Henry Purcell

Between his compositions for the stage, such as Dido and Aeneas, King Arthur and The Fairy Queen, and for the church, with his odes and anthems, not to mention his keyboard pieces, Henry Purcell was the foremost exponent of English Baroque music. The son of a musician in the Chapel Royal and cantor at Westminster Abbey, Henry Purcell was born on September 10, 1659, but lost his father five years later. He was then educated by his uncle Thomas Purcell, also a musician at the English court, who enabled him to join the royal choir and study with Henry Cooke and his successors Pelham Humfrey and John Blow, a renowned composer of his time who had a definite influence on him. Purcell composed an ode for King Charles II's birthday and religious music from the age of nine (his first pieces date from 1670), and collaborated with Matthew Locke on revisions of operas, which opened up the prospect of working for the stage. In addition to his successive jobs as copyist, curator of instruments and ordinary composer for the violins at Westminster Abbey, in 1676 he composed incidental music for John Dryden's Aureng-Zebe, Epsom Wells and Thomas Shadwell's The Libertine. In 1678, he unveiled his first anthem, Lord, Who Can Tell, before working closely with the deep-bass-voiced Reverend John Gostling, who sang They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships, referring to a rescue at sea when the King's ship was wrecked. The following year, Purcell wrote the songbook Choice Ayres, Songs and Dialogues with publisher and theorist John Playford. In the same year, after ten years' service, John Blow retired and appointed the young Purcell as his successor, a move that testified not only to his confidence in leaving him in charge of composing occasional pieces and accompanying services, but also to the level reached by his pupil, eager for knowledge and experimentation, which he soon put into practice with Theodosius for Nathaniel Lee and Virtuous Wife for Thomas d'Urfey. He also composed an elegy for Locke's death and one of his great instrumental works, Fantasias for Strings (1680). In 1682, he married a Miss Frances, of whom little is known other than that she bore him six children, only two of whom reached adulthood. In addition to his position at Westminster, Purcell was appointed organist of the Chapel Royal after the death of Edward Lowe. In 1683, he composed a collection of 12 keyboard sonatas, and although he was very busy producing sacred music and royal odes, he was already working on Dido and Aeneas, which would not see the light of day until 1689. Four years earlier, he had written the anthems I Was Glad and My Heart Is Inditing for the coronation of James II, then in 1687 the music for John Dryden's play Tyrannick Love, while his Quick-Step, which became very popular during the Glorious Revolution, was inserted in the march Lillibullero (1688). Another anthem, Blessed Are They That Fear the Lord, preceded the music for Thomas d'Urfey's The Fool's Preferment. Premiered in 1689, the chamber opera Dido and Aeneas marks a turning point in the history of English dramatic music. Inspired by Virgil'sAeneid, the libretto by poet Nahum Tate took shape on the stage of dancer and choreographer Josias Priest's school for girls. Present at the harpsichord, the composer played his arias, including the famous When I Am Laid in Earth, also known as Dido's Lament. In 1690, he wrote the music for Thomas Betterton's play Prophetess, adapted by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger and later performed as Dioclesian. For Dryden, he composed the music for the comedy Amphitryon, after Molière. In 1691, he signed a new masterpiece for Dryden with King Arthur, a semi-opera in five acts premiered at the Queen's Theatre in London's Dorset Garden. Arias abound, including the famous What Power Art Thou Who from Below, better known as The Cold Song, performed by Klaus Nomi among others, not forgetting the period hit Fairest Isle, which inspired the Christian ode Love Divine, All Loves Excelling. On May 2, 1692, The Fairy-Queen, inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, was premiered in the same theater, with a spectacular mechanical display to recreate the enchantment of the original text, supported by the tunes "The Plaint", "Thrice Happy Lovers " and "Hark! The Echoing Air". Three years later, Purcell wrote songs for an adaptation of The Tempest by the same author, adapted by Dryden and William D'Avenant. He also wrote his last major work of the genre, The Indian Queen, premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, to a libretto by Dryden and Robert Howard, for which he composed only the music for the prologue and second and third acts. His brother Daniel Purcell (c. 1664-1717), organist and composer of some forty pieces of incidental music, completed the score. Meanwhile, Henry Purcell composed the famous aria Music for a While (1692) and, for St. Cecilia's Day in 1694, a Te Deum (the first of its kind with accompaniment in England) and a Jubilate Deo. In 1695, he composed an anthem and two elegies for the funeral of Queen Mary II, Funreal Sentences and Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, which were performed at his own funeral. In his last years, he worked on other music for the stage, including The Old Bachelor, The Double Dealer and The Female Virtuosos in 1693, The Canterbury Gates, The Fatal Marriage and Love Triumphant in 1694, followed by The Comical History of Don Quixote, Bonduca and The Rival Sisters in 1695. The same year saw the premiere of Abdelazer, including the famous rondeau used by Benjamin Britten in The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946), and various soundtracks including Pride and Prejudice (2005). In the last six years of his life, he composed the music for forty-two pieces. His death on November 21, 1695, at the young age of thirty-six, may have been caused by a cold after a night out, or by tuberculosis. His body lies in the shadow of the organ at Westminster Abbey.

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