The solo and chorus, "Come, if you Dare," is to this day one of the most stirring and effective displays which a tenor vocalist could select, and is therefore frequently heard. The whole of the frost scene is remarkable from its vocal realism of intense and freezing cold. The peculiar and original effects here introduced by Purcell were afterwards copied by Jeremiah Clark, a fellow-student of Purcell, in the anthem, "I will love Thee, O Lord." Mention must also be made of the lovely duet, "Two daughters of this aged stream."
Unfortunately no complete copy of the score of this work, the outcome of the composer's mature judgment, exists. It is presumed that Purcell wrote only one perfect copy, which was retained by the managers of the theatre, who, jealous of possible rivals, would neither permit it to be copied in manuscript or printed.[39] The success at the time of its production is thus recorded by Downes in his Roscius Anglicanus:—
"King Arthur, an opera, wrote by Mr. Dryden; it was excellently adorned with scenes and machines: the musical part set by the famous Mr. Henry Purcell, and Dances made by Mr. Jo. Priest: the play and musick pleas'd the Court and City, and being well perform'd 'twas very gainful to the company."
Dryden's courtly servility has been deplored by more than one author. He had followed the lead set by Charles II., who had imported Monsieur Grabu from France, and set him up as a musical king, and for him, by royal command, Dryden wrote the opera of Albion and Albanius. In the preface to the work he says:—
"The best judges, and those too of the best quality, who have honoured his (Grabu's) rehearsals with their presence, have no less commended the happiness of his genius than his skill. These and other qualities have raised M. Grabu to a degree above any man who shall pretend to be his rival on our stage."
The composer who was thus set above Purcell appears to have enjoyed a somewhat exalted opinion of his own ability, as will be seen by the following extract from the dedication of Albion and Albanius, addressed to James II. by Grabu himself:—
"As the subject of this opera is naturally magnificent, it could not but excite my genius, and raise it to a greater height in the composition—even so as to surpass itself. The only displeasure which remains with me is, that I could not possibly be furnished with variety of excellent voices to present it to your Majesty in full perfection."
Contrast this bumptious self-assertion with the modest prefaces of Purcell previously quoted. However, notwithstanding the patronage of the King and the flatteries of Dryden, Albion and Albanius proved a great failure: it was performed only six times, and from the date of its last performance (1685) Dryden became impressed with the conviction that he must look elsewhere for his future composer, and, as we have already seen, he at last recognised the merits of Purcell. In the preface to King Arthur, intended by Dryden as a sequel to Albion and Albanius, the author says, "he submitted himself in writing and preparing it for the stage" entirely to the guidance of Purcell. This confession was probably made with considerable compunction.
The following extracts from Dryden's Epistle Dedicatory, prefixed to the libretto, will be read with interest:—
"I humbly offer you this trifle, which if it succeed upon the stage, is like to be the chiefest Entertainment of our Ladies and Gentlemen this summer. When I wrote it, seven years ago, I employ'd some reading about it, to inform myself out of Beda, Bochartus, and other authors, concerning the rites and customs of the heathen Saxons; as I also used the little skill I have in Poetry to adorn it. But not to offend the present times, nor a government which has hitherto protected me, I have been obliged so much to alter the first design, and take away so many beauties from the writing, that it is now no more what it was formerly, than the ship of the Royal Sovereign, after so often taking down, and altering, to the vessel it was at the first building. There is nothing better, than what I intended, than the Musick; which has since arriv'd to a greater perfection in England, than ever formerly; especially passing through the artful hands of Mr. Purcel, who has compos'd it with so great a genius, that he has nothing to fear but an ignorant, ill-judging audience. But the numbers of poetry and vocal musick, are sometimes so contrary, that in many places I have been oblig'd to cramp my Verses, and make them rugged to the reader, that they may be harmonious to the hearer: of which I have no reason to repent me, because these sorts of Entertainments are principally design'd for the ear and the eye; and therefore, in reason, my art on this occasion ought to be subservient to his."