ah belinda

DIDO

Ah! Belinda, I am press'd

With torment not to be confess'd,

Peace and I are strangers grown.

I languish till my grief is known,

Yet would not have it guess'd.

***

A theory professor of mine and his wife named one of their cats "Dido" because the cat would not stop lamenting. It's true; Dido is most famous for her lamenting over a ground bass. In fact, when I have to teach the chapter on continuous variations, both laments are covered. (Once one of my theory students and I performed an impromptu performance of this tune. He sang countertenor; I accompanied him. It's a shame no one recorded him, for I would have used that recording! I should have him sing in my opera...)

Here I noticed Purcell combines the second half of the first line ("I am press'd") with the second line after having Dido drastically sigh. The other lines have their own phrases; some languish more than others.

I had a hard time singing this one. Some of the rhythmic melismas, like the ones found on "prest with torment," were awkward to sing. I also had issues with aligning the syllabic and melodic stresses in the music. For example, the word "torment" has its stress on the first syllable, which Purcell places on the downbeat. He also places the second weaker syllable on the second half of the second beat, and this can be stressed accidentally as well.