Henry Purcell
10 September 1659 - 21 November 1695. Composer. Called Orpheus Britannicus or the British Orpheus, arguably the most influential English composer of the middle Baroque period. He came from a family of musicians and started his musical practices at a young age at Chapel Royal in London. During his time, the music world was mostly centered in Italy, Germany, and France. This would change once Purcell began his professional music career which put England on the musical map.
Visibly influenced by music from other parts of Europe, his music style, however, is a unique form of English Baroque. In 1677 he became the composer for the King’s String Orchestra, the organist of Westminster Abbey in 1679, the organist of the chapel in 1682 and also the organ maker and keeper of the King’s wind instruments in 1683. He composed many pieces that were used as welcome songs for the royals, birthday, wedding, and holiday songs; the most popular one being "Hail Bright Cecilia".
In addition to court compositions, Purcell began to write music for stage productions including operas and anthems; the most famous one being the tragic opera Dido and Aeneas in 1689. Despite the unrest at court during this time [why?] and the financial uncertainties of being a musician, Purcell remained a prolific composer throughout his career. He composed hundreds of songs, more than 50 pieces of instrumental and keyboard music, 24 odes and welcome songs for ceremonial occasions at court and more than 100 anthems for the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey. In addition to Dido and Aeneas, his most important pieces for the stage are his semi-operas King Arthur (1691), The Fairy Queen (1692), an adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Indian Queen (1695). One of his last works was the funeral march for Queen Mary II in 1695. He died shortly after Mary II, on 21 November 1695 at the age of 36 and the piece was also played at his own funeral.
Sources
- "BAROQUE COMPOSERS AND MUSICIANS", Baroque Music Site, https://www.baroquemusic.org/biopurcell.html. Accessed 15 January 2023
- "Henry Purcell", The World's Greatest Music Class FM, https://www.classicfm.com/composers/purcell/. Accessed 14 January 2023