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Henry Purcell

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Performers and composers

   Henry Purcell
   Henry Purcell

   Henry Purcell ( IPA: [ˈpɜː(r)sl]; September 10 (?) , 1659– November 21,
   1695), a Baroque composer, is generally considered to be one of
   England's greatest composers. He has often been called England's finest
   native composer. Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic
   elements but devised a peculiarly English style of Baroque music.

Biography

Early life and career

   Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster. His
   father, Henry Purcell, was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and sang at
   the coronation of King Charles II of England. Henry the elder had three
   sons, Edward, Henry, and Daniel. Daniel Purcell (d. 1717), the youngest
   of the brothers, was also a prolific composer who wrote the music for
   much of the final act of The Indian Queen after Purcell's death.

   After his father's death in 1664, Purcell was placed under the
   guardianship of his uncle, Thomas Purcell (d. 1682), who showed him
   great affection and kindness. Thomas was himself a gentleman of His
   Majesty's chapel, and arranged for Henry to be admitted as a chorister.
   Henry studied first under Captain Henry Cooke (d. 1672), master of the
   children, and afterwards under Pelham Humfrey (d. 1674), Cooke's
   successor. Henry was a chorister in the Chapel Royal until his voice
   broke in 1673, at which time he became assistant to John Hingeston, the
   musical instrument keeper for the King.

   Purcell is said to have been composing at nine years old; but the
   earliest work that can be certainly identified as his is an ode for the
   King's birthday, written in 1670. (The dates for his compositions are
   often uncertain, despite considerable research). After Humfrey's death,
   Purcell continued his studies under Dr John Blow. He attended
   Westminster School and in 1676 he was appointed organist, at
   Westminster Abbey and in the same year he composed the music to John
   Dryden's Aureng-Zebe, and Thomas Shadwell's Epsom Wells and The
   Libertine. These were followed in 1677 by the music to Aphra Behn's
   tragedy, Abdelazar, and in 1678 by an overture and masque for
   Shadwell's new version of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens. The chorus "In
   these delightful pleasant groves" from The Libertine is still
   performed.

   In 1679, he wrote some songs for John Playford's Choice Ayres, Songs
   and Dialogues, and also an anthem, the name of which is not known, for
   the Chapel Royal. From a letter written by Thomas Purcell, and still
   extant, we learn that this anthem was composed for the exceptionally
   fine voice of the Rev. John Gostling, then at Canterbury, but
   afterwards a gentleman of His Majesty's chapel. Purcell wrote several
   anthems at different times for this extraordinary voice, a basso
   profondo, which is known to have had a range of at least two full
   octaves, from D below the bass staff to the D above it. The dates of
   very few of these sacred compositions are known; perhaps the most
   notable example is the anthem "They that go down to the sea in ships".
   In thankfulness for a providential escape of the King from shipwreck,
   Gostling, who had been of the royal party, put together some verses
   from the Psalms in the form of an anthem, and requested Purcell to set
   them to music. The work is a very difficult one, including a passage
   which traverses the full extent of Gostling's voice, beginning on the
   upper D and descending two octaves to the lower.
   Another portrait of Henry Purcell
   Another portrait of Henry Purcell

Later career and death

   In 1680, Blow, who had been appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in
   1669, resigned his office in favour of his pupil, who was still only
   twenty-two. Purcell now devoted himself almost entirely to the
   composition of sacred music, and for six years severed his connection
   with the theatre. However, during the early part of the year, probably
   before taking up his new office, he had produced two important works
   for the stage, the music for Nathaniel Lee's Theodosius and Thomas
   D'Urfey's Virtuous Wife. The composition of his opera Dido and Aeneas,
   which forms a very important landmark in the history of English
   dramatic music, has been attributed to this period, though its earliest
   production has been shown by W. Barclay Squire to have been between
   1688 and 1690. It was written to a libretto furnished by Nahum Tate, at
   the request of Josiah Priest, a professor of dancing, who also kept a
   boarding-school for young gentlewomen, first in Leicester Fields and
   afterwards at Chelsea, where it is thought the opera was first
   performed. It is occasionally considered the first genuine English
   opera, though that title is usually given to Blow's Venus and Adonis:
   as in Blow's work, the action does not progress in spoken dialogue but
   in Italian-style recitative. Dido and Aeneas never found its way to the
   theatre, though it appears to have been very popular among private
   circles. It is believed to have been extensively copied, but only one
   song was printed by Purcell's widow in Orpheus Britannicus, and the
   complete work remained in manuscript until 1840, when it was printed by
   the Musical Antiquarian Society, under the editorship of Sir George
   Macfarren.
     * Stay, Prince and hear —
          + A scene from Purcell's operatic masterpiece, Dido and Aeneas.
            The witches' messenger, in the form of Mercury himself,
            attempts to convince Aeneas to leave Carthage. Note the use of
            Italian-style recitative, a rarity in English opera at that
            time.
          +

   Soon after Purcell's marriage, in 1682, on the death of Edward Lowe, he
   was appointed organist of the Chapel-Royal, an office which he was able
   to hold simultaneously with his position at Westminster Abbey. His
   eldest son was born in this same year. His first printed composition,
   Twelve Sonatas, was published in 1683. For some years after this he was
   busy in the production of sacred music, odes addressed to the king and
   royal family, and other similar works. In 1685 he wrote two of his
   finest anthems, "I was glad" and "My heart is inditing", for the
   coronation of King James II.

   In 1687, he resumed his connection with the theatre by furnishing the
   music for Dryden's tragedy, Tyrannick Love. In this year Purcell also
   composed a march and quick-step, which became so popular that Lord
   Wharton adapted the latter to the fatal verses of Lillibullero; and in
   or before January 1688 he composed his anthem "Blessed are they that
   fear the Lord", by express command of the King. A few months later he
   wrote the music for D'Urfey's play, The Fool's Preferment. In 1690 he
   wrote the songs for Dryden's version of Shakespeare's The Tempest,
   including "Full fathom five" and "Come unto these yellow sands", and
   the music for Betterton's adaptation of Fletcher and Massinger's
   Prophetess (afterwards called Dioclesian) and Dryden's Amphitryon. In
   1691 he produced what is sometimes considered his dramatic masterpiece,
   King Arthur, also written by Dryden, and first published by the Musical
   Antiquarian Society in 1843. In 1692, he composed songs and music for
   The Fairy-Queen (an adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's
   Dream), the score of which was rediscovered in 1901 and published by
   the Purcell Society. However, in these semi-operas (the term for which
   at the time was "dramatic operas") the main characters of the plays do
   not sing but speak their lines: the action moves in dialogue rather
   than recitative, with music introduced only in isolated scenes and
   masques. In these works Purcell suffered the handicap of being unable
   to characterize through music, largely due to the aesthetics of mass
   audiences of that time.

   Purcell's Te Deum and Jubilate was written for Saint Cecilia's Day,
   1693, the first English Te Deum ever composed with orchestral
   accompaniment. This work was annually performed at St Paul's Cathedral
   until 1712, after which it was performed alternately with Handel's
   Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate until 1743, when both works were replaced
   by Handel's Dettingen Te Deum.

   He composed an anthem and two elegies for Queen Mary II's funeral.
   Besides the operas and semi-operas already mentioned, Purcell wrote Don
   Quixote, Boudicca, The Indian Queen and others, a vast quantity of
   sacred music, and numerous odes, cantatas and other miscellaneous
   pieces. The quantity of his instrumental chamber music is minimal after
   his early career, and his keyboard music consists of an even more
   minimal number of harpsichord suites and organ pieces.

   He died at his house in Dean's Yard, Westminster, in 1695, at the
   height of his career; he was in his mid-thirties. His wife and three of
   his six children survived him. His widow died in 1706, having published
   a number of his works, including the now famous collection called
   Orpheus Britannicus, in two volumes, printed in 1698 and 1702
   respectively.

   The cause of Purcell's death is unclear: one theory is that he caught a
   chill after returning late from the theatre one night to find that his
   wife had locked him out; another is that he succumbed to chocolate
   poisoning; perhaps the most likely is that he died of tuberculosis. The
   beginning of Purcell's will reads:

          In the name of God Amen. I, Henry Purcell, of the City of
          Westminster, gentleman, being dangerously ill as to the
          constitution of my body, but in good and perfect mind and memory
          (thanks be to God) do by these presents publish and declare this
          to be my last Will and Testament. And I do hereby give and
          bequeath unto my loving wife, Frances Purcell, all my estate
          both real and personal of what nature and kind soever...

   Purcell is buried adjacent to the organ in Westminster Abbey. His
   epitaph reads, "Here lyes Henry Purcell Esq., who left this life and is
   gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded".

Influence and reputation

   A Purcell Club was founded in London in 1836 for promoting the
   performance of his music, but was dissolved in 1863. In 1876 a Purcell
   Society was founded, which published new editions of his works. A
   modern day Purcell Club has been created, and provides guided tours and
   concerts in support of Westminster Abbey.

   After his death, Purcell was honored by many of his contemporaries,
   including his old friend John Blow, who wrote "An Ode, on the Death of
   Mr Henry Purcell (Mark how the lark and linnet sing)" with text by his
   old collaborator John Dryden. More recently, the English poet Gerard
   Manley Hopkins wrote a famous sonnet entitled simply "Henry Purcell",
   with a head-note reading: "The poet wishes well to the divine genius of
   Purcell and praises him that, whereas other musicians have given
   utterance to the moods of man's mind, he has, beyond that, uttered in
   notes the very make and species of man as created both in him and in
   all men generally."

   So strong was his reputation that a popular wedding processional was
   incorrectly attributed to Purcell for many years. The so-called
   "Purcell's Trumpet Voluntary" was in fact written around 1700 by a
   British composer named Jeremiah Clarke as the Prince of Denmark's
   March.

   Purcell is among the Baroque composers who has had a direct influence
   on modern rock and roll; according to Pete Townshend of The Who,
   Purcell was among his influences, particularly evident in the opening
   bars of The Who's " Pinball Wizard." The title song from the sound
   track of the film A Clockwork Orange is from Purcell's "Music for the
   Funeral of Queen Mary".

   Purcell also had a strong influence on the composers of the English
   musical renaissance of the early twentieth century, most notably
   Benjamin Britten, who created and performed a realisation of Dido and
   Aeneas and whose The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is based on
   a theme from Purcell's Abdelazar. Stylistically, the aria "I know a
   bank" from Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream is clearly
   inspired by Purcell's aria "Sweeter than Roses", which he wrote as part
   of incidental music to Richard Norton's Pausanias, the Betrayer of His
   Country. In the 21st century, the soundtrack to the 2005 film version
   of Pride and Prejudice features a dance titled "A Postcard to Henry
   Purcell" by composer Dario Marianelli.
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