Thursday 22 April 2010
Tune of the Day: Air in D minor
by Henry Purcell
The Double Dealer, a comedy accompanied by music, was one of two collaborations between Henry Purcell and William Congreve. At the time he wrote it, Congreve wasn't quite comfortable writing plays with music in them; however, the suite of instrumental music which Purcell composed for the play in 1693 greatly enhances it.
The light, easy-going Air in D minor was originally composed for keyboard, and in recent times it has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity due to its inclusion as one of the first pieces in Carl Humphries' The Piano Handbook. An interesting fact about this tune is that it's very easy to come up with a few nice variations.