Dido's Lament

The Aeneid#

The text, as well as Purcell’s opera, is based on the Aeneid, the Roman epic poem by Virgil about the Trojan warrior Aeneas, travelling to Italy from the fallen Troy in order to settle there and secure his son Ascanius’s lineage. Their ship is blown off course from Sicily, and they land on the shore of North Africa in Carthage, a town newly settled by refugees from Tyre. Aeneas falls in love with their queen, Dido, but dutifully departs for Italy, leaving her. Distraught at his betrayal, she orders a pyre to be built and set ablaze so that Aeneas will see from his ship that she has killed herself. She sings the lament before stabbing herself as Aeneas sails on.

Analysis#

The opening secco recitative, “Thy hand, Belinda”, is accompanied by continuo only. Word painting is applied on the text “darkness” and “death” which is presented with chromaticism, symbolising death and descent into the grave. The ground bass opening “Dido’s Lament” forms a chromatic stepwise descent over the interval of a perfect fourth, the chromatic fourth, : \time 3/2 \clef bass \key g \minor \relative c’ \partial 2 g2\pp fis1 f2 e1 es2 d1 bes2 c2 d1 g,1 which is repeated eleven times throughout the aria, thus structuring the piece in the form of a passacaglia. The metre is Triple metre in the key of G minor. Purcell has applied word painting on the words “laid”, which is also given a descending chromatic line portraying death and agony, : \time 3/2 \clef treble \key g \minor \relative c > and “remember me”, which is presented in a syllabic text setting and repeated : \time 3/2 \clef treble \key g \minor \relative c > with its last presentation leaping in register with a sudden crescendo : \time 3/2 \clef treble \key g \minor \relative c d2) c4( bes) bes2 a4( g) g1.! \new Lyrics \lyricsto “melody” \lyricmode Re – mem – ber me! but ah! __ for – get my __ fate. » displaying her desperate cry with urgency as she prepares for her fate: death. In one interpretation, Dido’s relationship with Aeneas is portrayed in this moment as an “apocalyptic romance”.

Text#

Recitative Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me, On thy bosom let me rest, More I would, but Death invades me; Death is now a welcome guest. Aria When I am laid, am laid in earth, May my wrongs create No trouble, no trouble in thy breast; Remember me, remember me, but ah! forget my fate. Remember me, but ah! forget my fate. \time 3/2 \clef treble \key g \minor \override Score.BarNumber.break-visibility = ##(#f #f #t) \set Score.barNumberVisibility = #all-bar-numbers-visible \set Score.currentBarNumber = #14 \bar "" \relative c >

External links#

• , “Dido’s Lament” are movements 37 and 38 in this edition
• , Elin Manahan Thomas, with score