For decades, the entire score was credited to Purcell. However, current research highlights that:

This specific movement is intended to evoke the atmospheric and supernatural elements of Shakespeare's The Tempest , which was adapted for the late 17th-century stage by Thomas Shadwell.

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 :

The string writing closely resembles that of , differing from Purcell’s established style.