For decades, the entire score was credited to Purcell. However, current research highlights that:
The "Curtain Tune" served as incidental music designed to transition the audience from the spoken drama to the musical "masques" within the play. purcell_the_tempest_z_631_curtain_tune
While the Curtain Tune sets the stage, the full work is celebrated for several other notable movements often found in recordings such as the one by John Eliot Gardiner : For decades, the entire score was credited to Purcell
: One of the few songs in the collection that scholars universally agree was composed by Henry Purcell. purcell_the_tempest_z_631_curtain_tune