Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell (/ˈpɜ:səl/ or /parseltongue/; St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster, c. September 10, 1659-Dean's Yard, Westminster; November 21, 1695) was an English composer of the Baroque period. Considered one of the greatest English composers of all time, he incorporated French and Italian stylistic elements into his music, generating his own English style of baroque music.

Biography

Beginnings

Henry Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster. His father, also named Henry Purcell, was a Knight of the Royal Chapel, and sang at the coronation of King Charles II of England. He was the eldest of three brothers, of whom the youngest, Daniel Purcell (died 1717), was equally a prolific composer. After the death of his father, in 1664, Henry Purcell was left in the custody of his uncle Thomas Purcell (died 1682), who showed affection for him. Thomas was also a Knight of the King's Chapel and arranged for Henry's admission as a member of the choir. Henry studied first with Henry Cooke, the boys' teacher, and then with Pelham Humfrey, Cooke's successor.

Henry Purcell is said to have begun composing at the age of 18, but the earliest work that can be reliably identified as his authorship is the Ode for the King's Birthday written in 1670 (The dates of his compositions are often uncertain, despite considerable research.) After Humfrey's death, Purcell continued his studies with Dr. John Blow, while attending Westminster School. In 1676 he was appointed assistant organist at Westminster Abbey and composed such works as Aureng-Zebe , Epsom Wells and The Rake .

In 1675 he wrote several songs for John Playford's Selected Aires, Songs and Dialogues and also a hymn of a currently unknown name for the Chapel Royal. Thanks to a letter written by Thomas Purcell, we know that the hymn was written for the exceptional voice of the Reverend John Gostling, then at Canterbury, but later a Knight of the King's Chapel. Purcell wrote many hymns at different times for this extraordinary voice, a deep bass, known to have a range of at least two full octaves, from re₂ to re₄. Details of a few of these hymns are known; perhaps the most notable example is They that go down to the sea in ships, composed in gratitude for a providential salvage suffered by the king from a shipwreck in the Solent. Gostling, who was accompanying the king on the occasion, assembled several verses from the Psalms into a hymn and asked Purcell to compose the music. The work is still very difficult to interpret today, including a passage that goes through the entire range of Gostling's voice.

In 1677 he composed the music for Aphra Behn's tragedy Abdelazar and in 1678 an overture and masque for Shadwell's new version of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens. The chorus of The Rake "In These Delightfull Pleasant Groves" is frequently performed. In this year he became composer of the string orchestra «Violines del Rey».

Fullness

In 1682, John Blow, organist of Westminster Abbey since 1669, resigned his position in favor of Henry Purcell, who was 23 years old at the time.

In 1682 Purcell married Frances Purcell and the following year was appointed organist of the Chapel Royal and builder of the Royal Organs. Purcell, then, devoted himself entirely to the composition of sacred music, and for six years he restricted his connection with the theater. However, during the first part of that year, probably before taking office, he produced two important works for the stage: the music for Nathaniel Lee's Theodosius and for Virtuous Wife by Thomas D'Urfey.

In 1689, Purcell composed the opera Dido and Aeneas, which constitutes an important milestone in the history of English dramatic music with the famous aria "Dido's Lament", and later several other semi-operas, like the highly developed The Fairy Queen (The queen of fairies). Dido and Aeneas was written from a script by Nathum Tate, who developed it at the request of Josiah Priest, a dance teacher who also ran a girls' school, first in Leicester.

Death

Purcell died on November 26, 1695 at the age of 36, at the height of his fame. Soon after, his wife collected several of his works, which were published in two famous volumes: Orpheus Britannicus I (1698) and II (1702).

He was buried in Westminster Abbey, beneath the harpsichord he played for so long. His epitaph reads: "Here lies the honorable Henry Purcell, who left this life and has gone to that one blessed place where his harmony may be surpassed."

Work

Henry Purcell's catalog comprises a total of 861 works. His work was influenced by three styles:

• English music. Purcell's father and uncle were English musicians. They had no contact with other styles.
• French music. Purcell's teachers studied in France and had clear influences of this style.
• Italian music. Since 1680 there was a great boom in Italian music in England and Purcell was widely exposed to it.

Instrumental music

This music has two clear styles in Purcell: traditional and Italian, the latter very dominant in his sonatas. The eight suites by him stand out, some twenty-five marches and pieces for harpsichord and violin sonatas.

Religious music

With a clear Italian influence, Purcell's ecclesiastical work falls into three genres:

• The Full Anthem. Composed before 1683, this is traditional, complex and laborious motetes.
• The Verse Anthem. Written in his last years under the French style.
• Coral sections. Big-time character.

Secular music

Purcell composed several royal odes on the occasion of some important event for the nobility or the king (some birthday or return). His skill in this genre grew prodigiously from about 1680. Mention may be made of his two odes for Queen Mary's Birthday and the Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day (1692). He also composed profane anthems such as "My heart is dictating to me" and songs: "Music for a while" (Music for a while, 1692), "Nymphs and shepherds" and "Night Hymn".

Incidental Music

Purcell has an attractive catalog of incidental music for the stage. It's all about dances and act tunes: Distressed Innocence, Abdelazer, The Married Beau. He only wrote one opera proper, Dido and Aeneas (1689). His other works are "semi-operas": The Prophetess, or The Story of Diocletian ("Dioclesian", 1690), King Arthur ("King Arthur", 1691), The Fairy Queen ("The Fairy Queen", 1692), Timon of Athens ("Timon of Athens", 1694), The Indian Queen i> ("The Indian Queen", 1695) and La tempestad ("The Tempest", 1695).