PURCELL THE FAIRY QUEEN edited by Clifford Bartlettpy 20 Nab- ley othr nuns > wyte q0™ %- jy, wee) \bb- 9% 228 © 19 Repose ~ uae weeks / Lie seth yy a : ae 3 ben Faacttsa M we or) 2 Wout “wae wee Bl ancasere 8 WB 2D May mies Vocaber QGmaonales a 2 ePURCELL: THE FAIRY QUEEN SOURCES RAM. The Fairy Queen was first performed in the Spring of 1692 and revived early in 1695. Until recently, it was thought that it was substantially revised for the revival, but that now seems to be an unnecessary hypothesis and is ignored in this edition. ‘The manuscript had disappeared by 1701, when an advertisement appeared in The Flying Post from the Patentees of the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden offering 20 Guineas reward for it or a copy of it. It ‘eventually turned up in the Royal Academy of Music in 1900, the transmission, like the bulk of the RAM MSS, being through William Savage (who sang treble then bass for Handel) to R. J. S. Stevens. It is only partially autograph, but seems to have been prepared under Puréell’s close supervision and is the primary source for most of the work. (RAM MSS were unnumbered until I catalogued them in the late 1960s, when this became MS 3.) No other sources have any inherent authority, though they do sometimes offer better solutions to problems. 1697. Much of the instrumental music was published posthumously by Purcell’; widow in 1697 in A Collection of Ayres. Apart from its misprints, this agrees very closely with RAM (in the case of No. 5 because it was the source for the RAM text, which was a late addition to the MS.) Lib. The printing history of the anonymous libretto of the work is confusing. Until recently, it was assumed that the revisions represent different stagings. But Bruce Wood and Andrew Pinnock (in ‘The Fairy Queen: a fresh look at the issues’, Early Music XX1, Feb, 1993, pp. 44-62) have shown that the changes t0 the original version were mostly made to make the printed text agree with what was actually performed oon stage from the first night. The available facsimile (Cornmarket Press) is of the unrevised state. Other primary sources include a song anthology in Purcell's hand (Gresham College MS V1.5.6) and contemporary publications of the songs. These are valuable because they often record the name of the original (or current) performers. Bass figures, extremely sparse in the MSS, are taken from the later compilation Orpheus Britannicus (but occasionally corrected when they clash with the MS reading). SCORING The list of movements gives information on voices and instruments. In the score, the original clef of each solo part is shown (G2 - G on the second line ~ is the normal treble c'ef, C3 is alto, C4 is tenor, F4 is bass). Solo parts in the C3 clef are assumed to be for high tenor (in one case, no. 25, we know that the C3 part was sung by aman in drag), C4 parts for baritone or low tenor. Choruses were originally in G2, C3, C4 & F4 clef and are transcribed as for SATB. Al instrumental movements and choruses (unless otherwise noted) include four instrumental parts with clefs G2 G2 C2 F4. In this edition, the staves are headed Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola and Bass. But in many cases oboes and bassoon could play as well. Oboes are mertioned rarely in The Fairly Queen. but it is likely that they played with the strings. There are two ways they might have done this. Either two oboes doubled the top part. perhaps with bassoon(s) on the bass, or a full wind-band was used with the four parts doubled by oboe 1, oboe 2, tenor oboe and bassoon. Bass violins would taken the bass part, without a 16" instrument: if only cellos are used. then a double bass or 16' violone is appropriate (though that is a texture introduced to London after 1700). A pair of recorders is required only in No. 16. The players were no doubt the oboists; if separate players are used, they should not double elsewhere: the recorder sound was a special one, not part of the orchestral texture, Several songs have preludes or accompaniments for two violins: these could well be soli. Timpani are only scored in the editorially reconstructed No, 12 and in ‘Act IV; adding them whenever trumpets play is now unfashionable {see Crispian Steele-Perkins in Early Music Review 5, Nov. 1994, p. 8-9). EDITORIAL PRACTICE Textual matter — headings, stage descriptions, orthography of underlay — follows Lib unless the musical sources differ significantly. The musical text generally follows RAM, though minor corrections have been made. (This edition notes some specific, errors: there is a fuller critical commentary in Anthony Lewis's Purcell Society edition.) Original accidentals are preserved except on consecutive notes: accidentals in sound brackets are added where they are needed by modern convention to cancel a previous accidental within the bar. Vocal slurs follow RAM which like many MSS of the period slurs shor melismas but does not clutter the score with long ones. The instrumental headings before the staves a the start of eack movement are editorial My thanks to Hugh Keyte for his detailed study 0 RAM and to the Academy for permission to use it Clifford Bartlett, November 199