Pausanias

Sweeter than roses from Pausanius Z585 (1695)

I take no pleasure in the sun’s bright beams Z388 (1681)

I attempt from love’s sickness to fly from The Indian Queen Z630 (1695)

Oh, let me weep from The Fairy Queen Z629 (1692)

Much of the Purcell song repertoire derives from the many examples of incidental music he provided for the London theatre. One of his very last works, Sweeter than roses is the first of two songs written for the third act of Norton’s Pausanias, the Betrayer of his Country, which was staged at Drury Lane in 1695. The recitative introduction is carried on a sustained and bewitchingly, erotically inflected vocal line before the enchanted lover breaks into excited song on “Then shot like fire.”