Today we are exploring the life and music of one of the greatest English composers, Henry Purcell. Purcell was a master of music drama and sacred music.

The Man

Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695) was born in London, in the area now known as Devil’s Acre. His father was a musician and sang at the coronation of King Charles II, unfortunately he died when Henry was only 5. Henry’s uncle became his guardian and arranged for Henry to be a chorister in the Chapel Royal, when his voice broke in 1673, he became the assistant to “the Keeper of Wind Instruments to the King”, John Hingston.

Purcell’s early composing is quite vague, though it is believed he started at age 9, his earliest known composition was an ode for the King’s Birthday in 1670.

After his schooling, Purcell worked as the copyist at Westminster Abbey and continued to compose. By 1680 he was composing for the Chapel Royal and working closely with famous bass singer John Gostling. It was around this time he succeeded his mentor and became organist at Westminster Abbey, the coming decade was to be his most prolific years.

He wrote music for many stage works and composed the opera “Dido and Aeneas”, which was a big turning point in English dramatic music. However “Dido and Aeneas” did not make it to the theatre, and instead was a sort of cult classic.

In 1682 he was appointed organist of the Chapel Royal, the most prestigious position in England, and continued to hold his position at Westminster Abbey. In the late 1680s he was composing music for plays frequently including Shakespeare adaptations, British culture (King Arthur), traditional comedies and more.

In 1694 he wrote Te Deum and Jubilate Deo, which were performed annually at St Paul’s for over a decade, in this year he also wrote two elegies for Queen Mary II’s funeral.

In his final 6 years Purcell had written music for forty-two plays and also a significant amount of sacred music. He died in 1695 at age 35 due to illness (chill or tuberculosis). The music he wrote for Queen Mary II’s funeral was performed at his, which I feel is kind of sad. He was extremely well recognised in London.

He was buried at Westminster Abbey:

“Here lyes Henry Purcell Esq., who left this life and is gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded.”

The Music

The music featured is a mix from Purcell’s life. Representing Opera is Dido and Aeneas, Fairy Queen is the chosen play and Te Deum & Jubilate Deo is from his sacred work.

Dido and Aeneas: “Dido and Aeneas” is based on the Roman poem Aeneid written by Virgil around 20BC. It is about the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage for the Trojan hero Aeneas and their subsequent sundering.

Overture: The overture is quite light, it features brilliant intonations and reflections from the strings, well beyond it’s time I felt. I really enjoyed this, and the exquisite strings reminded me of Vivaldi (more on that in a few weeks).

The overture is quite light, it features brilliant intonations and reflections from the strings, well beyond it’s time I felt. I really enjoyed this, and the exquisite strings reminded me of Vivaldi (more on that in a few weeks). Act I: I was surprised and grateful that this opera is in English. I had never actually listened to an English opera before so it was great to be able to follow the script along. I think this contributed to this being the most emotion I have been able to feel from Opera before, it made me actually want to go see one. I noted that Purcell was quite young when he wrote this, 20 or so, and I couldn’t imagine having such talent to write something as intelligent as this.

I was surprised and grateful that this opera is in English. I had never actually listened to an English opera before so it was great to be able to follow the script along. I think this contributed to this being the most emotion I have been able to feel from Opera before, it made me actually want to go see one. I noted that Purcell was quite young when he wrote this, 20 or so, and I couldn’t imagine having such talent to write something as intelligent as this. Act II: By this time I had gotten caught up in following the story that I didn’t actually spend much time thinking about the music, which I guess is a mark of a well crafted Opera.

By this time I had gotten caught up in following the story that I didn’t actually spend much time thinking about the music, which I guess is a mark of a well crafted Opera. Act III: The music compliments the story so very well, I think the English vocals helped me to understand this marriage more so than previous (predominately Italian) operas that I had listened to.

The Fairy Queen: This is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Overture: The overture for “The Fairy Queen” was quite dramatic, but also quite light and fun. It fit the subject matter very well.

The overture for “The Fairy Queen” was quite dramatic, but also quite light and fun. It fit the subject matter very well. Act I: This was quite the contrast to “Dido and Aeneas” in terms of mood and theme. It’s such a light subject matter, which I felt kind of restricted the musical range. I guess there was also more of a focus on the voices, which is understandable considering it is primarily a Shakespeare adaptation.

This was quite the contrast to “Dido and Aeneas” in terms of mood and theme. It’s such a light subject matter, which I felt kind of restricted the musical range. I guess there was also more of a focus on the voices, which is understandable considering it is primarily a Shakespeare adaptation. Act II “Hush, no more”: This had a brilliant voice and used minimalist instrumental techniques to effectively capture the role, this is basically a lullaby.

This had a brilliant voice and used minimalist instrumental techniques to effectively capture the role, this is basically a lullaby. Act III: I didn’t note much from this act, other than the fact that it was actually really funny, just listening and following the script was enough to make me chuckle. Would be great to see on stage.

I didn’t note much from this act, other than the fact that it was actually really funny, just listening and following the script was enough to make me chuckle. Would be great to see on stage. Act V: Musically I found this Act to be very impressive. The start is a prime example of using a simplistic style to a great effect. The start didn’t sound Baroque at all to me, though toward the end it had moved back to that style. Which is a testament to the musical range in this Act.

Te Deum & Jubilate Deo: So this is very popular Catholic stuff that I don’t really understand. I think this is music for special occasions, in particular this is used to thank God for the blessing of the Pope’s selection. Basically it’s a big deal.

I found the music to be good for sacred music. It isn’t overly rigid in design, and the voices enjoy a large amount of freedom. The pace doesn’t vary much, though it is understandable given the context. I don’t have much to say about this to be honest, it’s just nice.

Thank you for reading, sorry I missed last week I was very busy. I really, really, really enjoyed this week. This was probably my favourite week in terms of listening so that was great. I probably won’t write another post next week as it’s my Birthday, I might be able to write one on Thursday though not sure. Don’t even know what the next part is about.