Purcell: Z 231/2. Nunc dimittis (Evening Service in G minor) - Preston

Evening Service in G minor, Z 231

2. Nunc dimittis (Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace),
also known as 'the Song of Simeon'

Canticle for soloists (SSAATB) and chorus (SATB)

Text: Luke, II, 29-32 in 'The Holy Bible' (1611)

Music: Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
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Gloria (Glory be to the Father)

Hymn for soloists (SATB) and chorus (SATB)

Text: Minor Doxology in 'The Book of Common Prayer' (1662)

Music: Thomas Roseingrave (1688-1766)
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Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford,
conducted by Simon Preston

Francis Grier, organ

Recorded in November 1980

Pitch: A = 466 Hz
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This evening service (composed of a Magnificat and a Nunc dimittis, both ending with a Gloria) only survives in 18th-century manuscripts, and its ascription to Henry Purcell has sometimes been questioned. In the sources and in the Purcell Society Edition, the Nunc dimittis is followed with a Gloria composed by Thomas Roseingrave, although Purcell probably intended the Gloria to the Magnificat to be repeated after the Nunc dimittis.

Sources:
Magnificat
Gloria I
Nunc dimittis
Gloria II (by Roseingrave)

Probable original plan:
Magnificat
Gloria I
Nunc dimittis
Gloria I (reprise)

Roseingrave's Gloria, composed much later and in a different style, does not follow the same scheme in the verse sections as Purcell, who alternates trios (SSA and ATB). I decided to include it in this video to be comprehensive, but I would recommend to ignore it in performance, and to repeat the first Gloria instead.

Marc D.