Below: A dedication from Unraveling Musical Myths to the reader of a performance of Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, set by English composer Henry Purcell for the funeral of his then-Sovereign, Queen Mary II, who succumbed to smallpox in late December of 1694.
It was through the death of Her Majesty that Westminster-born Purcell quite suddenly found himself in charge of music for a royal funeral that had never originally been planned - the late Queen having stipulated that there be no such ceremony of state following her demise. Purcell had been serving as organist at Westminster Abbey at the time of Queen Mary's death.
It was due to the will and wish of the public, who so loved their Monarch, (a feeling shared by modern-day loyalists to our own late Sovereign lady, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II), that a state funeral was scheduled for 5 March, 1695, some three months following Mary's demise.
For the occasion, Purcell composed his Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary and the funeral sentence, Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts, which were performed during the occasion alongside works by Thomas Morley and other English composers.
Purcell had twice previously set music to Thou knowest (from the The
Book of Common Prayer, 1549): first in 1672 to complete sentences by fellow
English composer Henry Cooke for the latters' funeral, and later, with
revisions occurring around 1680). These earlier versions were polyphonic, as
was custom at the time. The composers' third version of Thou knowest,
as well as his March and Canzona were performed during the funeral service of Queen
Mary II. Today, the March, Canzona and the funeral sentence (along with two other sentences set by Purcell, Man that is born of a woman, and In the midst of life we are in death) are often performed together as the composer's Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary (Z. 860).
Recent scholarship suggests that this latest setting may have
been an homage by Purcell not only to his late Sovereign, but possibly to the
composer Thomas Morley, whose own setting of this particular sentence would later be discovered. It is speculated by some musicologists that Purcell donned an
older style to mimic Morley's music, and that this setting was possibly used
to complete sentences by the latter composer. The words for this particular version are set mostly in homophony.
With the question of attribution aside, it would be this third version of
Thou knowest, which would be performed at subsequent royal funerals,
including that of the Queen Mum, and that of her daughter, our late Majesty (and
the Queen Mum's namesake), Elizabeth II, which could be heard echoing resoundingly through the walls of the royal church as
the former Monarch and Head of State's
coffin entered Westminster Abbey
on this most sombre day of 19 September 2022.
Purcell's setting of Thou Knowest would later go on to be performed at
the composers' own funeral following his death (believed to be caused by
tuberculosis) in November 1695, just a mere eight months since the piece was
first performed. He was only 35 at the time of his passing.
Jump to 17:05 to hear Purcell's funeral sentence Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts (Jean Tubéry conducts La Fenice):
- Rose.
