Poetry Cafe 205: ‚King Arthur‘

King Arthur (Purcell/ Dryden)

Playlist (texts read & music played)

1. Leslie Alcock:  ‘Arthur’s Britain’ (1971 & 1989)

2. John Dryden/ Henry Purcell: ‘King Arthur’ – ‘Fairest Isle’

3. Act 1: Overture, Air, Overture

4. Act 2: ‘Hither this way’ & ‘Come, follow me’

5. Act 2: ‘How blest are shepherds’; Symphony & Air

6. Act 3: Prelude & Cold Genius; Prelude & Chorus of Cold People; ‘ ‘Tis I that have warm’d ye’

7. Act 4: Hornpipe; ‘Two Sirens’; Passacaglia & ‘How happy the lover’

8. Act 5: Trumpet Tune & Aeolus

9. Dryden: letter to the ‘Marquiss of Hallifax’, 1684

10. Review of ‘King Arthur’, Tiroler Tageszeitung, January 20, 2025

11. Chaconne