The collection of songs by Henry Purcell entitled Orpheus Britannicus is in two volumes, published in 1698 and 1702 respectively. These include solo songs, duets and dialogues, and some songs for 3 voices. The publisher, Henry Playford, describes the two volumes as 'A/Collection/of all/the Choicest SONGS/for/One, Two and Three Voices/ Compos'd /By Mr. Henry Purcell'. None of the songs are long pieces; many were originally written for the stage, either as operatic songs or incidental music to a play, and so most of them had been published previously. Orpheus must have enjoyed moderately successful sales. The first volume ran to a second edition in 1702, and the second in 1711: both were reprinted in 1721. Frances Purcell, in dedicating the first volume to Lady Howard, pays tribute to Sir Robert Howard, whose Excellent Compositions were the Subject of his [Purcell's] last and best Performance in Musick. Robert Howard was co-author with John Dryden of The Indian Queen, performed in the year of Purcell's death. From Orpheus Britannicus for soprano (d'-g''), oboe (or recorder) and bc The Plaint O, O, let me Weep! is part of the masque in Act V of Purcell s The Fairy Queen, where Juno appears and sings first the Epithalamium Thrice happy lovers, and then The Plaint. The main source for this song is Orpheus Britannicus. Peter Holman suggests that the quality and the range of the obbligato instrument suggest a recorder, rather than the violin indicated: if this were so it would be the only instance in Purcell s works of his writing for a single recorder. Clifford Bartlett in his edition of the Fairy Queen suggests violin or oboe as the appropriate instrument. Accordingly, the piece is presented here as a song with oboe obbligato, which recorder players may also like to add to their repertoire.
