did's lament

first of all, i love this piece.

the recit strikes me as odd, however, because the cadential structure seems to be backwards. there is a HC at measure 5, but from the first three measures the tonality is ambiguous with a i-I-iv. there is what seems like it will be a HC in the key of c minor as the recit ends and we are leading the aria, but instead we moduate to the key of the minor dominant. measures 10-14 serve as the transitional measures from not only the recit-aria but from the old key to the new key of g minor.

the aria seems to be made up of a group of phrases, because i can't seem to find any real form in the section. there is a repeating phrase in the vocal line from m. 14-22 and again 24-32. after that though, we get another section of a sort of call-and-response between the orchestra and dido. this repeating of a phrase occurs again with the second motive "remember me" in m. 34-44 and again from 44-54.

we end in the key of g minor. wow...what a beautiful aria.