Join Today

Donate Now
Composition -
Click here to SEARCH the entire American Recorder Society Downloadable Music Library
Click here to SEE the entire American Recorder Society Downloadable Music Library
Click here to see the Members' Library Editions Index
Click here to see the Arrangements and Transcriptions Index

Four Airs from "The Beggar's Opera" - MLE 32
By Johann Christoph Pepusch (?) (1667 - 1752)
 Arranged By Kearney Smith 2003
 
S A T B
 
 
The present set of four of my favorite airs, of the over fifty that appear in the opera, were chosen because they have interesting bass lines which lie neatly in the range of the F bass. I have transcribed and in some cases transposed these airs and added inner voices while remaining faithful to the spirit of the original and not  overwhelming its melody.
-- Kearney Smith
 
 
Performed in England in 1728, The Beggar’s Opera was a satiric play spoofing class inequities in contemporary English society. Borne out of indignation among the English authors and actors who saw themselves being replaced by foreigners, the play took aim at the passionate interest of the upper classes in Italian opera — while simultaneously lampooning notable politicians and famous criminals.

The poet and playwright John Gay (1685–1732) assured the play’s success by selecting popular tunes of the day to be sung with his lyrics. Because Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667–1752) composed an overture for the play, it is  speculated but not certain that he also composed bass lines for the airs.
-- Glen Shannon, Editor
 
 
No. of Recorder Parts:
4
Difficulty:
Moderate
Occasion:
Any
Libraries:
Members' Library Editions, Arrangements and Transcriptions
Date Added:
11/01/2006
Style:
Tonal/Melodic, Renaissance/Baroque/Classical