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The two Guitar Dances are improvised as implied in the 1689 libretto as is the "Horrid Music" after the Echo Dance of Furies.
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Rather than adapt music from another of Purcell's works, we have chosen the simple but effective device of repeating in instrumental form the chorus from the beginning of the same scene. The libretto calls for a final chorus and dance and something is certainly needed to round off the act and bring the music back to the home key of D. Not all of Purcell's music for Dido and Aeneas is extant and, in particular, problems arise from the lack of music to end the second act. With regard to instrument, the bass violin (slightly larger than a cello) is used instead of the pairing of cello and double-bass, which did not come into practice until after Purcell's death. The Sorceress is given to a mezzo-soprano (what a wonderful part for the resident school nurse!), the Witches are sopranos and the Spirit is countertenor.
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The Scholars Baroque Ensemble have opted for an allocation of voices which is probably closer to the 1689 performance. Despite convincing evidence that the work was conceived for such a performance, some scholars believe that it was in fact first performed at Court some years earlier and that a performance in 1700, when the music was used in revival of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, more accurately reflected Purcell's original lay-out of voices. Although little is known about the origins of Dido and Aeneas we do know that it was performed in 1689 at an annual concert at the well-known Josias Priest's boarding-school for Young Gentlewomen in Chelsea.