Symphony No. 3 - Threnody for an Everyman
[Ed. Note: Due to technical limitations in translating large orchestral scores to YouTube standards, this work is presented in audio only. The appropriate vendor has been apprised and the score is available in PDF format upon request.]
With the Third Symphony, Purdy returned to his Neo-Romantic roots, albeit as seen through the lens of 20th C. Harmony and rhythm.
Purdy dedicated “Symphony No.3 – Threnody for an Everyman to his departed friend Neil Arthur Haller, July 5th 1955 – July 16th 2022. Neil was a very close friend and confidante of Purdy’s and his sudden passing was a source of great distress to him.
The title “Threnody for an Everyman” derives from the Threnody, an ode or elegy to the deceased and the idea of the Everyman, which Neil was.
Everyman, an English morality play of the 15th century, probably a version of a Dutch play, Elckerlyc. It achieves a beautiful, simple solemnity in treating allegorically the theme of death and the fate of the human soul—of Everyman’s soul as he tries to justify his time on earth. Though morality plays on the whole failed to achieve the vigorous realism of the Middle Ages’ scriptural drama, this short play (about 900 lines) is more than an allegorical sermon because vivid characterization gives it dramatic energy. It is generally regarded as the finest of the morality plays.
Synopsis
The Messenger begins by explaining the message of the play: that mortal life is transitory and that sin, which initially seems sweet, eventually causes only suffering. Fellowship, Jollity, Strength, Pleasure, and Beauty cannot survive Death. God then appears and laments that mankind, beguiled by sin and loving only wealth, neglects his worship and the sacrifice he made for them. He decides to have a “reckoning” to call people to account for the way they have been living and orders Death to summon Everyman to him for judgment.
All the characters of the play have analogs, “leitmotifs” in the work.
The work continues Purdy’s interest in non-standard tuning using the Werkmeister 1691 temperament.
The cover art is Albrecht Durer's (May 21, 1471, April 6, 1528) "Ritter, Tod und Teufel" (Knight, Death and Devil), a different perspective on the same theme.
An armoured knight, accompanied by his dog, rides through a narrow gorge flanked by a goat-headed devil and the figure of death riding a pale horse. Death's rotting corpse holds an hourglass, a reminder of the shortness of life. The rider moves through the scene looking away from the creatures lurking around him, and appears almost contemptuous of the threats, and is thus often seen as symbol of courage; the knight's armour, the horse which towers in size over the beasts, the oak leaves and the fortress on the mountaintop are symbolic of the resilience of faith, while the knight's plight may represent Christians' earthly journey towards the Kingdom of Heaven.
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