The Sonatas of Henry Purcell: Rhetoric and Reversal

This book is the first extended monograph in English on Henry Purcell’s sonatas for two violins, bass viol, and continuo, a repertory consisting of the twelve Sonnata's of III Parts (1683) and the posthumous Ten Sonata's in Four Parts (1697). It is also the first book to concentrate on a part of Purcell’s output that was not written for the theatre. Alon Schab has not aimed to create a guide to these pieces and as such they are not examined in a systematic fashion; neither are their sources and performance contexts discussed at length. Instead his book offers an innovative approach to musical analysis, which is organized around key aspects of Purcell’s compositional technique, including cantus-firmus setting,...