Purcell - Dido and Aeneas - Dido's lament

For this forum, I chose "Purcell - Dido and Aeneas - Dido's Lament" (Act III) for comment.

The genre is of course Opera and it is baroque style music in the fullest degree by offering the distinct Basso Continuo that is a characteristic of the baroque period.

The composer of Dido's lament was an Englishman named Henry Purcell. Most of his work, besides this opera (Dido and Aeneas), were mainly lively and he used a variety of different musical forms to create such work; however this opera was widely thought of as his only real opera. Though he died very young of reasons unknown, "Dido and Aeneas" was considered an English masterpiece for the Baroque period.

I am not necessarily an aficionado of opera music, though I do love laments due to the grief, sorrow and deep thinking that goes into the music itself. The descending chromatic bass is a clear indication of such in this aria. It repeats itself 11 times throughout and its main intent to show sorrow / grief and makes the listener aware of the impending doom (fate) of Dido.

I personally liked this piece due to the story line of Dido and Aeneas and the suicidal ending. Though sad, it is very romantic with the love, betrayal and grief-stricken ending. I am a fan of the darker, deep music / plays and love the drama and attention to detail this particular act displayed.