The Rondeau from the incidental music (Z570) that Henry Purcell composed for the play Abdelazer, or the Moor's Revenge. Voices of Music FAQ Q. How can I support Voices of Music? A. Donate here: https://voicesofmusic.org/donate.html and we will make more videos like this one :) These videos cost thousands of dollars to make, and the money comes from individual donors. Q. Where can I learn more about this music? A. You can visit our website, https://www.voicesofmusic.org/ Also, subscribe to our video channel! Just click on the logo on our videos. Q. Where can we hear you play in concert? A. We perform in the San Francisco Bay Area. For a concert schedule, visit our website or join our mailing list https://www.voicesofmusic.org/ Q. Where can I buy CDs? A. Our CDs are available on iTunes, Google, Amazon, CD Baby and just about everywhere; you can also buy a CD in a jewel case from Kunaki: https://www.voicesofmusic.org/cds.html Q. What is Early Music performance, or historical performance? A. We play on instruments from the time of the composers, and we use the original music and playing techniques: it’s a special sound. Q. Why are there no conductors? A. Conductors weren’t invented until the 19th century; since we seek to recreate a historical performance, the music is led from the keyboard or violin, or the music is played as chamber music~or both :) Q. What are period instruments or original instruments; how are they different from modern instruments? A. As instruments became modernized in the 19th century, builders and players tended to focus on the volume of sound and the stability of tuning. Modern steel strings replaced the older materials, and instruments were often machine made. Historical instruments, built individually by hand and with overall lighter construction, have extremely complex overtones—which we find delightful. Modern instruments are of course perfectly suited to more modern music. Q. Why is the pitch lower, or higher? A. Early Music performance uses many different pitches, and these pitches create different tone colors on the instruments. See https://goo.gl/pVBNAC HD Video from the Voices of Music Brandenburg Concerto project, 2013. One of Purcell’s last works, the play was staged in 1695, the year of Purcell's death, and the text of the play was written Aphra Behn. The Rondeau’s place in history was assured when the composer Benjamin Britten chose it for his Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell (1946). After Purcell's death, his wife Frances gathered much of his unpublished works, and these were printed as “A collection of ayres, compos'd for the theatre and upon other occasions .”