What power art thou, who from below Hast made me rise unwillingly and slow From beds of everlasting snow?
See'st thou not how stiff and wondrous old Far un t to bear the bitter cold, I can scarcely move or draw my breath? Let me, let me freeze again to death.
~John Dryden from KING ARTHUR Act 3, ca. 1691
This aria is from Henry Purcell's semi-opera, King Arthur In semi-opera, the protagonists do not sing, only the secondary characters. This aria is sung by "The Genius of Cold," a bass, the spirit of Winter. The Frost Scene in Act 3 is a masque, a play within a play, created by Osmond, the magician for Oswald, the pagan rival to Christian King Arthur In the masque, Cupid awakens The Cold Genius to pe rsuade him of the power of love.
This setting takes the original aria and harmonizes it for three-part chorus The string parts, with optional realization by the arranger for organ, are taken from the original.
~Reginald Unterseher