the music and musical life of the emerging United Kingdom.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01The others being George Frederick Handel, Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05MUSIC: "Hallelujah Chorus"
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Of the four, only Purcell was actually born in Britain.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19The other three each coming across from continental Europe
0:01:19 > 0:01:21bringing with them fresh sounds,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25fresh ideas to a land in the process of transforming itself
0:01:25 > 0:01:27into a modern society.
0:01:28 > 0:01:29POPPING
0:01:29 > 0:01:31# In his pleasure
0:01:31 > 0:01:35# In his pleasure... #
0:01:35 > 0:01:39I'll be discovering how these four composers
0:01:39 > 0:01:42each in their own way, changed the way me make music,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46the way we hear music and even how we think about music.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48This was a day of national rejoicing.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52The royal bride enters for her marriage to the man of her choice.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54MUSIC: "The Wedding March"
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Mendelssohn, Haydn, Handel and Purcell wrote great tunes
0:02:06 > 0:02:07we all know.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Music for weddings, funerals and great state occasions.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Music that brings us together.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Music lies at every point of our history.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28In here we simply use it as a prism through which to explore a little bit of who we really are.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51MUSIC: "Rondeau from Abdelazer" by Purcell
0:02:57 > 0:03:00This first programme is the story of Henry Purcell.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04A musician who was born in London 350 years ago.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08He's been described as our musical Shakespeare.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10The first great British composer
0:03:10 > 0:03:13just as the idea of Great Britain was beginning to take shape.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20'The next station is Westminster.
0:03:20 > 0:03:26'Exit for Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.'
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Above this Tube station - the historic heart of Britain.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32The centre of the nation's political life
0:03:32 > 0:03:37and at the close of the 17th century, the core of Purcell's world.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52Purcell lived, worked and ultimately died here in central London.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56But his music reaches out beyond the city
0:03:56 > 0:03:59to reveal the story of a nation on the threshold of huge social
0:03:59 > 0:04:03and political changes.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Purcell was a true child of the Restoration.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11He was born in 1659, just a year after the death of Oliver Cromwell
0:04:11 > 0:04:13and the collapse of the republican parliament
0:04:13 > 0:04:17so the monarchy was restored, Charles II came back from exile
0:04:17 > 0:04:22and he immediately set to work building a new more coherent, more stable society
0:04:22 > 0:04:27after 150 years of division over religion and politics.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31There was a new optimism in the air and Purcell was right at the forefront of this.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34He was a man of his time.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41His music touched every aspect of Restoration society.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46A soundtrack for the growing complexity of public life.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51Evocative music for the great institutions of the state -
0:04:51 > 0:04:53the king and the Church.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58Music for the stage that thrilled sophisticated Restoration audiences
0:04:58 > 0:05:03with its powerful tunes and expressive settings of the English language.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09# Wondrous, wondrous
0:05:09 > 0:05:12# Wondrous
0:05:12 > 0:05:17# Wondrous machine
0:05:17 > 0:05:19# To thee
0:05:19 > 0:05:24# The wa-a-a-a-a-arbling lute
0:05:24 > 0:05:27# Though used to conquest
0:05:27 > 0:05:33# Must be forced, must be forced must be forced to yield. #
0:05:33 > 0:05:40'Purcell's supreme gift is for setting urban English to expressive music.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44'Mixing the sophisticated poetry of the palaces and courts
0:05:44 > 0:05:48'with the vibrant language spoken on the city's streets.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50'London has changed since Purcell's time,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54'but walking up Whitehall still leads you north from the river.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56'And at the top of the street is a time capsule.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58'The National Portrait Gallery.'
0:05:58 > 0:06:02Some great 17th century characters in here.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04John Dryden.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Samuel Pepys.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09And over here, one of the great comic actresses of the age,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Nell Gwyn, also mistress to Charles II.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15And here he is.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18King of England and Wales. King of Scotland
0:06:18 > 0:06:20and King of Ireland.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24But in this next room, we find the only authenticated portrait of OUR man -
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Henry Purcell.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30This is the earliest true likeness of a British composer to survive.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34This sketch was almost certainly taken from life.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Slightly watery eyes, strong nose.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42There's pride there, surely, but maybe also wistfulness.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Certainly sensitivity, compassion.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48He's dressed with a typical musician's informality.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53And yet it's expensive cloth - he's obviously got a sense of the luxurious.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Purcell's childhood had been marked
0:07:01 > 0:07:04by huge events.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07At the age of six, he managed to survive the outbreak of bubonic plague
0:07:07 > 0:07:10which killed 100,000 of his fellow Londoners.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And the following year, 1666, the majority of the city
0:07:13 > 0:07:16was devastated in the Great Fire.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23When the fire came, in September 1666,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26it devastated the whole of the old city.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Over 13,000 houses were destroyed.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Something like 86 churches.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35It was almost impossible to imagine
0:07:35 > 0:07:37the extent of the devastation.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42And almost immediately, there was a sense that a new city had to be built out of the ashes.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45This was a city that would rewrite the rules.
0:07:45 > 0:07:51It would be a rational city rather than the old medieval huddle.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54At the heart of it were these new city churches.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Perhaps the most resplendent is St Paul's Cathedral itself
0:08:00 > 0:08:03but also the financial institutions - new banks.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06The first trading floors of the stock market.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11London was to be a trading capital of the world.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14It would be the largest city in Europe
0:08:14 > 0:08:19and would be right at the heart at what was the emerging British Empire.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25Transformation on this scale called for a rare kind of visionary.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27And the king chose as his architect
0:08:27 > 0:08:34the country's leading scientist, the Oxford professor of astronomy - Christopher Wren.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Wren's buildings are like the 17th century built in stone.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43And in the evocative, formal space of the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford,
0:08:43 > 0:08:48'I've assembled a team of singers alongside my orchestra, Army of Generals,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51'who, using the instruments and performing techniques of Purcell's time,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53'will allow us to hear this music,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57'more or less as the composer and his audience heard it.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01'Hail Bright Cecilia is Purcell's ode to the patron saint of music.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04'An elegant baroque masterpiece
0:09:04 > 0:09:09'celebrating music's ability to bring order to the world.'
0:09:11 > 0:09:14# Soul
0:09:14 > 0:09:16# Of the world
0:09:16 > 0:09:21# Soul of the world
0:09:21 > 0:09:26# Soul of the world... #
0:09:26 > 0:09:30'Purcell was a master of word painting.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35'Just listen to this amazing musical onomatopoeia on the word, "jarring."
0:09:35 > 0:09:38'"The jarring, jarring seeds of matter did agree."'
0:09:40 > 0:09:44# The jarring, jarring seeds
0:09:44 > 0:09:47# The jarring, jarring seeds
0:09:47 > 0:09:53# Of matter did agree
0:09:53 > 0:09:57# Thou didst the scatter... #
0:09:57 > 0:10:02'As Purcell resolves the musical tension of those "jarring" chords,
0:10:02 > 0:10:07'you get the feel of Restoration society emerging from years of chaos.'
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Purcell's music radiates optimism
0:10:14 > 0:10:19and a belief in humanity's place in a well-ordered universe.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25'The symbol of the new age was Christopher Wren's Monument
0:10:25 > 0:10:29'currently undergoing its own restoration. It was built in Pudding Lane, where the fire had begun,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33'and celebrates the arts and sciences coming together
0:10:33 > 0:10:39'under the patronage of Charles II in the aftermath of 1666.'
0:10:39 > 0:10:42The young up and coming poet, John Dryden, cemented his reputation
0:10:42 > 0:10:45summing up this momentous year in his "Annus Mirabilis."
0:10:45 > 0:10:48a heroic and patriotic poem in which he predicts
0:10:48 > 0:10:53that a greater and more august London will arise from her fires.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57And so impressed was Charles II that he immediately appointed him official poet to the crown.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05He was the first Poet Laureate
0:11:05 > 0:11:08and soon to be one of Purcell's major collaborators.
0:11:08 > 0:11:14'Restoration society revolved around the central presence of the king.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19'From his palace in Westminster, Charles II dominated all aspects of public life -
0:11:19 > 0:11:22'social, political and religious.'
0:11:30 > 0:11:33'Creativity in response to the needs of Church and state
0:11:33 > 0:11:37'is the key to the early part of Henry Purcell's professional career.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:42Preserved here is something of 17th century Westminster
0:11:42 > 0:11:47and in the early 1680s, Purcell was simultaneously organist at Charles II's Chapel Royal,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49and also here at Westminster Abbey.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51He lived in a little street just over there,
0:11:51 > 0:11:57a street that no longer exists by the name of Bowling Alley East together with his wife, Frances.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01The fact is, we know very little about the man.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Not even how to pronounce his name - Pur-CELL? PUR-cell?
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Who knows?
0:12:07 > 0:12:13# Close thine eyes
0:12:13 > 0:12:15# And sleep
0:12:15 > 0:12:19# Sleep, sleep
0:12:19 > 0:12:24# Secure
0:12:24 > 0:12:28# Thy soul is safe
0:12:28 > 0:12:35# Thy body sure... #
0:12:35 > 0:12:41Since the middle ages, the background of every professional musician in Britain was church music.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45And Purcell, like all his predecessors, was brought up in this tradition.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48But the continuity with the past had been destroyed
0:12:48 > 0:12:51by the execution by the head of the church Charles I.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Under the patronage of his son, Charles II,
0:12:58 > 0:13:03there was a deliberate attempt to restore the repertoire of Anglican church music.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Purcell, with his gift for word-painting,
0:13:05 > 0:13:10seized the chance to explore the lushest vocal elaborations,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14while still presenting the text with a crystalline clarity.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15# That keeps who never... #
0:13:15 > 0:13:16'Here the words he set,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20'come from a poem written by Charles I emphasising the continuity
0:13:20 > 0:13:25'of the monarch's position as head of the church.'
0:13:25 > 0:13:29# Never slumbers, never sleeps
0:13:29 > 0:13:34# A quiet conscience
0:13:34 > 0:13:41# In a quiet breast... #
0:13:41 > 0:13:46The work that Purcell and others did in revitalising the repertoire of Anglican church music
0:13:46 > 0:13:49persists in our cathedrals to this day.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52And Purcell's sensitive yet robust compositions
0:13:52 > 0:13:54are one of its cornerstones.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02# Shut not
0:14:02 > 0:14:08# Shut not thine merciful ears
0:14:08 > 0:14:14# Unto our prayers
0:14:14 > 0:14:19# But spare us, Lord
0:14:19 > 0:14:25# Spare us, Lord, most holy
0:14:25 > 0:14:29# O God
0:14:29 > 0:14:36# O God most mighty... #
0:14:36 > 0:14:39There's a certain approach to dissonant harmony
0:14:39 > 0:14:43to slightly over-rich, quite daring harmony
0:14:43 > 0:14:44that gives his music
0:14:44 > 0:14:46a sort of individuality
0:14:46 > 0:14:49and a sort of colour.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53# Thou most worthy judge eternal... #
0:14:53 > 0:14:56'His word setting is wonderful.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00'I think that's partly because of his interest in dramatic music.'
0:15:00 > 0:15:03He must have been very aware of heightened speech,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07of how to give that a musical expression.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10'We find some of it eccentric - irregularity and so forth
0:15:10 > 0:15:14'but it always helps the clarity of the text.'
0:15:14 > 0:15:17# Last hour
0:15:17 > 0:15:22# For any pains of death
0:15:22 > 0:15:26# To fall, to fall
0:15:26 > 0:15:29# From thee. #
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Although his main residence was in Whitehall just round the corner from Westminster,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Charles would often visit his outlying palaces,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43always accompanied by a huge retinue
0:15:43 > 0:15:48including multiple musicians who were there to provide sacred music for him whenever he needed it.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51These were the gentlemen of the Chapel Royal.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56# Be merciful unto me
0:15:56 > 0:15:58# O Lord
0:16:02 > 0:16:06# Be merciful unto me
0:16:06 > 0:16:09# O...
0:16:09 > 0:16:13# Be merciful, be merciful
0:16:13 > 0:16:16# Be merciful
0:16:16 > 0:16:18# Be merciful... #
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Chapel Royal is a group of clergy and musicians
0:16:20 > 0:16:22whose function is to minister
0:16:22 > 0:16:25to the musical and liturgical needs of the sovereign.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Purcell was a member of it for his entire musical career.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35He joined as a choirboy.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Uncertain exactly when - the records don't have that degree of detail
0:16:38 > 0:16:41but probably around the age of eight or nine.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46His father and his uncle were both adult members of the choir - Henry Purcell and Thomas Purcell.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50And so much of Purcell's greatest music was written for the Chapel Royal.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53CHOIR SING
0:16:58 > 0:17:02We have no idea about Purcell's emotional or intellectual life.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07He worked and composed for the church but that didn't necessarily mean he shared their beliefs.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10That was where the work was and he was a professional musician.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15So he set the text, the devout text and the psalms that were required of him
0:17:15 > 0:17:18but through his extraordinary gift for harmony and expressivity,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20he made those texts his own.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25The spirituality in Purcell's music can be simply massive.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29# Hear my prayer
0:17:29 > 0:17:34# O Lord
0:17:34 > 0:17:38# And let my crying
0:17:38 > 0:17:44# Come unto thee
0:17:44 > 0:17:47# Let my crying
0:17:47 > 0:17:52# Come unto thee... #
0:17:52 > 0:17:58'Hear My Prayer sums up Purcell's gift as a dramatic composer'
0:17:58 > 0:18:02and his ability to extract the maximum from a short piece of text.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06'Here we are - supplicant human beings
0:18:06 > 0:18:09'all too aware of our weakness.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12'It's one long slow burn.'
0:18:12 > 0:18:17An intensely slow crescendo to an anticipated relief we never quite experience.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19# Let my cry...
0:18:19 > 0:18:25# And let my cry
0:18:25 > 0:18:29# Come unto... #
0:18:29 > 0:18:33'He draws out our emotions'
0:18:33 > 0:18:37only to bend them gently to his own human perspective.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39There is no resolution.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42'Perhaps even in death.'
0:18:42 > 0:18:46# Hear my prayer...
0:18:46 > 0:18:48# Hear my prayer...
0:18:48 > 0:18:53# Let my crying...
0:18:53 > 0:19:00# Let my crying... #
0:19:07 > 0:19:11'I think this is a characteristically British style of choral music.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14'As a nation, we do love to sing
0:19:14 > 0:19:18'and Purcell's confident, but at the same time slightly restrained
0:19:18 > 0:19:22'self-controlled sacred music still resonates some three centuries later.'
0:19:34 > 0:19:39Charles II loved sailing and he had a succession of royal yachts.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44One of them was called the Fubbs - named after one of his chubbier mistresses.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48One day they decided to take it on a cruise down the Thames and round the Kent coast
0:19:48 > 0:19:52with a party of singers and musicians for the king's entertainment.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57Among them was the Rev John Gosling - a stupendous bass singer and a close friend of Henry Purcell's.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00He was to learn, all too well, on this voyage,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04both the wonders and the perils of the deep.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15After leaving the security of the river, they sailed out into the open sea.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19But a violent storm arose around the treacherous waters of North Foreland
0:20:19 > 0:20:25off the Kent coast and there was a real fear that they might capsize.
0:20:25 > 0:20:31The king and the rest of the royal party were forced to work the sails alongside the rest of the crew.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35And together they managed to bring the royal yacht Fubbs safely ashore.
0:20:35 > 0:20:42Afterwards, Gosling persuaded Purcell to set some appropriate words from one of from the psalms
0:20:42 > 0:20:47so it could be sung for King Charles' pleasure during a Chapel Royal service.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52'An opportunity to demonstrate the full range of his remarkable voice
0:20:52 > 0:20:58'and a challenge to sing even for a great modern bass like John Tomlinson.'
0:20:58 > 0:21:04# They that go down to the sea in ships
0:21:04 > 0:21:06# These...
0:21:06 > 0:21:11# These men see the works of the Lord
0:21:11 > 0:21:13# And his wonders
0:21:13 > 0:21:16# His wonders in the deep
0:21:16 > 0:21:18# For at his word
0:21:18 > 0:21:26# A stormy wind ariseth
0:21:26 > 0:21:28# For at his word
0:21:28 > 0:21:34# A stormy wind ariseth
0:21:34 > 0:21:40# Which lifteth up, which lifteth up the waves thereof
0:21:40 > 0:21:44# They are carried up to heav'n
0:21:44 > 0:21:48# And carried down again to the deep... #
0:21:48 > 0:21:51They That Go Down To The Sea was written for John Gosling
0:21:51 > 0:21:54who was this great bass and friend who must have been great
0:21:54 > 0:21:56because the range of the thing is immense, isn't it?
0:21:56 > 0:21:58The first phrase alone is two octaves
0:21:58 > 0:22:00from a top D to a bottom D just in
0:22:00 > 0:22:01the first couple of bars.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03So it's all very descriptive music -
0:22:03 > 0:22:08describing the depths of the sea and the storm
0:22:08 > 0:22:13and staggering men. It's all described and painted in the text.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16So, yeah, it's a big range.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20It's true musical onomatopoeia. You're down there, on the sea
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and you're scudding about and there's this amazing lilt to it.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24It's almost like a slow dance.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27That's true. La-la, la-la, la-la.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31# Down in the deep
0:22:31 > 0:22:32# Down into the bottom. #
0:22:32 > 0:22:35So it's quite demanding but it's meant to be.
0:22:35 > 0:22:36# They are carried up to heav'n
0:22:36 > 0:22:41# Are carried up to heav'n
0:22:41 > 0:22:45# And down again to the deep
0:22:48 > 0:22:56# The souls mentor the way because of trouble
0:22:56 > 0:23:00# They kneel, they kneel to and fro
0:23:00 > 0:23:08# And stagger, and stagger like a drunken man
0:23:08 > 0:23:11# And are and are at their wits' end
0:23:14 > 0:23:21# And are and are at their wits' end... #
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Although Purcell left no personal papers,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42no letters or documents revealing his thoughts or beliefs,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45he did leave behind plenty of autographed scores.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46His music in his hand
0:23:46 > 0:23:51and I'm on my way to the British Library in St Pancras to look at this extraordinary collection.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07- Sandra, this is Purcell's own score book.- That's right, yes.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10This is a document of musical life at Charles' court
0:24:10 > 0:24:12in the last five years of his reign.
0:24:12 > 0:24:18It's Purcell's own handwritten document of most of the pieces he wrote at court.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21'There's something really touching about this book.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24'This is the composer's personal archive of his work
0:24:24 > 0:24:28'copied out not for performance but for preservation.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32'And you get a deep sense of the man.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35'The best sort of musician, really - creative and practical.'
0:24:35 > 0:24:37And here we have his table of contents.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39You see you get down here
0:24:39 > 0:24:42and he's put the page numbers of everything up to Unto Thee Will I Cry.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44And if we go to that section of the book...
0:24:46 > 0:24:50..you see here's They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54Purcell wrote out the first instrumental introduction
0:24:54 > 0:24:57but he stopped here after the first line of the verse.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59It's the bass solo.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04"They that go down to the sea in ships, these men see the works of the..."
0:25:04 > 0:25:05and it stops.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07And what's on the next page?
0:25:08 > 0:25:09- Nothing at all!- Nothing at all!
0:25:09 > 0:25:11Several blank pages.
0:25:11 > 0:25:17And the next thing we get is the anthem that was written for the coronation of James II.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22So it looks like Purcell possibly was writing that when he heard that Charles had died
0:25:22 > 0:25:24so he didn't finish...
0:25:24 > 0:25:26- He didn't bother.- He didn't bother.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28And the fact that he stopped at this point
0:25:28 > 0:25:30shows how immensely practical he was.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32There's no point in sweat and toil
0:25:32 > 0:25:35over writing a fair copy because the times had changed.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41Charles II was replaced by his brother, James II
0:25:41 > 0:25:44who was welcomed, surprisingly, as he was a known Catholic
0:25:44 > 0:25:49but very very quickly, within three years of his reign,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51he became a very hated figure,
0:25:51 > 0:25:58because he was willing to attempt to convert England back to Catholicism.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01There was a real fear that the worst thing that could possibly happen
0:26:01 > 0:26:02was a return to civil war.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04They had experienced it.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06This was the same generation that had spent their childhood
0:26:06 > 0:26:08not knowing what the future held.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15During his brief but anxious reign, James II favoured Roman Catholics
0:26:15 > 0:26:17from Italy and Spain over domestic musicians.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20And Purcell seems to have used this as and opportunity
0:26:20 > 0:26:23to consolidate his position at Westminster Abbey
0:26:23 > 0:26:27where his organ playing was beginning to attract attention.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35The end of the 17th century saw a huge leap forward in terms of organ technology,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38driven principally by the two main builders working in Britain.
0:26:38 > 0:26:44The German born Bernard Smith known as Father Smith, master organ builder by royal appointment,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47and the upstart from Brittany, Renatus Harris.
0:26:58 > 0:27:04Christopher Wren's programme to rebuild London's churches, after the Great Fire,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06created a ready market for new organs.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09Purcell was personally involved in the choice
0:27:09 > 0:27:11and testing of these instruments.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14The intensely competitive Smith and Harris
0:27:14 > 0:27:20each brought their own style and secret techniques to the ancient craft of organ-building.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25It's a tradition of craftsmanship that still survives,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29and this Renatus Harris organ, in this city church,
0:27:29 > 0:27:34was restored to its current peak condition by the specialist firm of Goetze and Gwynn.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46So this is the important part of the pipe, actually.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50I'm making the flue for the ribbon of air
0:27:50 > 0:27:52which causes the sound.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56This is actually, almost, the most critical part of these pipes.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58So when we put the front on,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01you can see it looks a bit like a recorder.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05The interesting thing about these early organs is that the pipes are just cut to length,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07so there's no means of tuning them.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Once I've tuned them once, that's it.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12- Forever?- Forever, yes. You know,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16if one has obviously gone a bit flat,
0:28:16 > 0:28:20- you would then shorten it slightly with a knife. - How about if it's gone sharp?
0:28:20 > 0:28:24- If sharp, you'd take a bit of ear wax, and stick it in the top. - HAZLEWOOD LAUGHS
0:28:30 > 0:28:35These are tools and techniques that would have been immediately familiar to Purcell.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40In his youth, he'd worked as an unpaid assistant to John Hingeston,
0:28:40 > 0:28:44once Oliver Cromwell's favourite musician, and now Keeper of the King's instruments.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46There you go.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49- So this globule...- Yes.
0:28:49 > 0:28:50'From Hingeston,
0:28:50 > 0:28:54'he'd learnt to make, repair, and tune all manner of organs.'
0:28:55 > 0:28:59In order to operate, it needs a couple of valves.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02We're going to just put a bit of sheepskin on here,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05it provides a very good seal.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Has it been cured in any way to make it soft like that?
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Yes. Yes, it's always tanned.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Yeah, because to cure kid gloves in the 19th century,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17they used to rub...well, dog poo in, for want of a better phrase.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Yes, yes, that's a possibility. Yes. But I don't think here.
0:29:23 > 0:29:2717th-century listeners were hungry for novelty.
0:29:27 > 0:29:35They wanted their organs to offer a panorama of different sounds - to imitate trumpets, and violins.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39In the 1680s, Purcell gave public organ recitals,
0:29:39 > 0:29:45demonstrating the superiority of Bernard Smith's instruments over those of his competitor,
0:29:45 > 0:29:46Renatus Harris.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Both had their individual styles of pipes,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Smith preferring the more traditional wooden pipes...
0:29:52 > 0:29:54NOTE SOUNDS
0:29:54 > 0:29:56So that's the wood pipe.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01..whilst Harris pioneered the use of metal pipes with reeds.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Now that is a reed pipe, isn't it?
0:30:04 > 0:30:06If you keep your finger on the key...
0:30:06 > 0:30:09NOTE SOUNDS
0:30:09 > 0:30:10- NOTE SHARPENS - You can see.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14So, actually, the right sound is about there.
0:30:14 > 0:30:20- Now this is a vox humana. - Vox humana literally translated means human voice.
0:30:20 > 0:30:21- So... - CROAKING NOTE SOUNDS
0:30:21 > 0:30:24HAZLEWOOD LAUGHS
0:30:24 > 0:30:27- That sounds nothing like a human voice!- But...
0:30:27 > 0:30:29at the end of Purcell's lifetime,
0:30:29 > 0:30:35all the people who could afford it, wanted an organ which had the new imitative stops.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40So the vox humana must have sounded like...or rather,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43people sang like the vox humana, so...
0:30:43 > 0:30:47- That's a scary thought, really, isn't it?- It is quite, yes.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57It had been an uneasy decade for the country,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00but in the closing years of the 1680s,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02just as Henry Purcell reached the age of 30,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05change was in the air.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11The glorious revolution of 1688 was a turning point in British history.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17A small group of English nobles had written to the Dutch nobleman,
0:31:17 > 0:31:19William of Orange, and invited him over.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24And he arrived with a fleet the size of the Spanish Armada, with a vast army.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28This was the last invasion of England.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36James the II fled ignominiously to France,
0:31:36 > 0:31:43and the impeccably Protestant William and his wife Mary were crowned joint monarchs.
0:31:43 > 0:31:50Mary was James II's daughter, and the line of legitimate succession passed through her.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56London relaxed, and got back to the pleasures of business,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58and the business of pleasure.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02And this was where Henry Purcell's career really took off,
0:32:02 > 0:32:07composing music for the stage at the capital's leading theatre in Dorset Gardens.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14York Watergate stands here in its original 17th-century position.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18These days, it's landlocked, 150 metres from the river,
0:32:18 > 0:32:22but originally, its steps would have led down directly to the water,
0:32:22 > 0:32:27and it was this that was the secret of the Dorset Garden theatre's success.
0:32:29 > 0:32:30You could get there by river taxi.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34The Thames was one of the main highways through London.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37It was much more speedy and practical to travel by boat
0:32:37 > 0:32:41than to struggle through the crowded, narrow, and dirty streets.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45Besides, you didn't encounter all the muggers, whores, and street lowlifes
0:32:45 > 0:32:48who might accost you, and ruin your evening at the theatre.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24Dido And Aeneas is a curious thing.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27It's the only piece Purcell wrote that we would call an opera.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31In other words, it's through-composed, it has no spoken dialogue.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33The English text was written by Nahum Tate,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35a minor Irish bard who gained some notoriety
0:33:35 > 0:33:39by rewriting Shakespeare's tragedies in order to give them happy endings.
0:33:44 > 0:33:50Everything that makes Purcell great is distilled into this bittersweet adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid.
0:33:50 > 0:33:57The shipwrecked Trojan Aeneas falls in love with Dido, queen of Carthage,
0:33:57 > 0:34:02but malicious supernatural forces conspire to tear their relationship apart.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19I'm on my way to Sweden, because no Restoration theatres survive in Britain.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24Dido And Aeneas demands a sophisticated range of baroque stage effects
0:34:24 > 0:34:27to match the virtuosity of Purcell's music.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38The Royal Theatre at Drottningholm gives us a tantalising glimpse
0:34:38 > 0:34:42of the kind of spectacle the theatre of Purcell's time offered.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47As a musician, Purcell understood how to use the theatre as a physical space,
0:34:47 > 0:34:53and Dido And Aeneas demonstrates his ability to design music to bring the stage to life.
0:35:01 > 0:35:07Theatre in Purcell's day was all about illusion, about transformation.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11Worlds could change in the blink of an eye - from a palace,
0:35:11 > 0:35:16to a forest. Nowadays, that would probably be affected at the touch of just one button.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21In Restoration theatre, however, you needed half a battalion.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36Down here in the bowels of the theatre, it's how I imagine it's like being in the galley of a ship.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40Even the equipment seems derived from naval technology. And all this,
0:35:40 > 0:35:42for just one rock.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57You can only imagine the visceral thrill the audience must have experienced
0:35:57 > 0:36:00at witnessing this spectacle for the first time.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04A spectacle which, up until now, had only been described, not seen.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08And all of that coupled with the extravagant opulence of Purcell's music.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16Invariably in Restoration drama,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19the actors played out the story of the mortals,
0:36:19 > 0:36:22and it was the job of the music to suggest the supernatural,
0:36:22 > 0:36:23and the mythological.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27So you can imagine, when all these new-fangled effects came on line,
0:36:27 > 0:36:29the impact was just as it was meant to be -
0:36:29 > 0:36:30awe-inspiring.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38I'm up in the flies of the theatre, and I'm going to attempt my descent,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40on this celestial throne.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46'Purcell and Tate were as ambitious as any Hollywood producers...' Ready!
0:36:46 > 0:36:49'..Dido And Aeneas calls for a harbour, a cave,
0:36:49 > 0:36:51'a royal palace, a woodland glade.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54'It's special-effects theatre.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59Wow, that is something that pulls focus.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01You can tell that every eye in the room is on you.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Makes you feel, therefore, a little bit like a god.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09At the climax of the opera,
0:37:09 > 0:37:15Aeneas leaves, and the heartbroken Dido resolves to kill herself.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19Her final lament is a devastating aria of stunning simplicity.
0:37:25 > 0:37:26Miraculously,
0:37:26 > 0:37:31it's all set over one bass line, which rolls round and round.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34It's called a ground bass, and Purcell was a master at them.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37There's something reassuring about this repetitive hook,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40over which the melody grows and develops,
0:37:40 > 0:37:44and also something deeply compelling.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51# When I am laid
0:37:51 > 0:37:57# I am laid in earth
0:37:57 > 0:38:01# May my wrongs
0:38:01 > 0:38:05# Create
0:38:05 > 0:38:08# No trouble
0:38:08 > 0:38:11# No trouble
0:38:11 > 0:38:15# In thy breast... #
0:38:15 > 0:38:19I love it for its simplicity.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21It's such a simple and honest piece.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23The ground bass just carries on
0:38:23 > 0:38:25with that inevitability that Dido is facing -
0:38:25 > 0:38:28a steady march, I suppose, towards her death.
0:38:29 > 0:38:36And I just love the way that the orchestra shadows her, sort of bringing her emotions in with her.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44# Forget my fate
0:38:44 > 0:38:48# Remember me
0:38:48 > 0:38:52# But, ah
0:38:52 > 0:38:55# Forget
0:38:55 > 0:38:59# My fate... #
0:38:59 > 0:39:02It's a dawning on her of what's happening - the music grows,
0:39:02 > 0:39:06and it doesn't just grow in terms of volume, it goes up and up and up,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09and she finishes her last, "Remember me," and then,
0:39:09 > 0:39:12the orchestra brings it down and down. It's all over.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14It just brings tears to your eyes.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19# Forget my fate
0:39:19 > 0:39:23# Remember me
0:39:23 > 0:39:29# But, ah
0:39:29 > 0:39:32# Forget
0:39:32 > 0:39:37# My fate. #
0:39:50 > 0:39:55It's been said Purcell and Tate were connecting their piece with contemporary events,
0:39:55 > 0:39:57that the opera is somehow a political allegory,
0:39:57 > 0:40:01in which Aeneas represents the recently deposed King James II,
0:40:01 > 0:40:06and Dido, the British people mourning the loss of their rightful monarch.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17In the end, we simply don't know what meaning contemporary audiences might have read into the opera,
0:40:17 > 0:40:23and in fact, there was only one documented performance during Purcell's lifetime.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27But it did survive out there on its own.
0:40:27 > 0:40:33Small, but perfectly formed, becoming Purcell's acknowledged masterpiece.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40But there was another side to Henry Purcell.
0:40:40 > 0:40:48London life at the close of the 17th century was notorious for being sociable to the point of inebriation.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50# Once
0:40:50 > 0:40:52# Twice
0:40:52 > 0:40:53# Thrice
0:40:53 > 0:40:56# I, Julia, tried... #
0:40:56 > 0:40:59Purcell composed something like 200 tavern songs.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03Elegant, witty, and sometimes slightly vulgar songs
0:41:03 > 0:41:06for the discerning drinking gentleman.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10They're not always that easy to sing when you've had a couple of pints.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12# The scorn... #
0:41:12 > 0:41:14LAUGHTER
0:41:14 > 0:41:17- That's not right either. - LAUGHTER
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Musicians always have a tendency towards being sociable,
0:41:20 > 0:41:25and much of the business of everyday life was conducted in the coffee houses and pubs.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28London's not a big town at this time,
0:41:28 > 0:41:32so people who are playing in the chapel are also playing in the theatre,
0:41:32 > 0:41:35playing in court, in the pub, writing music
0:41:35 > 0:41:37for each other to sing, experimenting,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39seeing what they could do, then performing it.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42You do blah, blah, blah, and then you hit...
0:41:42 > 0:41:46Purcell also had a reputation for being rather fond of a drink.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50There are endless rumours and myths,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53like the story he came home drunk, and was shut out of his house
0:41:53 > 0:41:56by his wife, and therefore, staggered off into the night,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59- caught a cold, and that was what led to his death. - HE CHUCKLES
0:41:59 > 0:42:05Probably not true, and even if it is, no worse than anybody else in Restoration London.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07# Since the pox or the plague
0:42:07 > 0:42:11# Of inconsistency reigns In most of the women
0:42:11 > 0:42:12# Of the town
0:42:12 > 0:42:15# What ridiculous fop
0:42:15 > 0:42:17# Would trouble his brains
0:42:17 > 0:42:20# To make the lewd devils lie down?
0:42:20 > 0:42:22# No more in dull rhyme
0:42:22 > 0:42:24# Or some heavier strain
0:42:24 > 0:42:28# Will I of the jades or their jilting complain
0:42:28 > 0:42:30# My court I will make
0:42:30 > 0:42:32# To things more divine
0:42:32 > 0:42:34# The pleasures of friendship
0:42:34 > 0:42:37# Freedom and wine
0:42:37 > 0:42:39# The pleasures of friendship
0:42:39 > 0:42:41# Freedom and wine... #
0:42:41 > 0:42:47This rambunctious song, Since The Pox Or The Plague,
0:42:47 > 0:42:51was one of Purcell's earliest popular successes, printed, and widely circulated,
0:42:51 > 0:42:55and it's not difficult to imagine the composer and some of his friends
0:42:55 > 0:42:57having a bit of fun with it over a drink.
0:42:57 > 0:42:58# ..Venus Adore
0:42:58 > 0:43:00# For a goddess no more
0:43:00 > 0:43:02# That old lady whore
0:43:02 > 0:43:04# But Bacchus we'll court
0:43:04 > 0:43:07# Who doth drinking support
0:43:07 > 0:43:09# Let the world sink or swim
0:43:09 > 0:43:11# Sirrah! Fill to the brim. #
0:43:11 > 0:43:13Yes! Thank you very much.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47This is Canons Ashby, the ancestral home of the Dryden family,
0:43:47 > 0:43:49and the house that John Dryden might have inherited,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54had he not converted to Roman Catholicism at precisely the wrong time.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06Poet, patriot, and wit, Dryden was both brave and reckless.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10When he refused to swear allegiance to the Protestant King William III,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14he promptly lost his patronage. So he threw himself into his work,
0:44:14 > 0:44:21and in the late 1680s/1690s, he produced lengthy poems, political satires, dozens of translations,
0:44:21 > 0:44:24and heaps of plays. There was genuinely no stopping him.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32During this time, he forged a close creative partnership with Purcell,
0:44:32 > 0:44:35and one of the fruits of their collaboration was King Arthur,
0:44:35 > 0:44:40a piece which explores the notion of Britishness at the end of the 17th century.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44King Arthur is also known as The British Worthy,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47and John Dryden, there he is, loved men of that ilk.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51For instance, his King Arthur, whilst king of the Britons,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54is not the familiar, chivalrous knight of yore.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57Instead, he's viewed through a glass, darkly.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00He's like a tribal warrior, aided by wizards and spirits,
0:45:00 > 0:45:05locked in a seemingly eternal conflict with his rival, Oswald, the king of the Saxons.
0:45:05 > 0:45:11The plot contains abduction, seduction, human sacrifice, and pagan gods of mythic power.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17# What power art thou?
0:45:17 > 0:45:20# Who from below
0:45:20 > 0:45:24# Hast made me rise
0:45:24 > 0:45:27# Unwillingly and slow
0:45:27 > 0:45:30# From beds
0:45:30 > 0:45:37# Of everlasting snow... #
0:45:41 > 0:45:46The shivering cold genius rises from the ground,
0:45:46 > 0:45:49so it should be a very dramatic moment.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54# ..How stiff and wondrous old
0:45:54 > 0:45:58# Far unfit
0:45:58 > 0:46:04# To bear the bitter cold... #
0:46:04 > 0:46:08The sequence of about 50 chords are completely unpredictable.
0:46:08 > 0:46:13I mean, the tonal sequence there is fantastic. I mean, it's modern.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17It's dissonant. You don't know what chord's going to come next, do you?
0:46:17 > 0:46:22# ..or draw my breath... #
0:46:22 > 0:46:26It's quiet. The scale of it is small, vocally.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29But dramatically, it should be really intense.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Sometimes the quieter you sing,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35the more the role will come out and it focuses the attention.
0:46:35 > 0:46:42# Let me, let me, let me Freeze again to death. #
0:46:50 > 0:46:55Purcell described music and poetry as sisters walking hand in hand.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58And King Arthur presents a fascinating combination
0:46:58 > 0:47:00of erotic and patriotic love.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04And at the climax of the work, there are scenes depicting the beauty
0:47:04 > 0:47:06and perfection of the British Isles.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10And also the prophecy that one day, the Britons and the Saxons
0:47:10 > 0:47:12would live together in love.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39Cloaked in a melody of simple dignity
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Purcell and Dryden spin a sentiment which resonates against a background
0:47:43 > 0:47:45of religious dispute and civil war.
0:47:45 > 0:47:51These are artists who really want Britain to be the island of love.
0:47:51 > 0:47:58"Fairest isle, all isles excelling. Seat of pleasures and of loves.
0:47:58 > 0:48:04"Venus, here, will choose her dwelling and forsake her Cyprian groves."
0:48:04 > 0:48:12# Fairest isle All others excelling
0:48:12 > 0:48:17# Seat of pleasure
0:48:17 > 0:48:20# And of love
0:48:20 > 0:48:28# Venus, here, will choose her dwelling
0:48:28 > 0:48:36# And forsake her Cyprian grove
0:48:36 > 0:48:45# Cupid from his favourite nation
0:48:45 > 0:48:51# Care and envy will remove
0:48:51 > 0:49:00# Jealousy that poisons passion
0:49:00 > 0:49:11# And despair that dies for love. #
0:49:14 > 0:49:18The British voice had, I think, a kind of quiet self confidence.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21A pragmatism. An ability to look beyond our shores.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24And British culture is rich because of our diversity.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31In the final decade of the 17th century, the new foreign king,
0:49:31 > 0:49:35William III and his wife, Queen Mary, brought a sense of harmony
0:49:35 > 0:49:36to Purcell's London.
0:49:47 > 0:49:52The 1690s really were the revolutionary period for the city.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55Everything that had been brewing over the last 50 years,
0:49:55 > 0:49:57really came together in the 1690s.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01BRASS BAND PLAYS: "Rondeau from Abdelazer" by Purcell
0:50:03 > 0:50:06You see a redefinition of monarchy.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08That there would be no Catholic upon the throne.
0:50:08 > 0:50:14There was a hope that a new sense of national identity would be formed.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17Purcell, himself, was very much connected with this.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24The Grenadier Guards were first established by Charles II,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27as the first regiment of foot guards.
0:50:27 > 0:50:31They've taken part in every major campaign of the British army since.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Although still a battlefield regiment,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05we usually see them these days carrying out their ceremonial duties
0:51:05 > 0:51:07as Royal guards.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10The music of Purcell has formed an unbroken tradition for grenadiers,
0:51:10 > 0:51:12since the 17th Century.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18Purcell's music feels as important today as it has at every point,
0:51:18 > 0:51:20down the ages, since he wrote it, doesn't it?
0:51:20 > 0:51:24And so it is, Charles. We, as a modern military band
0:51:24 > 0:51:27often perform music by Purcell.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30Very often in the state arena. State ceremonial, on guard,
0:51:30 > 0:51:34in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace or Wellington barracks.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37Are you and the members of your band, musicians first, soldiers second,
0:51:37 > 0:51:41or soldiers first, musicians second or somewhere between the two?
0:51:41 > 0:51:44I suppose the honest answer is somewhere between the two,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47but the official line is we are musicians first and soldiers second.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51Our primary role in life is to provide music in support of the army
0:51:51 > 0:51:53in and out of operations.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57But we are always ready to assume an operational role when required.
0:51:57 > 0:52:02Many musicians took part in both the Gulf conflicts.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17Every year on the second Sunday of November,
0:52:17 > 0:52:19the nation remembers its war dead.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25At the cenotaph in Whitehall, thousands gather for a ceremony
0:52:25 > 0:52:28that combines silence and music,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31including a sombre arrangement of the RAF from Dido and Aeneas,
0:52:32 > 0:52:33When I Am Laid In Earth.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46In this sublime music, the depth and complexity of the emotion
0:52:46 > 0:52:49is carried by the simplest musical sequence.
0:52:49 > 0:52:55Profound, dignified and touched by sorrow beyond words.
0:53:17 > 0:53:22In December, 1694, Queen Mary died suddenly of smallpox.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25And it was decided that she would be buried in Westminster Abbey
0:53:25 > 0:53:28with full state honours.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31The funeral of Mary, daughter of the deposed James II,
0:53:31 > 0:53:35saw a huge outpouring of formalised mourning.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38A very baroque way of death.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46Purcell's music for the ceremony takes the simplest melodic fragments
0:53:46 > 0:53:50and, using the skills he honed in the theatre and in the chapel,
0:53:50 > 0:53:53arranges them into a monument for the departed queen,
0:53:53 > 0:53:57whose joint monarchy with William III had brought stability
0:53:57 > 0:53:59and cohesion to British society.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16The funeral took place on a bitterly cold day.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21An eyewitness account is provided in Peter Glean's poem,
0:54:21 > 0:54:26Occasion, by the magnificent proceeding to the funeral of her late majesty.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33Observe the inanimate machines of war. How dull their sound.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36How flat their echoes are.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42The drums and shriller trumpets. Voices break.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46And sound no longer victory, but death.
0:54:46 > 0:54:57# Thou knowest Lord The secrets of our hearts
0:54:57 > 0:55:05# Shut not, shut not
0:55:05 > 0:55:13# Thy merciful ears unto our prayer... #
0:55:13 > 0:55:17The public grief at Mary's death was genuine
0:55:17 > 0:55:22and Purcell, who knew her personally, caught the national mood,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25setting the sentences from the book of common prayer
0:55:25 > 0:55:26for the choir to sing.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30A stunning display of his ability to cloak the English language
0:55:30 > 0:55:36in rich, expressive textures, without losing its character or clarity.
0:55:36 > 0:55:46# ..Oh, holy and most merciful saviour... #
0:55:46 > 0:55:50Through sheer inventiveness and the absolute command of his craft,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53he seems able to speak to people on every level.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56But above all, he possessed this fantastic gift
0:55:56 > 0:55:59for making the English language sound sensual.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02Setting it to wonderful tunes, evocative melodies,
0:56:02 > 0:56:06which when combined with words, seemed perfectly to articulate
0:56:06 > 0:56:09the feelings of the new Britain.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11CHOIR SINGS
0:56:15 > 0:56:21Somehow, through the power of music, he brought British society together.
0:56:23 > 0:56:34# ..To fall, to fall from thee
0:56:34 > 0:56:45# Amen. #
0:56:47 > 0:56:51Here, beneath my feet, and in the shadow of the organ,
0:56:51 > 0:56:55lies Henry Purcell. And, as this plaque up here says -
0:57:03 > 0:57:06He made a will in a hurry at the age of 35, where he said,
0:57:06 > 0:57:10"I, Henry Purcell, of the city of Westminster, gentleman,
0:57:10 > 0:57:13"being dangerously ill as to the constitution of my body,
0:57:13 > 0:57:17"but in good and perfect mind and memory. Thanks be to God."
0:57:17 > 0:57:22So within a year, he's buried at home, here at Westminster Abbey,
0:57:22 > 0:57:25to the same funeral music that he created for Mary.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01Purcell was only 36 when he died.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04But he captured all the vitality of his age,
0:58:04 > 0:58:09and his works were to have a massive impact on the nation's emerging musical life.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16In the next episode of The Birth Of British Music,
0:58:16 > 0:58:19I'll be exploring how the brilliant but volatile young composer,
0:58:19 > 0:58:24George Frederick Handel arrived from a foreign land and, with his music,
0:58:24 > 0:58:31won our hearts. Ultimately becoming almost more British than the British themselves.
0:58:31 > 0:58:34Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:34 > 0:58:36E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk