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HENRY PURCELL (1658-1695)

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 659 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HENRY See also:PURCELL (1658-1695)  , See also:English musical composer, was See also:born in 1658 in St See also:Ann's See also:Lane, Old See also:Pye See also:Street, See also:Westminster . His See also:father, See also:Henry See also:Purcell (or Pursell), was a See also:gentleman of the See also:chapel-royal, and in that capacity sang at the See also:coronation of See also:Charles II.; he had three sons, See also:Edward, Henry and See also:Daniel—the last of whom (d . 1717) was also a prolific composer . After his father's See also:death in 1664 See also:young Henry Purcell was placed under the guardianship of his See also:uncle, See also:Thomas Purcell (d . 1682), a See also:man of extraordinary probity and kindness . Through the See also:interest of this affectionate See also:guardian, who was himself a gentleman of His See also:Majesty's chapel, Henry was admitted to the chapel-royal as a chorister, and studied first under See also:Captain Henry See also:Cooke (d . 1672), " See also:master of the See also:children," and afterwards under See also:Pelham Humfrey (1647-1674), his successor, a See also:pupil of See also:Lully . He is said to have composed well at nine years old; but the earliest See also:work that can be certainly identified as his is an See also:ode for the See also:king's birthday, written in 167o . (The See also:dates for his compositions are often uncertain, though See also:recent See also:research has done much to See also:fix them more authoritatively.) After Humfrey's death he continued his studies under Dr See also:John See also:Blow . In 1676 he was appointed copyist at Westminster See also:Abbey—not organist, as hassometimes been erroneously stated—and in the same See also:year he composed the See also:music to See also:Dryden's Aurenge-Zebe, and See also:Shadwell's See also:Epsom See also:Wells and The Libertine.' These were followed in 1677 by the music to Mrs See also:Behn's tragedy, Abdelazor, and in 1678 by an See also:overture and masque for Shadwell's new version of See also:Shakespeare's See also:Timon of See also:Athens . The excellence of these compositions is proved by the fact that they contain songs and choruses which never fail to please, even at the See also:present See also:day . The masque in Timon of Athens is a masterpiece, and the See also:chorus " In these delightful pleasant groves" in The Libertine is constantly sung with See also:applause by English choral See also:societies .

In 1679 he wrote some songs for Playford's Choice Ayres, Songs and Dialogues, and also an See also:

anthem, the name of which is not known, for the chapel-royal . From a See also:letter written by Thomas Purcell, and still extant, we learn that this anthem was composed for the exceptionally See also:fine See also:voice of the Rev . John Gostling, then at See also:Canterbury, but afterwards a gentleman of His Majesty's chapel . Purcell wrote several anthems at different times for this extra-See also:ordinary voice, a basso profundo, the See also:compass of which is known to have comprised at least two full octaves, from D below the stave to D above it . The dates of very few of these sacred compositions are known; but one, " They that go down to the See also:sea in See also:ships," though certainly not written until some See also:time after this See also:period, will be best mentioned here . In thankfulness for a providential See also:escape of the king from shipwreck Gostling, who had been of the royal party, put together some verses from the See also:Psalms in the See also:form of an anthem, and requested Purcell to set them to music . The work is a very fine one but very difficult, and contains a passage which traverses the full extent of Gostling's voice, beginning on the upper D and descending two octaves to the See also:lower . In 168o Dr Blow, who had been appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in 1669, resigned his See also:office in favour of his pupil; and Purcell, at the See also:age of twenty-two, was placed in one of the most See also:honourable positions an English artist could occupy . He now devoted himself almost entirely to the See also:composition of sacred music, and for six years entirely severed his connexion with the See also:theatre . But during the See also:early See also:part of the year, and in all See also:probability before entering upon the duties of his new office, he had produced two important See also:works for the See also:stage, the music for See also:Lee's See also:Theodosius and D'Urfey's Virtuous Wife . The composition of his See also:opera See also:Dido and See also:Aeneas, which forms a very important landmark in the See also:history of English dramatic music (see OPERA), has been attributed to this period, though its earliest See also:production has been shown by Mr W . See also:Barclay See also:Squire to have been between 1688 and 1690 .

It was written to a libretto furnished by See also:

Nahum See also:Tate, at the See also:request of See also:Josiah See also:Priest, a See also:professor of dancing, who also kept a boarding-school for young gentlewomen, first in See also:Leicester See also:Fields and afterwards at See also:Chelsea . It is a musical See also:drama in the strictest sense of the See also:term, a genuine opera, in which the See also:action is entirely carried on in recitative, without a word of spoken See also:dialogue from beginning to end; and the music is of the most genial See also:character—a veritable See also:inspiration, overflowing with spontaneous See also:melody, and in every respect immensely in advance of its age . It 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 one See also:song only was printed by Purcell's widow in See also:Orpheus See also:Britannicus, and the See also:complete work remained in See also:manuscript until 184o, when it was printed by the Musical Antiquarian Society, under the editorship of See also:Sir See also:George See also:Macfarren . In 1682 Purcell was appointed organist of the chapel-royal, See also:vice See also:Edmund See also:Lowe deceased, an office which he was able to hold conjointly with his See also:appointment at Westminster Abbey . He had recently married, his eldest son being born in this year . His first printed composition, Twelve Sonatas, was published in 1683 . For some years after this his See also:pen was busily employed in the production of sacred music, odes addressed to the king and royal See also:family, and other similar works . In 1685 he wrote two ' The Libertine was suggested by Tirso de See also:Molina's See also:tale, El Burlador de Sevilla, afterwards dramatically treated by See also:Moliere and chosen by Da See also:Ponte as the See also:foundation of See also:Mozart's See also:Don Giovanni . of his finest anthems, " I was glad " and " My See also:heart is inditing," for the coronation of See also:James II . In 1687 he resumed his connexion with the theatre by furnishing the music for Dryden's tragedy, Tyrannic Love . In this year also Purcell composed a See also:march and See also:quick-step, which became so popular that See also:Lord See also:Wharton adapted the latter to the fatal verses of Lillibulero; and in or before See also:January 1688 he composed his anthem " Blessed are they that fear the Lord," by See also:express command of the king .

A few months later he wrote the music for D'Urfey's See also:

play, The See also:Fool's Preferment . In 1690 he wrote the songs for Dryden's version of Shakespeare's See also:Tempest, including " Full See also:fathom five " and " Come unto these Yellow Sands," and the music for See also:Betterton's See also:adaptation of See also:Fletcher and See also:Massinger's Prophetess (afterwards called Dioclesian) and Dryden's See also:Amphitryon; and in 1691 he produced his dramatic masterpiece, King See also:Arthur, also written by Dryden, and first published by the Musical Antiquarian Society in 1843 . In 1692 he composed songs and music for The See also:Fairy See also:Queen (an adaptation of Shakespeare's Midsummer See also:Night's See also:Dream), the See also:score of which (discovered in 1901) was edited in 1903 for the Purcell Society by J . S . Shedlock . But Purcell's greatest work is undoubtedly his Te Deum and Jubilate, written for St See also:Cecilia's Day, 1694, the first English Te Deum ever composed with orchestral accompaniments . In this he pressed forward so far in advance of the age that the work was annually performed at St See also:Paul's See also:Cathedral till 1712, after which it was performed alternately with See also:Handel's See also:Utrecht Te Deum and Jubliate until 1743, when it finally gave See also:place to Handel's See also:Dettingen Te Deum . Purcell did not See also:long survive the production of this See also:great work . He composed an anthem for Queen See also:Mary's funeral, and two elegies . He died at his See also:house in See also:Dean's Yard, Westminster, on the 21st of See also:November 1695, and was buried under the See also:organ in Westminster Abbey . He See also:left a widow and three children, three having predeceased him . His widow died in 1706 .

She published a number of his works, including the now famous collection called Orpheus Britannicus (two books, 1698, 1702) . Besides the operas already mentioned, Purcell wrote Don Quixote, Bonduca, The See also:

Indian Queen and others, a vast quantity of sacred music, and numerous odes, cantatas and other See also:miscellaneous pieces . (See the See also:list in See also:Grove's See also:Dictionary of Music.) A Purcell See also:Club was founded in See also:London in 1836 for promoting the performance of his music, but was dissolved in 1863 . In 1876 a Purcell Society was founded, which has done excellent work in See also:publishing new See also:editions of his works .

End of Article: HENRY PURCELL (1658-1695)
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