Overture & Rondeau from Adbelazer
Henry Purcell, arr. Ben Tordoff
Composed:
1695 Arranged:
2019 Grouping:
sSATBb Duration:
06:20
Aphra Behn's tragedy Abdelazer (later known as "The Moor's Revenge") was written in 1676 but Purcell's accompanying music was written for its revival performance in 1695. It was not a commercial success and fell into obscurity.
Whilst you may not have heard of Purcell's Abdelazer Suite, you will almost certainly recognise the second movement: Rondeau. This was reworked by Benjamin Britten as the main theme in "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" and in more traditional form has been used in period dramas such as the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice, has made appearances on TV, and even in computer games.
This arrangement is a fairly literal transposition of the first two movements from the original score to fit on six saxes.
© 2019 Ben Tordoff
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