Some musicologists enjoy tracking down a mystery: Why didn鈥檛 Schubert finish his 鈥淯nfinished鈥� Symphony? Who was Beethoven鈥檚 鈥淚mmortal Beloved鈥�? They鈥檒l search endlessly, even if their quest hits a series of dead ends. Others avoid such foolishness, preferring to stick to their books, leaving the wild goose chases to those infected with the curiosity bug. For Professor of Musicology Robert Shay, the many mysteries of 鈥淒ido and Aeneas鈥� by Henry Purcell (1659-95) are too important to ignore. That said, he feels confident that his critical edition of the English composer鈥檚 score, newly published by B盲renreiter, provides fresh answers to a number of questions.听听
Certainly there鈥檚 no mystery about the opera鈥檚 stature as one of the glories of the Baroque era. The work tells, in achingly gorgeous music, the sad tale of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and her lover, the Trojan hero Aeneas who heads off to war, leaving her behind, desperate and suicidal, singing one of opera鈥檚 most tragic laments. What we don鈥檛听know is when the opera was written, when it premiered and, worst of all, what happened to Purcell鈥檚 original music. Adding to the frustration of Purcell scholars is the presence of a libretto, with no date and no music, linked to a performance (in 1689?) at Josias Priest鈥檚 school for girls. Was it first performed by those young ladies? Or more likely earlier for a king? But which king? Was it James II? Charles II?
Here鈥檚 the problem: There鈥檚听a gap of nearly 100 years between when the opera was likely premiered and the copying of several music manuscripts, dating from the 1770s and 鈥�80s鈥攁nd none of those having much of a connection to Priest鈥檚 libretto. 鈥淭here are three (musical) sources from that period, and they鈥檙e the earliest we have. But what happened in the interim?,鈥� wondered Shay, a noted Purcell scholar. And what about those manuscripts? Can we trust any of them? Shay thinks he can answer that last dilemma.听
鈥淚鈥檝e come to rely on a manuscript from about 1780 that came to light in the 1960s at Tatton Park [in Cheshire, northwest England]. What鈥檚 important is that we know the name of the copyist, Philip Hayes, who was known then as a devoted Purcell expert.鈥澨�
Working with Hayes鈥櫶齭core for his edition, Shay made a radical reduction in the number of movements in the three-act work. 鈥淚鈥檝e maintained a flow in the music that I got from Hayes and I鈥檝e been careful not to force the libretto onto the music,鈥� he says. There are a handful of earlier editions of 鈥淒ido鈥� from recent years, including one published in 2021, that list as many as 44 musical segments, while Shay鈥檚 edition numbers only 23. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all there,鈥� he says of Purcell鈥檚 music. 鈥淭he number of movements changes but the scope of the music is not changing.鈥� After working on this project for seven years, launched by an invitation from B盲renreiter, Shay can now join the ongoing, international 鈥淒ido鈥� debate among scholars and fans of Baroque opera. Somewhere, Purcell must be smiling at all the attention.听
Note: Robert Shay鈥檚 new critical edition of the opera 鈥淒ido and Aeneas鈥� is only the fourth new critical edition of 鈥淒ido鈥� from a major publisher since the work first appeared in print in the 19th century. For B盲renreiter鈥攐ne of the world鈥檚 great music publishers, including the collected works of Bach, Mozart and many other familiar names鈥攖his is their first foray into Purcell (and Shay has committed to a second large editorial project for the publisher, Purcell鈥檚 鈥淜ing Arthur鈥�).
Related:
(The New York Times)
Top left photo credit: Katherine Shay.
Above right photo: From the manuscript copied by Philip Hayes. Copyright: National Trust/Tatton Park.
