Distress'd Sources? A critical consideration of the authority of Purcell's Ayres for the Theatre

Henry Purcell's posthumous Ayres for the Theatre (1697) is the largest source of the composer's instrumental music for the London stage. This editorial achievement - an impressive collection of Purcell's late theatrical output, arranged for string ensemble - preserves several pieces that otherwise would have been lost and suggests alternative readings of pieces that have survived in other sources; but at the same time it grants authority to the original editor whose identity and editorial practices are unknown. This article outlines the means by which the editor's involvement when compiling the Ayres for the Theatre might have shaped later views of the scoring of the works in it, their generic classification and dramatic context. Analysis of the music for the play Distress'd Innocence (1690) demonstrates that the editorial interventions might have included completion of inner parts on behalf of the deceased composer.