Poetry and Music in Purcell's Second Three Ceremonial Odes in His Later Years

"Henry Purcell is known to have written twenty-four ceremonial odes for the royal families, St Cecilia's day, and common people's ceremonial occasions. As the fourth of the analyses of his odes, this paper deals with his sencond three works written in 1691 and 1692. The high quality that was shown in his two remarkable works in 1690 was mainained in his ode composed for Queen Mary's birthday in 1691, and a specail feature was added by the seventh movement, in which serious drive is dexterously expressed. The 1692 Birthday ode for Queen Mary seems simple and archaic, but its sixth movement gives vigour to the whole work, which was gained from the simplicity of a folk song, according to John Hawkins's anecdote. But the real achievement in this period was made in the 1692 ode for St Cecilia's Day, which shows complexity and unity in all of the movements of the work. It marks the peak of his ode writing.