Music for the Mad - Institutionen för musikvetenskap - Uppsala ...

quite steadily in c minor. A high tessitura and an often stepwise ascending melodic line com-
bined with larger leaps contribute to a certain tension and a slightly hysterical sensation. In
bar 46 there is an abrupt shift from aria to a recitative of considerably instability (example 5).
The recitative begins in c minor but a chromatically ascending bass line soon causes confu-
sion and the recitative does not definitely land in E b major until the cadence in bar 55. During
the exalted exclamation beginning in bar 56 the music remains in E b major, through the bass
resting on an E b major chord, but in bar 60 the bass reassumes its stepwise wandering for yet
another five bars, until the section firmly cadences in c minor (b. 69). In this recitative section
the structure of rapidly changing mood and subject matter has been brought down to phrase
level and is used even within the section. Purcell works phrase by phrase, and every new one
has got a different subject and a new character, sometimes even a different tonic; tonicizations
often last for one such phrase. The frequent breaking up of the phrases by rests, sometimes
illustrative of sighs (e.g. b. 54), also contributes to the feeling of emotional instability.
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