Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
Vocal Music | Piano | Organ | Chamber Music | Orchestral | Articles and Commentary | Poems and Stories | Miscellany | FAQs
Fancy on Love (after a Catch by Henry Purcell) - (2011)
for organ
The theme is drawn from The Catch Club or Merry Companions being a Choice Collection of the most Diverting Catches for three and Four voices Compos'd by the late Mr. Henry Purcell, Dr. Blow & c. The text for this round, noted as "A catch of Henry Purcell" [ 1 ] reads: "'Tis Women makes us love / 'tis Love that makes us sad / 'tis Sadness makes us drink / and drinking makes us mad." Mr. Purcell's sense of humor is most obvious, yet the exquisitely simple grandeur of the theme rings out loudly.
Conceived for full organ, after an introductory gesture the catch is fully stated in all voices, with additional inner parts filling out the voicing. a virtuoso-like decorative interlude yields to a large final cadence for the short organ work.
The entire work is here,
, an MP3 file [ circa 2' 30" ]
The score for Fancy on Love is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this organ score.
NOTES
[ 1 ] The simple round is as follows:
