Purcell’s opera, Dido and Aeneas, is set in antiquity, taking place directly after the fall of Troy. Aeneas, a Trojan who escaped with a few of his compatriots, attempts to sail to Italy to start a new life. After a few wrong turns, he lands in Carthage, ruled by a queen, Dido, who offers him the hospitality of her land–and later, her heart.
Aeneas, at the bequest of the gods, departs Carthage for Italy, suddenly, without warning. A brokenhearted Dido descends into depression, leading eventually leads to her suicide. In this poignant aria, Dido speaks her final words, even amid heartbreak, filled with compassion for those she loves, wishing her actions to cause them no grief, pleading “When I am laid…in earth, may my wrongs create…no trouble…in thy breast….Remember me, but ah! Forget my fate.”
One cannot help but weep at this mythical account of an ancient queen, a powerful woman in her own right, who takes the risk of offering her heart, and her nation, as a safe haven for the exiled Aeneas and his Trojan compatriots–only to lose it all. It poses a dilemma still debated among philosophers and theologians to this day: “Should one still offer the sort of unconditional love to strangers that might cost one one’s life?”
With a heritage that dates back well before the fall of Troy, the guitar is perhaps the perfect instrument to re-create the period feel of the piece. Its many tone colors and its dynamic range convey the tragic end of Dido without words.
This transcription, for solo classical guitar, is in the key of E minor.
Spot Practice Clip:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/embed/xxykxk7Msa0[/youtube]While you play the eighth notes in the beginning of this passage (C, A, and F#), prepare your fingers for the chords that come immediately after them, keeping all of your fingers close to the fingerboard. At the end of this passage in the clip, you will see the cross-string trill performed using two repetitions of a-m-i-p. Note that p plays the bass note A the first time. If you practice this passage up to a relatively fast tempo, the melody and the bass will sound like two different lines, even sounding like two different instruments, as they should.
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