Ground Bass Techniques

The movements in Dido and Aeneas built over a ground (repeating) bass illustrate Purcell’s achievement in balancing repetitive patterning with asymmetrical phrase structure, thus transforming a common compositional artifice into artistic expression. In “Ah, Belinda,” he writes a declamation and an air over the same repeating bass pattern. In “Oft she visits,” the collapse of normalcy into destructive chaos depicted in the text is illustrated by the alteration he makes to the relationship between the repeating bass and the vocal line. Dido’s Lament is the most extensively constructed of these airs, the links to the preceding and following movements creating an extended scene depicting Dido’s dying moments.